The NLA-Team will face the Flyers in Therwil on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. The Challengers need a successful match against last year’s final opponent in the fight to reach the final again. In the two duels so far this season, both teams have won one game each.
The NLB-Team will play a home game on Sunday, July 14th at the Heerenschürli ballpark. The Challengers will host the Lucerne Eagles at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The two teams already faced each other in Lucerne almost a month ago, with the Central Swiss team winning twice.
NLA-Team at Therwil, home games for the NLB-Team
NLB-Team put up a great fight but with no luck
The NLB-Team played against the Hünenberg Unicorns on Saturday at the Rony field. The Challengers showed a remarkable performance with many juniors in the lineup, but were not rewarded for it, just like the Swiss national soccer team. In the first game the comeback ended with the tying run on third base, and the second game was lost in the last half inning.
The Challengers were behind from the start. But they did so with great fighting spirit and stayed within striking distance until the end. The Central Swiss team built up a 4-1 lead in the first two innings. In the fourth inning however Ben Dickow delivered a leadoff single, followed by an RBI-triple from Thomas Blank, who was able to shorten the score to 3-4 himself after a Unicorns error. The home team stayed on the gas and immediately increased the score to 6-3, but an RBI single from Niilo Benz brought the Zurich team back to 4-6. The Unicorns again created some breathing room and made it 9-4. But this was necessary, because things got dramatic in the seventh inning. Ben Dickow scored the fifth Challengers run after an error, an RBI-single from Daniel Smith made it 6-9 and a 2-run single from Kazuki Sato brought the tying run to third base. But that was all the Challengers could manage.
Ben Dickow stood out for the Challengers with three hits and four runs, while Kazuki Sato and Daniel Smith each had two hits and two RBI.
The guests took the momentum into the second game. Noam Blickenstorfer opened the game with a single, Nick Lehman got on base – of course – with a hit-by-pitch and the eternal Juan Francisco Robles brought both home with a 2-run double. Because Ben Dickow also delivered a 2-run single, it was suddenly 4-0 for the C’s. They defended this lead with all their might and with Juan Francisco Robles performing miracles on the mound. With rain now starting the Challengers were still leading 4-2 after four innings. They were still three outs away from an official game. But the Latin American section of the Unicorns had not planned on losing, however. With two doubles, two singles and two Zurich errors, they turned the game around at the last minute and won the game, which had been shortened to five innings due to rain, 6-4.
Three games washed out again
The 2024 season is not looking good. Once again three games involving the Challengers had to be canceled due to the miserable weather. Just in time for the scheduled start of the game heavy thunderstorms have been expected for Zurich, which then also broke out over the city, so that the NLA game between the Challengers and the Wil Pirates was out of the question.
Already on Saturday afternoon Sunday’s softball doubleheader between the Luzern Eagles and the Challengers in Reussbühl was canceled due to the unplayable field.
NLA night game on Saturday
The NLA-Team will host the Wil Pirates for a night game at the Heerenschürli ballpark on Saturday evening. The Challengers urgently need a win in the fight for a place in the final. At the beginning of May, the first encounter of the season ended with a split. The game starts at 6 p.m.
The NLB-Team will play an away game against the Hünenberg Unicorns on Saturday. At the end of April the Unicorns won twice at the Heerenschürli. The Challengers will try to take revenge for the home defeats. The games start at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
On Sunday the Softball-Team will also travel to central Switzerland. The Challengers will meet the Luzern Eagles in Reussbühl Hinterruopigen at 11 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. The Challengers clearly won the first two games between the two teams in Zurich.
Another derby loss for Softball-Team
The fourth Zurich softball derby was won by the Zurich Barracudas again. In cold, wet conditions they celebrated a comfortable 9-1 victory against the Challengers, thus winning their fourth derby within a month.
The Challengers’ performance matched the mediocre scenery. They were not as secure on defense as their opponents, they made too many mistakes in base running and were largely unlucky on offense. In any case the overall package was not enough to have a chance against the young and agile Barracudas team. After the first inning the home team was already behind 1-5. In the end they lost 1-9. A double from Lara Müller and a nice hit from Anouchka Michel were the rare highlights from the Challengers’ point of view. While the first two games against the Barracudas were close, they suffered clear losses in the last two games. Sunday offers the opportunity to regain some self-confidence with a better performance. The Challengers will then face the Luzern Eagles in Reussbühl. They had won against them twice in the first gameday in Zurich.
Challengers with exploit against Therwil
The Challengers impressed in Game 1 with a strong offensive performance and defeated the leader in the standings Therwil Flyers 15-4. They also held up well in Game 2, but a costly error and a lack of luck led to a 0-3 loss.
In the fight to qualify for the finals the Zurich team urgently needed an exploit. And it started well. Leadoff batter Ryan Byrne showed the way with a home run over the center field fence. Shortly afterwards they increased their lead to 2-0. The Flyers equalized in the second inning with a 2-run homer by Ferlon Gijsbertha to make it 2-2, but this score only lasted for a short time. The Challengers took the lead again by two runs in the third inning and in the fourth inning Geoffrey Mäder made it 7-2 with a 3-run home run after singles by Noah Nussbaum and Ryan Byrne. In the end the guests totaled 25 hits and celebrated a 15-4 victory.
Man of the match was Geoffrey Mäder with four hits, including two home runs, and six RBI. Ryan Byrne and Noah Nussbaum each had five hits, while Leonel Sosa Marte and Regis Reinhard contributed three hits each to the win.
The Challengers would have liked to have saved their offensive power for the second game. Although they were once again ahead in terms of hits with 6-4, they were unable to convert their scoring opportunities into runs this time. Three baserunners were unluckily out and a fatal error in the third inning, which cost two runs, was decisive for the 0-3 defeat. James Sanders led the offense with three hits, while Ryan Byrne only gave up one earned run and four hits in six innings, with five walks and three strikeouts.
Juveniles finish in first place
The U12-Juveniles played a doubleheader against the SG Eagles/Unicorns in Lucerne to end the preliminary round. After a clear 20-3 win in the first game of the day, the second game was much closer. Ultimately the Challengers narrowly won 10-7 and finished the preliminary round in first place.
The Final Four tournament will take place after the summer holidays on August 31st. The venue is not yet known, but the semi-final opponent is. It will once again be a traditional duel with the Therwil Flyers, who finished second in the very strong West group.
Softball-Team swept by Barracudas
The Challengers can only partially keep up with the young Zurich Barracudas team. After a four-run rally by the Challengers the first game ends with a 10-12 loss. Game 2 was a one-sided affair for the Barracudas.
After the derby defeat in the first game against the Barracudas almost ten days ago the Challengers had to reduce their error rate if they wanted to have a chance of winning. The start of the game was not good, but thanks to a 3-run double from Alexia Zingg the C’s quickly came back to 4-5. The Barracudas were able to add some more runs, but the Challengers tied the game at 8-8 in the fourth and fifth innings. But in the bottom half of the fifth inning, they allowed the home team four runs with no fewer than three errors. Isabelle Tan brought her team within striking distance again in the sixth inning with a 2-run home run to make it 10-12, but the last five batters were all out and the game was lost which resulted in a loss.
Isabelle Tan and Alexia Zingg each recorded two hits and three RBI, Simone Zuschnitten had two hits with two RBI and Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Leandra Simitovic also delivered two hits each.
The guests were out of steam for Game 2. They fell behind 0-5 early on and the Barracudas sealed the deal with no fewer than eleven runs in the third inning. In the end the Challengers lost 3-16. Tuesday evening is their last chance to win a derby in the preliminary round. They will host the Barracudas at 7 p.m. on the Klopstockwiese.
1st League game washed out again
The season for the 1st League-Team is not looking good. After three months of the 2024 season the Challengers have only been able to play one single game. Seven games had to be canceled due to weather. By comparison, Martigny District Baseball from the West Group has already played twelve games in the same period.
Continue Reading » 1st League game washed out againCadets with split
48 hours after winning the night game against the SG Unicorns/Eagles, the U15 Cadets met the SG Pirates in Embrach. After a clear 18-2 and a no-hitter in the first game, they lost 8-9 in the second game. And this after an 8-0 lead.
The opening game was a one-sided affair. The Challengers scored at least four runs in each inning, while pitchers Jasper Freigang and Ben Dickow combined for a no-hitter. Fabrizio Bucher shone with a double and a triple as well as four RBI, Tyler Smith contributed two hits to the win and Noam Müller scored four runs.
The second game started in a similar vein. The Challengers quickly took an 8-0 lead. But suddenly the thread broke. The SG Pirates first shortened the lead to 3-8 and while the Challengers suddenly no longer succeeded offensively, the Eastern Swiss team scored run after run. The game was tied at 8-8 going into the last inning. Despite having runners on second and third base with no outs, the Challengers were unable to take the lead. Meanwhile, they allowed their opponents to score the decisive run with a hit-by-pitch, an error and two wild pitches, making it 9-8. Despite their second loss the Challengers remain at the top of the standings with a 9-2 record.