Once again, a game day for the 1st league team has to be cancelled due to rain. The Challengers’ games against the fourth team of the Zurich Barracudas and the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions, scheduled for this Saturday at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., will not take place. It is not yet clear when and if the games will be rescheduled.

In hot summer weather the 1st League-Team had no luck in Wil. The Challengers blew up a three-run lead in the last inning in Game 1 and in Game 2 their own rally came 90 feet short.
The Challengers’ third team faced all sorts of obstacles this season. After countless rainouts the make-up games now follow on a weekly basis during the holiday season, and after two wins a week ago, this time they suffered two very close one run losses. The young Challengers team got off to a good start in Wil. They scored three runs in the first inning against the Wittenbach Pirates team. The Zurich team, who were rather harmless on offense, managed to defend their lead. In the fifth inning Florin Kämpfer increased the lead to 5-3 with an RBI triple and Ilai Blickenstorfer added another run in the last inning to make it 6-3. But the Pirates used their last batting right to turn things around. After a solo home run by Jose Garcia Jover, Adrian Carmenate secured a 7-6 walkoff win with a base-clearing double.
In the second game of the day against the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions the Challengers were on the losing track for long stretches. In the fourth inning they were already 1-8 behind before they launched an impressive comeback. Florin Kämpfer started this with a solo homer before Ilai Blickenstorfer shortened the lead to 4-8 with a 2-run single. After a run by the home team, the Challengers scored another four runs in the last inning with two outs to make it 8-9, but ultimately had to throw in the towel with a strikeout and the tying run on third base.
With the two narrow defeats, qualifying for the playoffs is no longer possible with a 2-5 record. Next Saturday the Challengers will host the fourth team of the Zurich Barracudas as well as the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions again at the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich for a home game day.

Like a week ago, the 1st League-Team will be heading to Wil on Sunday, where they celebrated their first two wins of the season. The Challengers will first face the team of the Wittenbach-Pirates at the Lindenhof at 12:30 p.m., before the game against the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

After all but one game of the Challengers’ third team had to be canceled due to rain in the first three months of the season, their season is now picking up speed. While the first three games were lost, some of them narrowly, the Challengers achieved their first victories in convincing fashion on Sunday.
In the first game of the day in Wil, St. Gallen, the Challengers faced the SG Wil Pirates/Zürich Lions. Man of the match was undoubtedly Joseph Stotz. The pitcher threw a shutout over five innings. He only gave up four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. It almost didn’t matter that the offense was also in a good mood and scored 18 runs. Noam Blickenstorfer, Ben Dickow and Joseph Stotz each had two hits, while Dan Smith hit a 3-run home run in the fifth inning and collected four RBI.
In game 2 the Challengers faced their city rivals, the Zurich Eighters. The Challengers worked their way to a 7-1 lead with some great hits in the first four innings, which they brought safely to the finish line with 11-7. Of the Challengers’ 13 hits in total, four were delivered by Fabrizio Bucher, Jasper Freigang was successful three times, and Jordi Bucher and Joseph Stotz each had two hits.