A lot is new in the Challengers NLB-Team. With Farid Bekkali and Martin Strzodka two new skippers took over. Their main task is to introduce more young players to adult baseball and to give young players more responsibility. After all these are the future pillars of the first team.
Special about the start of the season was that Bekkali and Strzodka met their old club, the Zurich Barracudas, on Opening Day. There, however, they were responsible for the 1st league team. The philosophy of supporting young players was also evident in the lineup. The coaches gave the ball to pitcher Florin Kämpfer, who made his first Opening Day start for the NLB team. He was a bit wild with seven walks in three innings, but Kämpfer only gave up one hit and three runs, two of them earned, and handed the game to the bullpen with a 5-3 lead. Patrick Zöllig provided the first Challengers run of the season, Honey Gigato Romero, who joined the Challengers from the Zurich Eighters, celebrated a successful debut with an RBI single and Oliver Bernet made it 5-3 with a 2-run double. The Challengers defended this lead and ultimately won 8-4. Patrick Zöllig got the save with the last two outs of the game.
In Game 2 Joseph Stotz was given the start for the Challengers on the pitcher’s mound. The Barracudas had their sights sharpened in the break between the two games, scoring four runs on four hits in the first inning. In contrast, the Challengers’ yield remained low with an RBI single from Jack Siemers. Stotz did his job well and left the mound after three innings with five hits, five runs, four earned, two walks and one strikeout. But then came the fourth inning in which all the dams broke. From seven hits, seven walks, four hit batters and two errors the Barracudas scored 18 runs, meaning the fair was over. The Barracudas celebrated a 23-2 win.

The NLB-Team walks away with two important victories in the battle for a playoff spot against the Lausanne Indians. While the guests from western Switzerland give up the first game, the Challengers make life difficult for themselves in game two after a 10-run lead, but hold on for eventually win 15-14.
The first game will see a 7-0 win for the Challengers. The Vaudois only had one Swiss pitcher in their lineup, but he wasn’t in the game for long. The visitors threw in the towel after the first half of the third inning. In game two the Challengers looked like the sure winner for a long time too. They countered the Indians’ three runs in the first inning with five of their own and after three innings the home team led 14-4. But the lead then melted away like snow in the spring sun. Going into the final inning, the Challengers were still 15-11 ahead. But Lausanne came close with a double, a walk and three straight RBI-singles to make it 14-15 with the tying run on second base. Closer Adderly Sarmiento then managed an eminently important pickoff, because shortly afterwards the bases were loaded with two outs – and a full count. But with the last pitch, the Challengers managed the decisive out, with which they secured the victory. They overtake today’s opponent in the standings and are back on 4th place.
Nick Siemers hit a triple and a double and racked up five RBIs, David Morroni had three hits and Alex Gordon had two hits and two RBIs in the win. Joseph Stotz was credited with the win, while Adderly Sarmiento collected the save.

The NLB-Team does not manage the turnaround. After losing the last derby against Barracudas Academy by the narrowest of margins 13-14, it sets off a 2-8 loss on Wednesday night. Only three hits but five errors are the main reasons for the renewed derby defeat.
The Challengers have two wins and seven losses after nine games. Next Saturday there will be a decisive clash for qualifying for the playoffs with the Lausanne Indians in Zurich’s Heerenschürli ballpark. The Indians are only half a game ahead of the Challengers in fourth place.

Saturday was a used day for the NLB-Team. Against the Embrach Mustangs, it once again suffered two high defeats. However the results hide the fact that some things were good on the part of the Challengers as well.
At the beginning everything looked good. After two innings the score was even at 1-1. But then the Challengers lost the thread. The Mustangs scored at least four runs in each subsequent inning and in the fourth frame they even scored eleven runs. However the home team helped a lot. Seven errors, three hit-by-pitches and nine walks were added to the 17 hits of the Zürcher Unterländer, resulting in a huge 24-7 loss in the end.
The Challengers lost Game 2 by a score of 20-8 again. But the story behind the numbers was different than in game 1. The guests from Embrach scored six runs in the first inning. The Challengers had to fear the worst, but the Heerenschürli team fought back into the game. In the third inning, the Challengers reconnected to a 6-7 thanks to an RBI groundout from Joseph Stotz, an RBI double from Florin Kampfer, an RBI single from Denyo Benz and a 2-run double from David Morroni. In the fourth inning, the Mustangs added two runs again, but the Challengers had the opportunity to turn the game around entirely. They managed to load the bases with one out, but they could only cash in two runs with a steal on home by Joseph Stotz and a bases loaded walk by Alex Gordon. It wasn’t enough for more than the 8-9. And suddenly the thread broke again. The Mustangs scored 11 unanswered runs in the remaining innings. Despite ultimately 14-10 hits in favor of the Challengers, it was a big loss. But with nine errors the C’s also stood in their own way.

The NLB-Team walks away with a split against the Eagles in Lucerne. It could actually have been even more, in the end the Challengers should be happy to have taken at least one win with them. Both games were decided in the sixth inning.
The Challengers will think about Game 1 for a while. The guests had more hits with 11-8, committed fewer errors with 1-3, had more strikeouts with 4-3, and hit a smooth .500 with runners in scoring position. Still, that wasn’t enough to win. And this despite an early 4-0 lead and although Zurich managed to tie it to 7-7 in the fifth inning. In the sixth frame the Eagles scored four runs with four hits and were able to decide the game. The Challengers brought the tying run to the plate again, but it wasn’t enough for more than the 8-11.
David Morroni and Carlos Nepomuceno each had two hits and Nepomuceno and Luis Mateo Jimenez were responsible for two RBI each, while Florin Kampfer and Joseph Stotz put on solid performances from the pitcher’s mound but were poorly rewarded.
Game 2 was also on the brink till the end. The lead went back and forth already in the early innings. The highlight of the starting period came from veteran Thomas Landis, who hit a home run over the fence at right center field to make it 2-2 in the third inning. The decision came again in the sixth inning. At 2-3 Adderly Sarmito hit a 2-run single that brought home Oliver Bernet Garcia and Florin Kampfer and turned the game around. Afterwards, Alex Gordon also scored to make it 5-3, an insurance run that the Challengers later urgently needed. The Eagles made it 4-5 in the sixth inning and blew another hallali in the seventh. After a hit-by-pitch, a single and a walk, they loaded the bases with one out. But Challengers pitcher Luis Mateo Jimenez escaped the Eagles’ final attack with a flyout to left field and a pop fly to himself, securing his colors the win.
In addition to Landis with his home run, Carlos Nepomuceno also impressed with two doubles, while Adderly Sarmiento and Ryan Koley each had two RBI’s.