After the clear defeat in the night game on Friday evening against the Zurich Barracudas, a reaction from the Challengers was required. The game was fairly even until the fourth inning. Then the Barracudas broke the game open and won again with a solid 13-5. The Challengers are a far away from their best level.
An RBI-double by Leonel Sosa Marte in the first inning at least got things off to a better start than on Friday. And in the third inning the Challengers found their way back to 2-2 in the form of James Sanders. The Barracudas took the lead again on a home run by Casey Rother, but the Challengers stayed within striking distance with an RBI groundout by Stefan Haltmeier. Until the fourth inning. With four hits and two errors from the champions, the Barracudas made it 9-3. The game was decided. Not only the result of 5-13, but also the number of hits with 7-14 and 6-3 errors show that the Challengers were inferior in all respects of the game.
Challengers lose again against Barracudas
Wild local derby in the NLB
The NLB-Teams of the Zurich Challengers and the Zurich Barracudas fought a wild double header on Saturday. 56 runs, 50 hits, 40 walks and 27 errors are impressive numbers for 14 innings played. And in the end there was a win for both teams.
The start of the first game already gave an idea of where things could lead. The Challengers’ young guard gave them a 5-0 lead. Noam Müller, Jack Siemers, Florin Kampfer, Jordi Bucher and, on a wild pitch, Andreas Rüdisühli provided the runs. But after the first inning it was 5-5. The game went wild with several twists, turns and confusions. After five innings the game was tied at 17-17. Then the Challengers benefited from three errors by the Barracudas and took the lead once again with 20-17. Joseph Stotz took over as pitcher for the Challengers and stepped the bleeding. Apart from an RBI triple, he didn’t let any Barracudas runner score, so the Challengers were able to celebrate a memorable 20-18 victory. Florin Kampfer went 4-for-4 with 4 RBI, while Samuel Rodríguez Bautista, Thomas Landis, Juan Francisco Robles and Andreas Rüdisühli each had two hits.
And there was little missing for the Challengers to have followed up with a second win. The guests led 5-4 until the sixth inning. This was mainly thanks to four runs in the second inning, when the Challengers took a 4-2 lead with an RBI-single from Adderly Sarmiento, an RBI from Andreas Rüdisühli and a 2-run double from Honey Gigato Romero. But the Barracudas scored nine runs on nine hits in the sixth inning and took Game 2 by a score of 13-5. Honey Gigato Romero led the offense with three hits, while Adderly Sarmiento and Jack Siemers each delivered two hits.
Challengers lose Friday night game
The Challengers once again fell behind early in the local derby. Since the offensive remains pale this Friday evening, the early deficit weighs too heavily. The Barracudas left the field as winners with a score of 8-5.
This circumstance runs like a common thread through the title holder’s season so far. The Challengers regularly oversleep the start and are repeatedly confronted with a large deficit. The strong offense was able to correct the initial damage a few times, but against the Zurich Barracudas and their young pitchers they were not able to turn things around.
The game was marked by many errors. Of the 13 runs scored, only five were earned. The Barracudas took a 2-0 lead in the first frame thanks, among other things, to a costly error. The home team followed up with three more runs in the third inning. And the Challengers’ first run, an RBI-single by Säntis Zeller, was followed by two more runs in the fourth inning to make it 7-1. Now the guests jumped in as well. Robert Sedin cut the lead to 2-7 with an RBI-single before the Barracudas gave up three runs on two errors in the sixth inning with the bases loaded. However, Barracudas closer Alex Bruce shut the door in the final two innings. On Sunday afternoon the Challengers have the chance for a revenge. At 3 p.m. there will be another local derby in the Heerenschürli ballpark.
Derby weekend
Next weekend the local rivals Zurich Challengers and Zurich Barracudas will face each other four times in the Heerenschürli ballpark in Zurich-Schwamendingen. There are two games scheduled in the NLA on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon, while the NLB teams meet in a doubleheader on Saturday.
The NLA-Teams open the weekend with a night game on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. No duel in Swiss baseball history has been as evenly matched as the Zurich local derby. In the past 30 years the two teams have met 139 times. The statistics show 70-69 wins in favor of the Challengers. And so far this season the duel is even at 1-1 after both teams clearly won one game on the opening weekend. The second game is scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m.
There will also be a clash between the Barracudas and the Challengers in the NLB. These games take place on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. And here too, both teams won one game each in the first meeting on the opening weekend.
The only team not involved in a local derby on the weekend is the Softball-Team. The women will meet the Sissach Frogs on Saturday. The games start at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in Sissach Tannbrunn.
Cadets sweep Pirates at Wil
The U15 Cadets shine in game 1 with a no-hitter and a 16-0 win. The second game is much more competitive, but ends with another success for the Challengers with the score of 9-7.
Jasper Freigang and Ilai Blickenstorfer managed a rare no-hitter in the first game of the day. They faced the minimum of 15 batters as the Challengers defense came out the Pirates’ only two baserunners by caught stealings. The Zurich offense needed a moment to get up to speed. After one run in the first inning, the Challengers made the paved the way with five runs in the second. In the end, they scored a total of 16 runs. Ilai Blickenstorfer had three hits and one RBI, Noam Müller delivered two hits and three RBI, while Jasper Freigang, Fabrizio Bucher and Jimmy Siemers each contributed two hits.
The second game was a lot tighter. The Pirates initially took a 2-0 lead and then cut the deficit to 5-7 in the fourth inning. But the Challengers always had an answer. Five runs in the first inning created a cushion and they immediately increased the lead to 9-5 in the second half of the fourth inning. The home team loaded the bases in the last inning and got within 7-9 thanks to two walks, but the Challengers were able to end the threat with a somewhat fortunate double play.
Juveniles with two nailbiters
The U12-Juveniles played two close games on Sunday at Lucerne. In game 1 the Challengers came out at the false end, as they lost the game against the SG Eagles/Unicorns 2-3. Game 2 was the same but different. Against the Rümlang Kobras the final result was again 3-2, this time in favor of the Challengers.
Continue Reading » Juveniles with two nailbitersChallengers stay at .500
The Zurich Challengers also end the third gameday of the 2024 season with a split. In the first game of the day they erased a six-run deficit to finally celebrate a 11-7 win, but lost game 2 to the Wil Pirates 1-2.
The initial phase of the encounter with the Eastern Swiss was a complete failure. The Pirates took a 7-1 lead also thanks to five runs in the second inning. Ryan Byrne got the initial spark for the Challengers in the third inning. He opened the frame with a successful bunt single and scored on a mistake by the Wil defense. The Zurich team cut the deficit to 4-7 thanks to runs from Säntis Zeller and Regis Reinhard and an RBI single from Carsten Zuber in his first game with the Challengers. Now the home team was in the game as well. The Challengers finally took control in the sixth inning. Simon Steffen with an RBI single, Ryan Byrne with a 2-run double, Regis Reinhard with a sac fly and last but not least Robert Sedin with a home run over the wall in left field gave the C’s a 10-7 lead. The relief pitchers James Sanders and Regis Reinhard brought the game to the finish line. The latter delivered another RBI-single to make it 11-7.
Ryan Byrne led the offense with three hits and two RBI, Regis Reinhard had two hits and two RBI, while Robert Sedin, Carsten Zuber and Patrick Maier all contributed two hits in the win.
Game 2 developed into a pitcher’s duel between ex-Challengers pitcher Andrea Girasole for the Pirates and left-hander Ryan Byrne on the Challengers’ side. In the first inning, no one could have guessed that the Pirates’ two runs would be enough to win. The guests scored two runs with one hit as they made maximum use of the Zurich defense’s inaccuracies with stolen bases, a wild pitch, a passed ball and an error. Byrne did not allow any further damage to occur. He gave up just three hits in seven innings with two runs, one earned, two walks and an incredible 15 strikeouts. The fact that this wasn’t enough to win was due to the opponent. Girasole kept Zurich’s offense in check throughout the entire game. He went through seven innings throwing just 84 pitches, giving up eight hits and just one run, an RBI single from Patrick Maier in the second inning, with four strikeouts and no walks. So after six games and a record of 3-3, the Challengers remain at .500.
Challengers host Wil Pirates
Next Saturday the Wil Pirates will be welcomed at the Heerenschürli ballpark for a NLA doubleheader. According to the statistics this will be a classic duel between David and Goliath. In 57 meetings between Wil and the Challengers so far, the Zurich team have walked away with a win 53 times. The Eastern Swiss are in their tenth NLA season in a row and have become the fourth power in Swiss baseball over the years. The game starts at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The U15 Cadets will also meet Wil this weekend. The Challengers will travel to the Äbtestadt on Sunday, where they will play against the SG Pirates at the Lindenhof at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
The U12 Juveniles have to go to Central Switzerland on Sunday. In Lucerne they will meet the SG Eagles/Unicorns at 10 a.m. before facing the Rümlang Kobras at 12:30 p.m., against whom they have already won twice on Opening Day. The games will be played in Reussbühl Hinterruopigen.
NLB-Team loses twice to Unicorns
The NLB-Team keeps up well with the strong Hünenberg Unicorns, but has a bad third inning in both games, the burden of which is too heavy.
The Central Swiss team is launching a new NLB-Team in the 2024 season. The Unicorns added a lot of quality so that they should be able to finish in the upper half of the standings. Nevertheless the Challengers held up well for long stretches. The reason for the two defeats was the third inning on both occasions. In the first game, the Unicorns erupted for nine runs for a 12-0 lead. But the home team showed good fighting spirit and scored six unanswered runs to make it 6-12. In the second game the Unicorns again pulled ahead in the third with seven runs to 10-2. Ultimately they won 13-3. The Challengers undoubtedly have room for improvement on offense. In both games they only managed a total of four hits.
Challengers with split against Flyers
Normally, games between the arch-rivals Zurich Challengers and Therwil Flyers offer material for drama. However on Saturday there were two one-sided games with one win for both teams each.
The early start of the season and the recent difficult training conditions due to the weather did not contribute to an increase in quality. Compared to the final series of 2023 a lot of things were still fragmented and the error rate – in the area of so-called mental errors as well – was relatively high. Game one was decided in the fourth inning. The Flyers opened the gap to 9-1 with seven runs and the Baselbieters almost immediately countered a rally by the Challengers. In the end the guests won 16-6. The man of the game was undoubtedly Sven Leemann, who was largely responsible for the difference with four hits, four RBI and a three-run home run in the sixth inning. On the Zurich side, Regis Reinhard stood out with three hits, while Leonel Sosa Marte and Rob Sedin each delivered two hits.
As on the opening weekend against city rivals Zurich Barracudas the Challengers also managed an impressive response against the Flyers. Pitcher Ryan Byrne delivered a two-hitter, allowing just two runs – one earned – with four walks and six strikeouts. Meanwhile, the Challengers showed more patience at the plate than in other games. With thirteen walks and well-timed hits they produced 17 runs and finished the game after five innings with a 17-2 victory. Leonel Sosa Marte and Säntis Zeller each contributed two hits, Rob Sedin collected three RBI, while Ryan Byrne, Regis Reinhard and Tobias Siegrist scored three runs each.