The NLB-Team travelled to Lake Geneva for the placement games for the places nine to twelve. However it was a trip under the motto: nothing but expenses. The Challengers had no chance in the two games against the Lausanne Indians. A 1-11 defeat in the first game of the day was followed by a 1-13 in the second game. So the C’s will have to play a doubleheader against the Wil Pirates for places eleven and twelve. However, the latter already forfeited the first placement game against the Therwil Flyers, which is why it is still uncertain whether the games will be played at all.
Continue Reading » NLB-Team swept at the Lake GenevaPosts in the NLB category:
NLB-Team in Lausanne, 1st League-Team in Bern
The NLB-Team travels to Lausanne on Sunday for two placement games against the Lausanne Indians. The young Challengers team only managed to win two of twelve games in the qualifying round and thus missed the playoffs. The Indians’ record was only slightly better with three wins, meaning the two teams now face each other in the placement games for places nine to twelve. The games will take place at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the Terrain de Chavannes.
The 1st League-Team will also play two placement games on Sunday. The Challengers’ third team will first face the Geneva Tigers at 12:30 p.m. on the Bern Allmend, before taking on the hosts Bern Cardinals at 3 p.m.
NLB-Team loses to Barracudas Academy in Swiss Cup
The Challengers NLB team kept the Swiss Cup make-up game in Embrach against the Barracudas Academy a tight game for a long time. But in the end they lost 4-17.
The many rainouts mean that make-up games take place on dates when no game was originally scheduled. This poses a major challenge for team managers. Even more so when a make-up date falls during the summer holidays. The Challengers only managed to put a team together with great difficulty and thanks to the support from Wil. The motley crew did quite well for a long time. It helped that Marcus Mäder put his team in the lead as the second batter with a 2-run home run. When the Barracudas equalized in the third inning, Florin Kämpfer put his team back in front with an RBI groundout to make it 3-2.
But in the fourth inning the Barracudas managed to turn things around with three runs. With four more runs in the fifth inning the game was decided; the Challengers only scored one more run when Marcus Mäder brought Bastian Kämpfer home with an RBI triple. In the last inning, the Barracudas increased their lead to 17-4. Ultimately the many walks, fourteen in total, given by the Challengers pitchers were the deciding factor, but all in all the result was too high.
Swiss Cup make-up games
The newly designed Swiss Cup competition has not been off to a good start. Two of the three scheduled game days were canceled due to rain. A number of games will now be played next weekend. The NLB-Team will be in action on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. in Embrach. The Challengers’ second team will face the Zurich Barracudas Academy.
On Sunday afternoon the Challengers NLA-Team will play against the Therwil Flyers’ second team at 2 p.m. at the Therwiler Känelmatt.
NLA-Team at Therwil, home games for the NLB-Team
The NLA-Team will face the Flyers in Therwil on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. The Challengers need a successful match against last year’s final opponent in the fight to reach the final again. In the two duels so far this season, both teams have won one game each.
The NLB-Team will play a home game on Sunday, July 14th at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The Challengers will host the Lucerne Eagles at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The two teams already faced each other in Lucerne almost a month ago, with the Central Swiss team winning twice.
NLB-Team put up a great fight but with no luck
The NLB-Team played against the Hünenberg Unicorns on Saturday at the Rony field. The Challengers showed a remarkable performance with many juniors in the lineup, but were not rewarded for it, just like the Swiss national soccer team. In the first game the comeback ended with the tying run on third base, and the second game was lost in the last half inning.
The Challengers were behind from the start. But they did so with great fighting spirit and stayed within striking distance until the end. The Central Swiss team built up a 4-1 lead in the first two innings. In the fourth inning however Ben Dickow delivered a leadoff single, followed by an RBI-triple from Thomas Blank, who was able to shorten the score to 3-4 himself after a Unicorns error. The home team stayed on the gas and immediately increased the score to 6-3, but an RBI single from Niilo Benz brought the Zurich team back to 4-6. The Unicorns again created some breathing room and made it 9-4. But this was necessary, because things got dramatic in the seventh inning. Ben Dickow scored the fifth Challengers run after an error, an RBI-single from Daniel Smith made it 6-9 and a 2-run single from Kazuki Sato brought the tying run to third base. But that was all the Challengers could manage.
Ben Dickow stood out for the Challengers with three hits and four runs, while Kazuki Sato and Daniel Smith each had two hits and two RBI.
The guests took the momentum into the second game. Noam Blickenstorfer opened the game with a single, Nick Lehman got on base – of course – with a hit-by-pitch and the eternal Juan Francisco Robles brought both home with a 2-run double. Because Ben Dickow also delivered a 2-run single, it was suddenly 4-0 for the C’s. They defended this lead with all their might and with Juan Francisco Robles performing miracles on the mound. With rain now starting the Challengers were still leading 4-2 after four innings. They were still three outs away from an official game. But the Latin American section of the Unicorns had not planned on losing, however. With two doubles, two singles and two Zurich errors, they turned the game around at the last minute and won the game, which had been shortened to five innings due to rain, 6-4.
NLA night game on Saturday
The NLA-Team will host the Wil Pirates for a night game at the Heerenschürli ballpark on Saturday evening. The Challengers urgently need a win in the fight for a place in the final. At the beginning of May, the first encounter of the season ended with a split. The game starts at 6 p.m.
The NLB-Team will play an away game against the Hünenberg Unicorns on Saturday. At the end of April the Unicorns won twice at the Heerenschürli. The Challengers will try to take revenge for the home defeats. The games start at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
On Sunday the Softball-Team will also travel to central Switzerland. The Challengers will meet the Luzern Eagles in Reussbühl Hinterruopigen at 11 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. The Challengers clearly won the first two games between the two teams in Zurich.
Swiss Cup defeat for the NLB-Team
While the Swiss Cup game in Lucerne was canceled for the NLA-Team on Saturday, the game between the Challengers’ second team and the Wil Pirates’ NLA-Team took place on Sunday in the Heerenschürli ballpark. Despite the dry weather the Challengers were given a cold shower. The Eastern Swiss team and their pitcher Fabio Borando managed one of the rare perfect games over the course of six innings. Not a single one of the 18 Challengers’ batters reached first base. Borando only needed 56 pitches for the perfect game, less than ten per inning. The Pirates themselves delivered 14 hits, which, together with a few walks, helped them to win 19-0.
Continue Reading » Swiss Cup defeat for the NLB-TeamSwiss 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.
NLB-Team defeated by Eagles
The Challengers already knew that the trip to the foot of Mount Pilatus would not be a tourist excursion. The young team from Zurich fought hard, but had to return home with two losses against the Lucerne Eagles.
The guests got off to a good start. Florin Kämpfer opened the score with an RBI single in the first inning and Philip Louis increased the lead to 2-0 with an RBI groundout in the third inning. But the Eagles slowly started to pick up speed. In the third frame the Zurich defense managed to at least keep the tie, but in the fourth inning the home team pulled away with five hits to make it 8-2. The Challengers fought back and cut the deficit twice to three runs in the fifth and again in the sixth inning thanks to an RBI single from Jacob van Meulebrouck and a 2-run home run from Samuel Rodriguez Bautista. In the end it was not enough. The Central Swiss team ultimately won with 16-8.
The second game was similar to the first one. The Challengers were once again the first to get on the scoreboard, but soon had to let the Eagles overtake them. This time, however, because the Zurich team made a few errors. But Joseph Stotz and Nick Lehmann kept their team in the game with two RBIs to make it 3-5 in the fourth frame. But the Eagles scored another four runs to seal the deal. The Challengers lost with a score of 5-10, but were able to take home some positive things as well.