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.
Successful start for NLB-Team
Cadets with split in Rümlang
The U15 Cadets split with the Kobras in the reprise of last year’s U15 final in Rümlang. While game 1 was clearly in favor of the Challengers, game 2 just as clearly went to the Zurich Unterländer.
The mission of defending the title is a lot more difficult to achieve in the junior classes than with the adults. And there, too, this is quite difficult. What makes things even more difficult for the juniors is that some team members will no longer be available in the new season due to their age. However there are still a few champions in the Challengers’ lineup. For example Jasper Freigang and Ben Dickow, who pitched a two-hitter with seven strikeouts in the season opener and paved the way for the first win of the season. The offense contributed twelve hits and eight runs to the comfortable 8-0 start. Jasper Freigang and Fabrizio Bucher delivered three hits each, while Noam Müller, Ben Dickow and newcomer Tyler Smith each had two hits.
As in last year’s final, game 2 went in the opposite direction. The first three Challengers pitchers couldn’t find the strike zone at all, so the Kobras went out of the second inning with ten runs on the board. This proved to be a big enough lead because the Challengers didn’t do much on offense either, so game two went to the home team with a score of 10-2.
Strong reaction from the Challengers
One day after the unsuccessful opening day, the Challengers struck back. And the answer was impressive. While the reigning champion lost to its local rivals Zurich Barracudas 1-13 on Friday, the Challengers turned the tables on Saturday and won 13-7.
While the offense failed the day before, this time the Challengers started strong. Coach Thomas Burger’s team seemed to have thoroughly analyzed the false start and made the right adjustments. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the championship team suddenly appeared on the pitch again. The Challengers opened the game with hits from James Sanders, Robert Sedin, Leonel Sosa Marte and Tobias Siegrist for a quick 3-0 lead. The Barracudas came back again, because the Challengers weren’t solid in defense today either, and took the lead of 5-3 in the fourth inning. Anyone who thought that the three runs at the start of the game was just a brief flare-up for the home team was quickly proven wrong.
With an RBI-double by Ryan Byrne in the fourth inning and an RBI-double by Säntis Zeller in the fifth inning, the Challengers tied the game again before the MVP of the championship season, James Sanders, put his colors at 7-5 with a 2-run double. And the C’s selt the deal in the seventh frame. The defending champions followed up with four more runs from Simon Steffen and James Sanders. Finally the offense produced 13 runs on 18 hits. The Challengers thus delivered an impressive reaction and also clocked in for the 2024 season a day late.
Softball-Team defeats Swiss Champion
The Softball-Team is already making its first statement at the start of the season. In a rematch of the last three final series in Swiss softball, the Challengers split with the reigning champions Wittenbach Panthers. A 5-12 defeat in the first game was followed by a narrow 7-6 success in the afternoon.
The opening game went as expected. The Wittenbach Panthers took an lead early, extended it to 9-3 by the third inning and won 12-5 after five frames. The Challengers only managed four hits, while the defense, with seven errors, was not at the level to be able to endanger the guests from the eastern part of Switzerland. Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Simone Zurschmitten each had two RBI, while Leandra Simitovic and Anna Zgraggen recorded the other hits for the home team.
Game 2 looked different though. The Panthers took the lead again in the first inning, but this time the Challengers also found their way into the game straight away. Carmen Lutz-Demetz got her team on the scoreboard with an RBI-double, Leandra Simitovic followed with a sac fly and Alexia Zingg scored a hit in her comeback after an absence of a year and a half due to a knee injury. After three innings the game was tied at 5-5. In the fourth inning Mia Matas gave the home team the lead for the first time with a bases loaded walk and Anna Zgraggen followed with a sac bunt to make it 7-5. Challengers pitcher Karen Heimgartner gave the Panthers’ strong bats some trouble. The guests couldn’t do more than to cut the deficit to one run thanks to an RBI-double from Felicitas Schatton. This is also because Mia Matas took the wind out of the opponents’ sails in the sixth inning with a spectacular diving catch against Panthers team leader Kim Zehnder.
Heimgartner allowed just four hits, one run and three walks with ten strikeouts in six innings, while Carmen Lutz-Demetz, Simona Cellar and Simone Zurschmitten each had two hits. The only downside from the Challengers’ perspective was the loss of Marina Vaccaro Brüderli, who injured her knee in a tag play situation.
Juveniles open season with a sweep
The U12 Juveniles celebrated a sweep of the Rümlang Kobras at the start of the season. For many players on the youngest Challengers team, Opening Day was not only the first game day of the 2024 season but also their debut on a baseball field.
The pChallengers showed a splendid performance and grabbed two important wins against their neighbors with a score of 13-5 and 8-5, which will give the young team self-confidence for their future tasks.
Season Opener ends with a loss
Summer has arrived in Zurich right at the start of the 2024 Swiss Baseball Championship season. However, the sun did not shine for the Challengers at the season opener against their cross-town rivals Zurich Barracudas. The Challengers lost Game 1 with a score of 1-13.
The mission to defend their title is off to a tough start for the Zurich Challengers. The reigning champion was still visibly rusty and was inferior to its local rivals in all aspects of the game. The result of 13-1 speaks for itself, but due to the 13-1 hits and eight errors on the home team’s side there were no doubts about the outcome of the game. At the beginning it was tight game. The Barracudas scored their first run of the season in the third inning with a sacrifice fly from Nick Fischer by Simon Brändli. One inning later the season opener was already decided. The Barracudas produced six runs on five hits and three errors from the opponent to take an 8-0 lead and were no longer looking in the rearview mirror.
Not much was going well with the Challengers. The highlight from their perspective was the outfield assist by left fielder Jack Siemers at home in the fourth frame. At this point the deficit was already six runs. The Challengers have the opportunity to do better tomorrow evening. At 6 p.m. the two teams will meet again for the second local derby in Zurich’s Heerenschürli ballbark.
Opening Weekend with six home games
The new baseball and softball season begins with the Opening Weekend. Challengers fans can enjoy six home games from Friday to Sunday.
It starts with the NLA-Team, which opens its mission to defend the Swiss championship title against their cross-town rivals Zurich Barracudas with a night game in the Heerenschürli ballpark on Friday, April 12th at 6:30 p.m. Game 2 of this two-game series will take place on Saturday, April 13th from 5:30 p.m. also in the Heerenschürli with the official Challengers Season Opening Party.
The Challengers Softball-Team will also start the new season on Saturday, April 13th. In a reprise of the last three final series in Swiss softball, the blue and red welcome the reigning Swiss Champions Wittenbach Panthers on the Klopstockwiese in Zurich-Enge. The games start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
The NLB-Team opens its season on Sunday, April 14th in the Heerenschürli ballpark. The greatly rejuvenated second team will face the Zurich Barracudas second team in the small city derby. The games start at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Juniors to open season in Rümlang
The 2024 season for the Challengers junior’s organization begins in Rümlang. Both the U12 Juveniles and the U15 Cadets will play against the Rümlang Kobras on Opening Day.
The U12 games will take place on Saturday, April 13th in Rümlang Rümelbach. The games start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. At the same time on Sunday, April 14th, the U15 Cadets will meet the Kobras. For the Cadets, this is a revival of the final series of the last two years.
Preparation Gamedays
The Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation has further refined the concept launched last year for the youngest age group of the U12 Juveniles with championship games and specially organized Preparation Gamedays for the new season.
In the Swiss Championship, which determines the best club team of the season, and the Little League, which determines the Swiss representation at the Little League tournament in Kutno, Poland in July, the focus is on competition. At the Preparation Gamedays the focus is on the individual development of the children and their preparation for the following games in their age groups. In contrast to the championship games, no license is required for these open game days for all interested children. While the club teams compete against each other in the championship, on the Preparation Gamedays will be played in mixed teams. The coach pitch tournaments are played with simple rules, while the live pitch tournaments have rules that are closer to championships and Little League tournaments.
The first Preparation Gamedays took place this weekend in the best possible conditions. The youngest Challengers players were in action at the live pitch tournament in Hünenberg on Saturday and at the coach pitch tournament in Rümlang on Sunday. Next Saturday the first championship games of the 2024 season will take place in Rümlang.
Opening Day on April 12 to 14
The Swiss Baseball and Softball Federation has published the schedules for the 2024 season. The season starts on Friday night, April 12th with the first Zurich derby of the season. From now on the game schedules for all the leagues are available on the Baseball and Softball Manager website.
The most important changes concern the withdrawal of the Bern Cardinals from the Baseball NLA, so that the NLA will consist of just four teams in 2024 with the Zurich Barracudas, Therwil Flyers, Wil Pirates and the Challengers. The NLB will now consist of three groups, with the Challengers facing the second team of the Barracudas, the Hünenberg Unicorns and the Luzern Eagles. After a break of several years the Swiss Cup is experiencing a revival. The 2024 edition of the Swiss Cup will be special. First a preliminary round will be played in four groups of four teams, each with one NLA and three NLB teams, while the knockout phase will start from the quarter-finals with the games between the respective group winners and one of the group runners-up. Semi-finals and finals will take place on the 7th/8th of September at the Heerenschürli ballpark.
The NLA team is the first team in the Challengers organization to start the new season with two night games at the Heerenschürli ballpark on April 12th and 13th against the Zurich Barracudas. On Saturday, April 13, there will be a reprise of last year’s softball final between the Challengers and the Wittenbach Panthers at the Klopstockwiese. On Sunday, April 14, the NLB team opens the 2024 season with a doubleheader against the Zurich Barracudas.