The softball players had a tough time against the Sissach Frogs, but narrowly defeated the Baselbieters twice. This means that the Challengers kept their winning streak alive.
Four weeks ago the Challengers celebrated two easy wins in Sissach. The Baselbieters have since strengthened their team with the addition of 22-year-old American Madison Johnson. She gave her team a lot of stability in defense and proved to be tough to crack in the second game as pitcher. But the home team had a hard time in the first game as well. In the third inning the Challengers took an 8-6 lead and managed to win early with four runs in the fifth inning to make it 14-7 thanks to the mercy rule. Isabelle Tan had two hits and three RBI, Carmen Lutz-Demetz scored two doubles, Leandra Simitovic and birthday girl Molly Mullens each scored two hits, while Tamara Ammeter and Amanda Marxer each contributed two RBI to the win. Ammeter gave up two runs, one hit and three walks in four innings with four strikeouts for the win.
Game two developed into a duel between the two defenses. The Challengers managed the maximum of five runs allowed by rule in the first inning, but then failed to score another run in six innings against Johnson. Carmen Lutz-Demetz and Lara Müller managed two doubles against the American, but ultimately the C’s had just four hits and struck out ten times. The fact that the Challengers still came away as winners was due to their excellent defense. The Frogs shortened the score to 4-5 in the third inning, but the Challengers defense around pitcher Leandra Simitovic prevented them from equalizing several times at the last minute. In the fifth inning, Simitovic and Isabelle Tan put Johnson out at home plate, in the sixth inning Lutz-Demetz and Simona Cellar erased a lead-off triple by Ramona Thommen with a spectacular double play and in the seventh inning center fielder Tamara Ammeter finished the game with a beautiful catch in right center with the tying run on second base, preserving the Challengers’ nine-game unbeaten streak. Leandra Simitovic was credited with the win by allowing just two runs, five hits and three walks in six innings, with three strikeouts.
Softball-Team extends winning streak to nine
Challengers remain winless
The Challengers lost their third game at the Federation Cup in Croatia. The Challengers were the underdogs against the strongest team in the tournament, Apollo Bratislava. The Slovakians left no doubt about which team was the favorite. They started like a rocket and were already leading 11-0 after two innings. However the C’s deserve credit for not giving in and being able to convert their chances as the game progressed. They made it the full nine innings. Ultimately they lost 9-18 to the Eastern Europeans.
Ryan Byrne and Noah Nussbaum shone with three hits and three RBI each, while Simon Steffen scored three runs. Byrne was the most successful player on the Challengers side in the tournament with seven hits and five RBI. In the final on Sunday Apollo Bratislava will face the host Vindija Varazdin.
Schedule:
Thursday, June 6th: Sofia Blues vs. Zürich Challengers 11-0 (8 in.)
Friday, June 7th: Zürich Challengers vs. Vindija Varazdin 7-10
Saturday, June 8th: Apollo Bratislava vs. Zürich Challengers 18-9
Sunday, June 9th, Final: Vindija Varazdin vs. Apollo Bratislava 7-5
Four home runs are not enough
The Challengers suffered their second loss at the Federation Cup in Croatia. Compared to the opening game against the Sofia Blues, the Zurich team clearly improved against the host Vindija Varazdin both defensively and offensively. Nevertheless it was not enough for a win. The Challengers built a 2-0 lead till the third inning thanks to two solo home runs from Leonel Sosa Marte, but the Croatians were not at a loss for a response and scored ten runs in a row till the seventh inning, including three home runs of their own. The Challengers tried to close the gap and get back into the game when Louis Bischof and Ryan Byrne were able to shorten the score to 7-10 with a home run each. In the end it was not enough. For the final game of the preliminary round, the Challengers will face the still unbeaten team Apollo Bratislava on Saturday.
The games will be streamed live on the Baseball Europe TV channel.
Schedule:
Thursday, June 6: Sofia Blues vs. Zürich Challengers 11-0 (8 inn.)
Friday, June 7: Zürich Challengers vs. Vindija Varazdin 7-10
Saturday, June 8th, 11:00 a.m.: Apollo Bratislava vs. Zurich Challengers
Sunday, June 9th, 2:00 p.m.: Final
Challengers lose opening game
The Challengers started the tournament at the Federation Cup in Croatia with a loss. The Swiss champions didn’t have much to gain against the Bulgarian representative Sofia Blues and especially their pitcher Evgenii Chernozemsky. The Zurich team delivered four hits only, which were wiped out by the Bulgarian defense with two double plays, while Chernozemsky collected a total of nine strikeouts. However, Dimitar Nassapov was responsible for the decision in the tournament opener with no fewer than three home runs, as he drove in eight of the eleven Bulgarian runs. On Friday the Challengers will face the host Vindija Varazdin.
The games will be streamed on the Baseball Europe TV channel.
Schedule:
Thursday, Juni 6: Sofia Blues vs. Zürich Challengers 11-0 (8 Inn.)
Friday, June 7, 11 a.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Vindija Varazdin
Saturday, June 8, 11 a.m.: Apollo Bratislava vs. Zürich Challengers
Sunday, June 10, 2 p.m.: Final
Softball home game on Sunday
The Softball-Team welcomes the Sissach Frogs on the Klopstockwiese on Sunday. The Baselbieters are in their third season since the team was founded and are noticeably improving from year to year. But the Challengers are trying to keep pace with the top duo Zurich Barracudas and Wittenbach Panthers with two wins. The game starts at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
For the 1st League-Team the journey goes east. The third team of the Challengers organization will meet the hosts Wittenbach Pirates at the Sonnenrain in Wittenbach at 10 a.m. before they will face the Zurich Eighters again at 12:30 p.m.
The U12-Juveniles also travel to the canton of St. Gallen. The youngest Challengers face the Wil Devils in the Wiler Lindenhof. The games start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Schedule changes at the Federation Cup
As the reigning Swiss champions the Challengers represent Swiss baseball at the Federation Cup in Croatia. After the withdrawal of CNTU-OSDYSSOR-Gorn from the Ukraine the tournament in Varazdin will start newly on Thursday, June 6th and will last till Sunday, June 9th. The morning games start at 11 a.m., while the afternoon games are scheduled for 4 p.m. As the Challengers’ opponents remain Apollo Bratislava from Slovakia, Sofia Blues from Bulgaria and the host team Vindija Varazdin.
The C’s will play their first game newly on Thursday morning against the Bulgarian team Sofia Blues. The games will be streamed live on the Baseball Europe TV channel live gestreamt.
Schedule:
Thursday, Jun 6th, 11 a.m.: Sofia Blues vs. Zürich Challengers
Friday, June 7th, 11 a.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Vindija Varazdin
Saturday, June8th , 11 a.m.: Apollo Bratislava vs. Zürich Challengers
Sunday, June 9th, 2 p.m.: Final
Even those at home don’t have to miss out on international baseball. The tournament of the second group of the Federation Cup with the Zurich Barracudas will be played at the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich. This tournament will take place from June 3rd to 8th.
Continue Reading » Schedule changes at the Federation CupChallengers at the Federation Cup in Croatia
As the reigning Swiss champions the Challengers represent Swiss baseball at the Federation Cup in Croatia. The tournament in Varazdin will take place from Tuesday, June 4th to Sunday, June 9th. The morning games start at 11 a.m. and the afternoon games are scheduled for 4 p.m. The Challengers’ opponents are CNTU-OSDYSSOR-Gorn from Ukraine, Apollo Bratislava from Slovakia, Sofia Blues from Bulgaria and the host team Vindija Varazdin.
The C’s will play their first game on Tuesday afternoon after the official opening ceremony against the home team from Varazdin. The games will be streamed live on the Baseball Europe TV channel.
Schedule:
Tuesday, June 4, 4 p.m.: Vindija Varazdin vs. Zürich Challengers
Thursday, June 6, 11 a.m.: CNTU-OSDYSSOR-Gorn vs. Zürich Challengers
Friday, June 7, 11 a.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Apollo Bratislava
Saturday, June 8, 11 a.m.: Zürich Challengers vs. Sofia Blues
Sunday, June 9, 2 p.m.: Final
Even those at home don’t have to miss out on international baseball. The tournament of the second group of the Federation Cup with the Zurich Barracudas will be played at the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich. This tournament will take place from June 3rd to 8th.
Continue Reading » Challengers at the Federation Cup in CroatiaJuniors play in Embrach
While the fanion team will be in action at the Federation Cup in Varazdin, Croatia next week, there are four games scheduled for the Challengers Juniors on home soil in Embrach this weekend.
On Saturday the U15 Cadets welcome the SG Pirates in PZ Hard. The games start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.. On Sunday the U12-Juveniles of the Challengers will play in Embrach as well, where they will meet the SG Mustangs/Lions. The games also start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m..
Swiss Cup games with different outcomes
Both the NLA-Team and the NLB-Team were in action in the Swiss Cup this weekend. While the fanion team won its game on Saturday against the second team of the Zurich Barracudas with 14-5, the second team of the Challengers lost to the Embrach Mustangs on Sunday with 8-9.
The NLA-Team took an early 5-0 lead against the Barracudas’ second team. The Barracudas came within one run by scoring four runs in the third frame to make it 4-5, but the Challengers immediately responded with four runs of their own and ultimately won safely 14-5. Louis Bischof, James Sanders, Tobias Siegrist and Samuel Rodriguez Bautista each had three hits for the Challengers.
Juveniles with split against Wil
The U12 Juveniles played two evenly matched games with their peers from Wil on Sunday on the Klopstockwiese. In the end there was a win for both teams each. The Wil Devils walked away with a 5-3 victory in Game 1, while the Challengers were able to win the second game 10-7.
Continue Reading » Juveniles with split against Wil