Due to the persistent rain and as a result of that unplayable fields in Lucerne and Hünenberg, the games scheduled for Saturday for the NLA team in the Swiss Cup against the Lucerne Eagles and the U15 Cadets’ doubleheader against the SG Unicorns/Eagles have already been canceled. The replacement dates will be announced as soon as the games are rescheduled.
The day tournament in the 1st league championship in Wil, where the Challengers were supposed to play against the Wittenbach Pirates and the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions, also had to be canceled. The Challengers have therefore only played one game by the end of June. All other scheduled games had to be postponed due to the weather conditions.
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Games canceled
Swiss Cup Weekend and Juveniles home game
Next weekend there will be another round of the newly designed Swiss Cup. The Challengers NLA-Team will meet the NLB-Team of the Lucerne Eagles on Saturday in Lucerne. The game starts at 10 a.m. on the Hinterruopigen in Reussbühl. Meanwhile, the Challengers NLB-Team will host the Wil Pirates NLA-Team at the Heerenschürli ballpark on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Challengers’ 1st League-Team will travel to Wil on Sunday. In the Lindenhof Stadium, the C’s will first meet the Wittenbach Pirates at 12.30 p.m. before the game against the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions at 3 p.m.
Both junior teams will also be in action at the weekend. The U15-Cadets will play a doubleheader against the SG Hünenberg Unicorns/Luzern Eagles at Hünenberg Rony on Saturday. First pitches are at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
The U12-Juveniles are having scheduled another home appearance. They play on Sunday on the Klopstockwiese at 10 a.m. against the SG Mustangs/Lions and at 3 p.m. also against the SG Unicorns/Eagles.
Derby win for the Challengers
In the duel between the local rivals, the Challengers achieved an important 3-2 win on Saturday night. This reduced the gap to the Zurich Barracudas in the standings to one game.
Both teams were played internationally in the Federation Cup last week and were able to learn a lot against strong opponents. In the Heerenschürli ballpark however, the pitchers were dominating. Both Cee-Jay Savoldelli for the Barracudas and Ryan Byrne on the Challengers pitched really strong. After seven innings, the score was only 2-1 for the visitors after an early lead for the Challengers and two runs for the Barracudas in the fifth and the seventh inning. However all the three runs have been scored due to errors in the opposing defense. In the eighth inning the home team turned the game around. After a lead-off single by Ryan Byrne, Robert Sedin tied the game with an RBI double before the veteran was hit home by Leonel Sosa Marte to make it 3-2. Closer Simon Steffen didn’t let anything go wrong in the ninth inning and made out all three opposing batters, securing the important win for his team.
Local derby on Saturday night
On Saturday night the fifth and final local derby of the preliminary round between the Zurich Challengers and the Zurich Barracudas will take place at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The Challengers urgently need a win to reduce the gap to the first two places in the standings, which entitle them to advance to the final. First pitch will be thrown at 6 p.m.
The NLB-Team plays a doubleheader against the Lucerne Eagles on Sunday. A difficult task awaits the Challengers at the foot of Mount Pilatus, as the Central Swiss team is heavily staffed by several former NLA players. The game on the Hinterruopigen in Reussbühl starts at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The U15-Cadets will face the prestigious duel with the Rümlang Kobras on Saturday. The reprise of the finals of the last two years in this age group will take place at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in Embrach PZ Hard. The first duel of the season on opening day ended in a split.
There is another home game for the U12-Juveniles on Sunday at Zurich’s Klopstockwiese. The Challengers will meet the Rümlang Kobras at 10 a.m. and the SG Mustangs/Lions at 3 p.m.
Challengers remain winless
The Challengers lost their third game at the Federation Cup in Croatia. The Challengers were the underdogs against the strongest team in the tournament, Apollo Bratislava. The Slovakians left no doubt about which team was the favorite. They started like a rocket and were already leading 11-0 after two innings. However the C’s deserve credit for not giving in and being able to convert their chances as the game progressed. They made it the full nine innings. Ultimately they lost 9-18 to the Eastern Europeans.
Ryan Byrne and Noah Nussbaum shone with three hits and three RBI each, while Simon Steffen scored three runs. Byrne was the most successful player on the Challengers side in the tournament with seven hits and five RBI. In the final on Sunday Apollo Bratislava will face the host Vindija Varazdin.
Schedule:
Thursday, June 6th: Sofia Blues vs. Zürich Challengers 11-0 (8 in.)
Friday, June 7th: Zürich Challengers vs. Vindija Varazdin 7-10
Saturday, June 8th: Apollo Bratislava vs. Zürich Challengers 18-9
Sunday, June 9th, Final: Vindija Varazdin vs. Apollo Bratislava 7-5
Four home runs are not enough
The Challengers suffered their second loss at the Federation Cup in Croatia. Compared to the opening game against the Sofia Blues, the Zurich team clearly improved against the host Vindija Varazdin both defensively and offensively. Nevertheless it was not enough for a win. The Challengers built a 2-0 lead till the third inning thanks to two solo home runs from Leonel Sosa Marte, but the Croatians were not at a loss for a response and scored ten runs in a row till the seventh inning, including three home runs of their own. The Challengers tried to close the gap and get back into the game when Louis Bischof and Ryan Byrne were able to shorten the score to 7-10 with a home run each. In the end it was not enough. For the final game of the preliminary round, the Challengers will face the still unbeaten team Apollo Bratislava on Saturday.
The games will be streamed live on the Baseball Europe TV channel.
Schedule:
Thursday, June 6: Sofia Blues vs. Zürich Challengers 11-0 (8 inn.)
Friday, June 7: Zürich Challengers vs. Vindija Varazdin 7-10
Saturday, June 8th, 11:00 a.m.: Apollo Bratislava vs. Zurich Challengers
Sunday, June 9th, 2:00 p.m.: Final
Challengers lose opening game
The Challengers started the tournament at the Federation Cup in Croatia with a loss. The Swiss champions didn’t have much to gain against the Bulgarian representative Sofia Blues and especially their pitcher Evgenii Chernozemsky. The Zurich team delivered four hits only, which were wiped out by the Bulgarian defense with two double plays, while Chernozemsky collected a total of nine strikeouts. However, Dimitar Nassapov was responsible for the decision in the tournament opener with no fewer than three home runs, as he drove in eight of the eleven Bulgarian runs. On Friday the Challengers will face the host Vindija Varazdin.
The games will be streamed on the Baseball Europe TV channel.
Schedule:
Thursday, Juni 6: Sofia Blues vs. Zürich Challengers 11-0 (8 Inn.)
Friday, June 7, 11 a.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Vindija Varazdin
Saturday, June 8, 11 a.m.: Apollo Bratislava vs. Zürich Challengers
Sunday, June 10, 2 p.m.: Final
Schedule changes at the Federation Cup
As the reigning Swiss champions the Challengers represent Swiss baseball at the Federation Cup in Croatia. After the withdrawal of CNTU-OSDYSSOR-Gorn from the Ukraine the tournament in Varazdin will start newly on Thursday, June 6th and will last till Sunday, June 9th. The morning games start at 11 a.m., while the afternoon games are scheduled for 4 p.m. As the Challengers’ opponents remain Apollo Bratislava from Slovakia, Sofia Blues from Bulgaria and the host team Vindija Varazdin.
The C’s will play their first game newly on Thursday morning against the Bulgarian team Sofia Blues. The games will be streamed live on the Baseball Europe TV channel live gestreamt.
Schedule:
Thursday, Jun 6th, 11 a.m.: Sofia Blues vs. Zürich Challengers
Friday, June 7th, 11 a.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Vindija Varazdin
Saturday, June8th , 11 a.m.: Apollo Bratislava vs. Zürich Challengers
Sunday, June 9th, 2 p.m.: Final
Even those at home don’t have to miss out on international baseball. The tournament of the second group of the Federation Cup with the Zurich Barracudas will be played at the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich. This tournament will take place from June 3rd to 8th.
Continue Reading » Schedule changes at the Federation CupChallengers at the Federation Cup in Croatia
As the reigning Swiss champions the Challengers represent Swiss baseball at the Federation Cup in Croatia. The tournament in Varazdin will take place from Tuesday, June 4th to Sunday, June 9th. The morning games start at 11 a.m. and the afternoon games are scheduled for 4 p.m. The Challengers’ opponents are CNTU-OSDYSSOR-Gorn from Ukraine, Apollo Bratislava from Slovakia, Sofia Blues from Bulgaria and the host team Vindija Varazdin.
The C’s will play their first game on Tuesday afternoon after the official opening ceremony against the home team from Varazdin. The games will be streamed live on the Baseball Europe TV channel.
Schedule:
Tuesday, June 4, 4 p.m.: Vindija Varazdin vs. Zürich Challengers
Thursday, June 6, 11 a.m.: CNTU-OSDYSSOR-Gorn vs. Zürich Challengers
Friday, June 7, 11 a.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Apollo Bratislava
Saturday, June 8, 11 a.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Sofia Blues
Sunday, June 9, 2 p.m.: Final
Even those at home don’t have to miss out on international baseball. The tournament of the second group of the Federation Cup with the Zurich Barracudas will be played at the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich. This tournament will take place from June 3rd to 8th.
Continue Reading » Challengers at the Federation Cup in CroatiaSwiss Cup games with different outcomes
Both the NLA-Team and the NLB-Team were in action in the Swiss Cup this weekend. While the fanion team won its game on Saturday against the second team of the Zurich Barracudas with 14-5, the second team of the Challengers lost to the Embrach Mustangs on Sunday with 8-9.
The NLA-Team took an early 5-0 lead against the Barracudas’ second team. The Barracudas came within one run by scoring four runs in the third frame to make it 4-5, but the Challengers immediately responded with four runs of their own and ultimately won safely 14-5. Louis Bischof, James Sanders, Tobias Siegrist and Samuel Rodriguez Bautista each had three hits for the Challengers.