The Softball-Team prevails in a wild night game against their cross-town rivals Zurich Barracudas. A strong offensive can mask the deficiencies in defense, ultimately the Challengers walk away with a 23-16 victory.
Especially in the first half of the game the runs fall like ripe fruit from the trees. After trailing for most of the first two innings, the Challengers took the lead in the third with six runs to make 16-12. And the held on, defeating the Barracudas for the first time in their third game of the season.
Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Leandra Simitovic each had three of the 18 Challengers hits, while Simona Cellar, Isabelle Tan, Molly Mullens and Cheyenne La Marr all delivered two hits each.

The Softball-Team defeats the Sissach Frogs twice. The two teams offer the audience two exciting games with a lot of successful actions both on the offensive and on the defensive.
Young players Sarah Kleiterp and Alexandra Weibel made their debut in the Swiss Softball League under the watchful eye of Challenger’s honorary president Werner Zingg. And the two did extremely well. This also applied to the other Challengers players. Amanda Marxer pitched a career-best three innings and allowed just five hits and four runs, three earned, Tamara Ammeter got her third win of the season with a scoreless inning, and on the offense Isabelle Tan had three hits and scored three runs and Molly Mullens had three Hits and three RBIs, while Mia Matas’ added two doubles, two RBIs and two runs to make it 12-4 in the end.
The second game of the day was extremely exciting. The guests from the Basel area were ahead and the Challengers behind for almost the entire game with the home team constantly under pressure. It took six innings before the C’s turned the game around with six runs. In the end it was a narrow 19-16 victory against a self-sacrificing Frogs. Mia Matas had a dream day with three hits and no fewer than eight RBI. Tamara Ammeter contributed two hits, three RBI and four runs, Isabelle Tan contributed one hit, four walks and five runs and rookie Sarah Kleiterp notched her first two hits of the career. Taylor McCants was credited with the win, as she allowed seven hits and four runs – two of them earned – in four innings without a walk and with three strikeouts.

The Softball-Team had an extremely difficult time with the Eagles in the first game day in Zurich. The re-match in Lucerne was surprisingly one-sided, although the Challengers started with a handicap.
They lacked a U22 age group pitcher, who has to pitch the first two innings of a game. This is punished with ten so-called penalty runs. The fact that it was still enough to secure two victories was due to a disciplined performance by the Challengers offense, which relentlessly exploited the weaknesses of the opposing pitching.
In the first game the C’s scored no less than 26 runs for a 26-10 win. Taylor McCants had three hits and five RBI, Molly Mullens had two hits and four RBI, and Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Leandra Simitovic had two hits and three RBI each.
Game 2 was much tighter. Against the American pitcher Rio Sanchez, the Challengers needed until the sixth inning to compensate for the 10-run deficit and a Leandra Simitovic, who was able to calm the opposing bats. She gave up just three hits but no runs in five innings with two walks and five strikeouts for her second win of the season. In the offense Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Leandra Simitovic were again among the driving forces with three hits and four RBI each, while Tamara Ammeter scored three runs. Thanks to three runs in the seventh inning this resulted in a 16-13 win.

When the Zurich Barracudas and Zurich Challengers softball teams face off, two things are usually certain. It’s exciting. And it lasts long. Same this time, with the better ending for the Barracudas.
The home team organized a reassuring cushion in the third inning with seven runs for a 10-3 lead. They thrived on that for a long time, and after six innings they still had a five-run advantage with a 14-9 lead. But with these derbies only after the last out there is really certainty about the outcome. So also this Saturday. The Challengers turned things around with eight runs in the seventh inning, but quickly gave up their lead again in the bottom half of the inning. The game went into the extra innings, where the Barracudas managed to score the decisive run to make it 18-17 after three hours and 38 minutes.
Molly Mullens had three hits, two RBI and two runs, Leandra Simitovic had two hits and four RBI and Isabelle Tan added two hits, two RBI and four runs, just falling short of the win.
Game two then went straight to the Barracudas. Although the Challengers opened the score with four runs in the first frame. From then on practically only the Barracudas played, winning after four innings with Mercy Rule 16-6. Taylor McCants, Leandra Simitovic and Molly Mullens had the only three hits for the Challengers, who now have a .500 record after four game days with four wins and four losses.

The Softball-Team wins twice against the Lucerne Eagles at the Klopstockwiese. While they make the difference in the second half of the game after a tight start in game 1, they tenaciously defend an early 5-run lead in game 2 until the end.
In the opener, the Challengers set the course for victory in the third inning. An RBI-single from Mindy Siemers first leveled the 3-4 deficit before a hit-by-pitch to Taylor McCants with loaded bases gave the home team the lead for the first time. Carmen Lutz-Demetz followed with a 2-run single before an RBI groundout from Isabelle Tan, an RBI bunt single from Simona Cellar and a 2-run single from Leandra Simitovic made it 11-4. Although the Central Swiss team reduced the lead again to 8-11, the Challengers ended the game with five hits and seven runs to make it 18-8 after four innings thanks to the mercy rule.
Taylor McCants stood out from a strong collective with three hits, four RBI and three runs, while Amanda Marxer scored three runs and Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Isabelle Tan each contributed three RBIs.
In Game 2, the Challengers’ goal had to be to get into the third inning with a lead. Because after the first two innings, in which according to the regulations U22 pitchers have to pitch, the Eagles would have the strong Rio Sanchez in the pitcher’s circle. The C’s implemented the plan. They scored ten runs with ten hits, while Amanda Marxer gave up just five runs, giving her team the lead for good. The defense around pitcher Leandra Simitovic was able to hold on, while Tamara Ammeter with two RBI singles and a run scored ensured that the Challengers added a little safety margin.
Ammeter finished the game with a strong four hits, four RBI and three runs, but was even bettered by Isabelle Tan with four hits, RBI and runs each. Taylor McCants, Simona Cellar, Marina Vaccaro Brüderli and Anna Zgraggen all recorded a multi-hit game in the hard-fought 13-10 win.

The Softball-Team has a strong performance in Bern. 27 hits and 38 runs as well as two wins are the result of a productive Sunday on the Allmend.
While the Challengers benefited from the Cardinals pitcher’s walks in the first inning, they took a 10-4 lead in the second frame with six hits. After two more runs on each side, the Challengers bats caught fire in the fifth inning. They scored 11 runs from seven hits, including no fewer than three triples from Tamara Ammeter, Taylor McCants and Isabelle Tan, to finally win 23-7.
Tamara Ammeter had three hits and five runs, Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Leandra Simitovic had two hits and four RBIs each and Molly Mullens had three RBI. Tamara Ammeter took the win, as she gave up only two hits and one run in three innings, while starter Solana Lutz also gave up only two earned runs in two innings of work.
The second game of the day was one-sided from the start. The Challengers took an early 14-0 lead and deservedly won 15-3. Simona Cellar shone with four hits and five RBI, Taylor McCants screwed her batting average to .714 with another three hits and Riona Lutz convinced with 2.1 innings pitched with three runs – only one of them earned – and five hits.