In the last game of the preliminary round, the Challengers met the first-placed Therwil Flyers again. The Zurich team was able to keep up for four innings. Then the reigning champion made rushed away and finally won with 16-2.
For the first time this season, the Zurich team presented with Nick and Jack Siemers and Florin Kämpfer three juniors in their starting lineup. They did their job well. A ball put into play by Kämpfer caused an error in the Flyers defense and brought the 1-1 tie through Marco Limacher, who had put himself in scoring position with a lead-off triple. The Flyers followed up with a triple from Chris Horne in the third inning and then a solo home run from Taka Oshima to make it 3-1. In the fourth frame the Challengers reduced the lead to 2-3 and kept hoping for a positive result. Luis Mateo Jimenez brought home again Limacher with an RBI single. But then the Flyers stepped up a gear and showed why they have been the undefeated champions since 2019. With surgical precision their balls found the gaps in the Challengers defense, so the game ended after seven innings with mercy rule.
Luis Mateo Jimenez and Oliver Bernet Garcia led the Challengers offense with two hits each. In two weeks the C’s will meet city rivals Zurich Barracudas in the playoff semi-finals.

In the duel between the first placed Flyers and the second placed Challengers, the reigning champion from Therwil quickly ensures clear conditions. The Challengers defend themselves as best they can and can claim some positive points for themselves.
The dfending champion from Therwil already made the decisive difference in innings three and four by submitting no fewer than nine runs. After all, the Challengers also came to a good inning. After Adam Greenberg scored the first run for Zurich on a wild pitch, Marco Limacher followed with an RBI double and Carlos Nepomuceno with another RBI to make it 3-9. In the next few innings Hayden Jung-Goldberg kept the Basel offensive in check, but the C’s couldn’t get more than their fourth run through a sac fly by Adam Greenberg. Ultimately, they left the field with a 4-11 loss.
Leonel Sosa Marte had four hits, while Nick Siemers contributed two hits. The Challengers will have the opportunity to take revenge tomorrow, Saturday. At the end of the preliminary round, they meet the Flyers again at 5.30 p.m. in the Heerenschürli ballpark.

The Challengers defeated the Zurich Barracudas 11-9 in an exciting Zurich derby on Wednesday night and secured home advantage for the playoff semifinals. There the C’s will meet the Barracudas again.
However, the home team dressed in green got off to a better start. The Barracudas took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and held a 5-2 lead after four frames. But in the fifth inning the Challengers made a big turnaround. After a lead-off single by Leonel Sosa Marte, Carlos Nepomuceno made it 3-5 with what was already his third hit of the game. He set off a veritable avalanche. Patrick Maier brought his team up to 4-5 with an RBI single before Nick Siemers and Hayden Jung-Goldberg’s RBI’s turned the game around. But that wasn’t all. Regis Reinhard made it 7-5 with a double and Leonel Sosa Marte capped the inning with a 2-run double to make it 9-5.
But anyone who had thought that the game was over was way off the mark. Maybe one or the other thought so. But not Livio Bundi. The Barracudas DH brought new life into his squad with a two-run homer in the second half of the fifth frame, and he even repeated the feat in the seventh inning to restart the game again at 9-9.
But the last exclamation point was set by the guests. Marco Limacher started the ninth inning with a walk and scored the go-ahead run on an RBI triple from Nick Siemers. And Siemers scored an insurance run after an RBI single from Regis Reinhard to make it 11-9. However, Luis Mateo Jimenez did not need one at all. The pitcher ended the game with three quick outs.
With the win the Challengers now have ten wins and four losses and can no longer be pushed out of second place. On Friday and Saturday night, the Challengers will meet the undisputed leaders Therwil Flyers twice at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The outcome of these two games does not change the fact that the next Zurich derby with the Barracudas will take place in the semi-finals.

The poor weather after the start of the season continues to affect the baseball calendar to this day. There are three make-up games in the form of night games scheduled for the Challengers this week. On Wednesday evening there will be a Zurich derby with the Zurich Barracudas at the Heerenschürli ballpark, before the first placed Therwil Flyers make two guest appearances at the Heerenschürli on Friday and Saturday evening. The games on Wednesday and Friday start at 6.30 p.m., the Saturday game is scheduled for 5.30 p.m.

While summer vacation has already begun for many, the Challengers are working extra shifts. Three games that fell victim to the weather in spring will be rescheduled between Wednesday and Saturday evening. Before that, there was a regularly scheduled doubleheader in Bern taking place on Sunday.
The Challengers got two wins, but at least the one in Game 1 was hard work. The game lasted no less than 3 hours and 39 minutes, went into the 11th inning, the Cardinals hit an incredible 20 hits and the Challengers first had to recover from a 1-7 deficit to even make it into the extra innings. That was only possible because the Cardinals made a costly error with two outs in the ninth inning, thanks to which Marco Limacher brought Säntis Zeller home with an RBI single to make it 9-9. In the tenth inning Adam Greenberg set up a good cushion with a 3-run single, while Jayden Jung-Goldberg made it 13-9 with a sac fly. But this time, the Cardinals proved their escape skills. With a full count walk and bases loaded with two outs, they tied the game to a much-celebrated 13-13. However the Challengers were also able to submit in the eleventh inning. Carlos Nepomuceno’s and Säntis Zeller’s Sac Flies gave Zurich a 15-13 lead for good. The home team had no answer for that anymore.
Adam Greenberg had two hits and five RBIs, Leonel Sosa Marte had two hits and three RBIs, and Nick Siemers and Luis Mateo Jimenez scored three runs each.
The second game then lasted only half as long. The Challengers clearly prevailed 14-0. Adam Greenberg and Säntis Zeller each had two hits and three RBI. But the history of the game was written by Challenger’s pitcher Stefan Haltmeier. He gave up just one hit in the fifth inning, earning a one-hit shutout win with five walks and five strikeouts. On Wednesday evening at 6.30 p.m. in the Heerenschürli ballpark the Challengers will meet the Zurich Barracudas for a city derby.