On the Züri-Fäscht Saturday the Challengers Softball-Team welcomed the Bern Cardinals on the Klopstockwiese. The fans got to see two very good games, with the first game being on the razor’s edge to the last catch.
Sarah Kleiterp started as a pitcher for the Challengers for the first time. The line-up for the home team was a bit unusual due to various absences. After initially falling behind, the Zurich team finally fought their way back into the game in the fourth inning when Taylor McCants reached home plate first, before Simona Cellar equalized the game to 9-9 with a 2-run double. It was Cellar again who made it 10-9 in the sixth inning with an RBI single, her fourth hit of the game. After that, Leandra Simitoviv completed her strong performance with three flyouts and secured the Challengers a 10-9 victory. Simitovic allowed just one hit in five innings and managed no fewer than seven strikeouts.
Kleiterp opened Game 2 with a three-up three-down inning, allowing the Challengers to take control from the start. Taylor McCants delivered two clean innings, giving up just two hits and two strikeouts, while the 12-hit offensive saw the game end with a 15-5 score due to the mercy-rule after four innings. Leandra Simitovic had three hits and four RBIs, Molly Mullens also had three hits and two RBIs, while Simone Zurschmitten and Anna Zgraggen each had one hit and two RBIs in the win. With the two successes the Challengers extend their winning streak to nine.
Ladie win twice on Züri-Fäscht Saturday
Challengers games on Thursday and Saturday
On Thursday evening, July 6th, there will be a Make-up game in the NLB championship at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The Challengers meet the Zurich Barracudas Academy. The game will start at 7 p.m.
On the Züri-Fäscht Saturday the Softball-Team will be playing its next home game day at the Klopstockwiese. The Challengers will try to extend their seven game winning streak also against the Bern Cardinals. Games start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
The U15-Cadets will also be in action on Saturday. They play in Rümlang against the SG Black Hawks and the Rümlang Kobras. The games start at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. in Rümlang Rümelbach.
Softball-Team wins 7th in a row
Thanks to another strong offense the Softball-Team wins twice against the Sissach Frogs. The Challengers are now riding a seven game winning streak.
After two innings pitched by U22 players, as required by the regulations, the guests were already ahead by 10-5. After a good third inning the Frogs reduced the deficit to 12-16, but in the end the Challengers clearly prevailed 28-15. Isabelle Tan and Mia Matas each had three hits, three RBI and four runs, Marina Vaccaro Brüderli contributed two hits, three RBI and five runs and Leandra Simitovic got her third win of the season.
Game 2 was very similar. The Challengers took an 8-3 lead after two innings and didn’t give it up until the end. Taylor McCants gave up just three hits and one run while the offense went up to 14-4. McCants was also significantly involved with two doubles and two RBI, Isabelle Tan, Sarah Kleiterp and Mia Matas also collected two RBI each. The debut of junior Tara Hochstrasser was also pleasing. She got two RBI and one run in the first game.
Important victories for NLB-Team
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.
Cadets start July with two wins
The U15-Cadets have no trouble against the Black Hawks and win twice clearly. Three Challengers players hit a home run.
In the first game it quickly was clear which team would be the winner. The Challengers were already leading 8-0 after two innings and they even expanded this to a 13-2 lead by the end. Jasper Freigang with a 2-run home run in the second inning and Jordi Bucher with a 2-run home run in the third provided the offensive highlights, while Fabrizio Bucher delivered three hits.
The afternoon game was almost a copy of the opener. This time the Challengers were leading by a maximum of 10-0 after two innings. Again the Black Hawks only got a few runs at the very end, which didn’t change the Challengers’ easy 16-4 victory. Ilai Blickenstorfer belted a 2-run home run in the fourth inning. He finished the game with two hits and three RBIs, while Noam Müller had two hits and scored three runs. Müller also was credited with the win with three scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and two walks while striking out three.
NLB-Team falls short of the Barracudas again
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.
18-hit attack leads to derby win
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.
Two night games this week
There are two night games this week. Both times between teams from the Zurich Challengers and the Zurich Barracudas.
The women’s softball teams will start off on Tuesday evening, June 27th at 7 p.m. at the Klopstockwiese in Zurich-Enge.
On Wednesday, June 28th there will be the same duel in Baseball NLB. The Challengers will meet the Barracudas Academy at 7:00 p.m. in a make-up game at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The game was originally scheduled for the opening day on April 2, but fell victim to the weather at the time.
1st League-Team stays at .500
In the extremely balanced eastern group of the regional league, the Zurich Barracudas, the Zurich Eighters and the Zurich Challengers also shared the wins on Sunday. All three Zurich clubs have a .500 record and share second place.
With many Swiss baseball fans attending the London Series between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend, the rosters were thin. For the Challengers even the coaches Oliver Freigang and Nico Bucher had to go on the field.
In the first game of the day against the Zurich Barracudas, the teams moved in step for a long time. The Barracudas went ahead each time, the Challengers were able to counter each time. Except in the last inning, where the C’s scored only two runs to make it 9-11 walking away with a loss. Jacob Stotz led the offense with three hits, Jasper Freigang got two hits.
The Challengers did even better in Game 2. After three innings they were already leading 14-1 against the Zurich Eighters. In the end it was a comfortable 18-3 victory. Joseph Stotz and Oliver Freigang each collected four RBIs, Jasper Freigang had three hits, while Noam Müller, Fabrizio Bucher, Oliver Freigang, Jiro Kaya and Nico Bucher all contributed two hits to the win.
Cadets with split in Wil
The U15-Cadets left the field in Wil on Saturday with one win and one loss. While they were in front from the start in Game 1, the lead changed no less than six times in Game 2, with the better ending for the eastern Swiss.
The guests from Zurich got off to a good start, which was rewarded with a 3-0 lead. Things evened out a bit after that, after four innings the Challengers led by 7-3 before they decided the game with eight runs in the fifth inning and ultimately won 15-7. Jasper Freigang had three hits, including two doubles, five RBI and two runs, Noam Müller delivered three hits, three RBI and three runs, and Niilo Benz also had three RBI.
The second game of the day was a back and forth. The lead changed after almost every offense. The Challengers went out of the first inning with a 4-2 lead. They later led 9-7 and after four innings again 13-10. In the fifth frame Wil scored six runs, which the Challengers were no longer able to counter. Despite a hit from Aaron Schütz and a triple from Jordi Bucher, they only managed one run and lost 14-16. Noam Müller and Philip Louis each delivered two hits and scored three runs each for the Challengers.