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Challengers remain winless

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

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

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Four home runs are not enough

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

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

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Challengers lose opening game

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

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

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Softball home game on Sunday

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

The Softball-Team welcomes the Sissach Frogs on the Klopstockwiese on Sunday. The Baselbieters are in their third season since the team was founded and are noticeably improving from year to year. But the Challengers are trying to keep pace with the top duo Zurich Barracudas and Wittenbach Panthers with two wins. The game starts at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
For the 1st League-Team the journey goes east. The third team of the Challengers organization will meet the hosts Wittenbach Pirates at the Sonnenrain in Wittenbach at 10 a.m. before they will face the Zurich Eighters again at 12:30 p.m.
The U12-Juveniles also travel to the canton of St. Gallen. The youngest Challengers face the Wil Devils in the Wiler Lindenhof. The games start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

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Schedule changes at the Federation Cup

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

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.

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Challengers at the Federation Cup in Croatia

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

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.

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Juniors play in Embrach

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

While the fanion team will be in action at the Federation Cup in Varazdin, Croatia next week, there are four games scheduled for the Challengers Juniors on home soil in Embrach this weekend.
On Saturday the U15 Cadets welcome the SG Pirates in PZ Hard. The games start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.. On Sunday the U12-Juveniles of the Challengers will play in Embrach as well, where they will meet the SG Mustangs/Lions. The games also start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m..

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Swiss Cup games with different outcomes

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

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.

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1st League-Team loses in Extra-Innings

Serge KünzlerLeave a comment

After various game cancellations due to weather, the 1st League-Team also played its first game of the season. The schedule for Saturday was just right for the Challengers, so that several juniors who were victorious with the U15-Cadets during the day could also take part in the night game in the Heerenschürli ballpark against the Zurich Barracudas. The Challengers showed a strong performance, but ran out of energy shortly before the finish line. In the end it was a bitter defeat after extra innings.
The Challengers built a 12-7 lead by halftime. In the second inning, Ben Dickow and Fabrizio Bucher scored two 2-run doubles for a 6-2 lead. The guests immediately gave this away, but they immediately regained their lead as well. Jacob van Meulebrouck and Jordi Bucher turned a 6-7 into a 8-7 lead in the third inning and with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, van Meulebrouck again, Tyler Smith, Niilo Benz and Ben Dickow extended the lead to 12-7. And the C’s were still ahead by four runs before the last inning. But the Barracudas were able to make up for the deficit in extremis with three hits and three errors from the Challengers defense to tie the game at 12-12. And while the Challengers didn’t bring their runners home in the extra inning, the Barracudas scored the winning run on two wild pitches to make it 13-12.
Fabrizio Bucher led the offense with three hits, Ben Dickow had two doubles and three RBI, Tyler Smith had two hits and Jacob van Meulebrouck scored three runs for the Challengers.

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