The Softball Team Zürich with players from the Zürich Barracudas and the Challengers played its first game ever on Sunday, May 4 at Rümlang, as they faced the Luzern Eagles. And the season opener was a roller coaster. Both teams blew a four-run lead and the crowd saw several lead changes, a grand slam and a seventh inning rally. The Eagles built a 4-0 lead, before Leandra Simitovic drove in Corina Grass for the first run for the Team Zürich in the bottom of the third inning. And a few batters later with the bases loaded Giulia Oswald belted a grand slam over the center field fence that also scored Simitovic, Ronja Weber and Simona Cellar to make it 5-4.
The Team Zürich extended its lead to four runs in the fourth, but the ladies opened the door again for the Eagles, as they committed four two-out errors in the top of the sixth, that resulted in four runs and a tied ball game. Indeed they grabed the lead again, as Oswald drove in Cellar in the bottom of the sixth, but the Eagles answered right away with five runs in the seventh to eventually win 13-10.
Game 2 was all Eagles, as they cruised to an easy 26-0 victory for an opening day sweep. The Team Zürich will face next the Bern Cardinals on May 18 at Bern.
Softball Team Zürich loses opener
NLB-Team starts with sweep vs Unicorns
The NLB-Team had a successful start into their 2014 campaign, as they swept the Hünenberg Unicorns on Sunday, May 4. The Challengers opened with a 14-4 win, as Kurt Kovac, Carlos Nepomuceno, Michael Torres and Gregory Zingg had two hits each and Nick Lehmann struck out seven in five innings allowing tree runs and seven hits. And the C's added a 16-6 victory over the Unicorns in Game 2 to make it six in a row against Hünenberg.
On Sunday, May 11 the C's will face the Zürich Barracudas at the Heerenschürli ballpark.
Challengers win local derby 14-1
The Challengers stopped their three game losing-streak with an easy 14-1 win over the Zürich Lions on Saturday, May 3, but it wasn't an easy game day at all. The start of the double header has been delayed twice due to rain for a total of three hours. Instead of a double header only a single game was played.
The C's opened the game with a single from Eidrys Reyes and scored twice in the first inning. And they never looked back en route to a 14-1 victory. Starter Harry Bregy gave up only one earned run in the bottom of the first inning, but that was all Bregy and the bullpen allowed, as Thomas Burger and Ryan Byrne added three scoreless innings of relief. Head coach Chris Palatinus was pleased with the performance. "The guys did, what I wanted them to do. It's never easy to stay focused with the freezing weather and the delays, especially when you have a big lead", Palatinus said. The C's are now tied for fourth palce with a 2-3 record. No make-up date has been announced so far for Game 2 of the double header.
1st League-Team adds two wins
The 1st League-Team continued its winning ways in the 2014 season. The red hot SG TruckStar/Challengers edged the third team of the Zürich Barracudas 5-4, before posting a 21-7 victory over the Yverdon Golgoths on Saturday, May 3. Former Challengers player Gabe Staub struck out 12 to win Game 1, while Kurt Kovac kept the opponents bats quiet in Game 2. The SG TruckStar/Challengers has now a 3-1 record. (Photo by TruckStar)
Arbeitsreiches Wochenende für die Challengers
Das NLA-Team trifft am Samstag, 3. Mai im Baseballstadion Heerenschürli auf den Lokalrivalen Zürich Lions. Beide Teams verzeichneten einen veritablen Fehlstart in die neue Saison und finden sich deshalb am Schluss der Rangliste. Die Challengers werden versuchen ihre Negativserie von drei Niederlagen en suite zu stoppen. Gegen die Lions gewannen sie letzte Saison drei von vier Partien und elf von zwölf seit dem Wiederaufstieg der Lions vor drei Jahren. Die Spiele beginnen um 11.00 und 14.00 Uhr.
Dem Doubleheader folgt um 19.00 Uhr ein Night Game im Heerenschürli, wobei die Therwil Flyers bei den Zürich Barracudas zu Gast sein werden.
Saisonpremiere feiert das NLB-Team am Sonntag, 4. Mai in Hünenberg gegen die Unicorns. Die Challengers, die im Vorjahr das Finale erreichten, gewannen in der vergangenen Saison alle vier Partien gegen die Innerschweizer. Spielbeginn ist um 11.00 und 14.00 Uhr in Hünenberg Wartstrasse.
Das 1.Liga-Team spielt am Samstag, 3. Mai gegen die dritte Equipe der Zürich Barracudas und die Yverdon Golgoths. Die SG TruckStar/Challengers wird versuchen, ihren zweiten Saisonsieg zu feiern, nachdem es am Opening Day einen Splitt gab. Die Spiele starten um 10.00 und 15.00 Uhr in Dulliken auf dem Sportplatz Untere Ey.
Das Softball Team Zürich eröffnet seine erste Saison am Sonntag, 4. Mai in Rümlang gegen die Luzern Eagles. Das Team mit Spielerinnen der Zürich Barracudas und der Challengers spielt seine ersten Partien als Spielgemeinschaft. Die Begegnungen beginnen um 11.00 und 13.30 Uhr in Rümlang Rümelbach.
U18 Gameday rained out
The U18 Gameday scheduled for Sunday, April 27 at the Heerenschürli ballpark had to be canceled due to rain.
Der U18 Spieltag vom Sonntag, 27. April im Baseballstadion Heerenschürli wurde wegen Regens abgesagt.
U18 Spieltag im Heerenschürli
Der erste Spieltag der U18 Meisterschaft findet am Sonntag, 27. April im Baseballstadion Heerenschürli statt. In diesem Jahr nehmen vier Teams an der Meisterschaft der ältesten Juniorenklasse teil, wobei jedes Team an drei der vier Spieltagen antritt.
Die Challengers, die auch in dieser Altersklasse eine Spielgemeinschaft mit den Dulliken TruckStar haben, treffen am Sonntag auf die Vikings/Unicorns und die Zürich Barracudas. Spielfrei sind die Cardinals/Hunters/Golgoths. Spielbeginn ist um 12.30 und 15.00 Uhr.
Nein zur kantonalen Volksinitiative
Liebe Sportfreunde
Am 18. Mai 2014 kommt die Initiative „Keine Werbung für alkoholische Getränke auf Sportplätzen sowie an Sportveranstaltungen im Kanton Zürich“ zur Abstimmung. Mit dieser Initiative gefährdet das Blaue Kreuz als Initiantin die Existenz der 2300 Sportvereine im Kanton Zürich. Für diese unsportliche Tätlichkeit zeigt der Zürcher Kantonalverband für Sport (ZKS) dem Blauen Kreuz Kanton Zürich die rote Karte. Denn keine andere Institution ausser dem Vereinssport trägt täglich auch nur annähernd so viel zur Volksgesundheit, zur Jugendarbeit und damit zur Suchtprävention bei.
Seitens ZKS – Zürcher Kantonalverband für Sport lassen wir nicht zu, dass das Blaue Kreuz dem Vereinssport einen irreparablen Schaden zufügt. Deshalb haben wir per Anfang April unsere Kampagne gestartet.
Damit wir die Initiative mit einem wuchtigen Nein bachab schicken können, brauchen wir breite Unterstützung – auch Eure! Hier sind unsere wichtigsten Argumente aufgeführt, die zwingend gegen die Initiative sprechen, sowie wichtige Informationen, wie der Vereinssport im Kanton Zürich unterstützt werden kann, damit wir den Abstimmungskampf klar gewinnen. Herzlichen Dank für Euren Einsatz!
Sportliche Grüsse
Yolanda Gottardi Geschäftsführerin Zürcher Kantonalverband für Sport (ZKS)
PS: Wenn ihr noch mehr Gründe brauchst: Hier geht es zu unserem Argumentarium (PDF).
Stimmt am 18. Mai klar NEIN!
C’s lose twice to Eagles
The Challengers were downed by the Luzern Eagles on Sunday, April 13, as the Eagles swept the C's winning 11-4 and 11-9. The games were overshadowed by an injury of second baseman Eidrys Reyes in Game 2. Running for a blooper Reyes and right fielder Carlos Nepomuceno collided heavily. Reyes broke down and had to be taken to the hospital with a strong suspicion of concussion. The game continued after a 1 hour injury delay with the Eagles tying the game first and eventually walking away with an 11-9 win in extra-innings – more than eight hours after the first pitch of the day.
The Eagles already took Game 1, as they immediately arrived on the scoreboard scoring twice in the first frame against starter Ryan Byrne and erasing the lead to 5-1 after four innings. The C's stranded runners on third three times, while the Eagles added three runs in the eight and ninth innings delivering a total of six extra-base hits to make it 11-1 and eventually winning 11-4. The C's have now a 1-3 record after losing three in-a-row. They face next the Zürich Lions on May 3 at the Heerenschürli ballpark.
New year, new chance – and a win
Saturday, April 12 marked the season opener for the SG Truck Star/Challengers in 1st league baseball. In the team’s inaugural season last year, it was not able to get a single win. So, all members hoped that 2014 will change that. With the Zurich Eighters West and the reconstructed Bern Cardinals II as opponents, the chances for a W were non-zero. And right in the first game of the year, the SG was able to win its first ever game vs. the Eighters. The loss to Bern afterwards was only a side note.
The SG travelled to Bern knowing that whatever happens to any player, there will be a replacement as the team was about 20 players strong. Therefore, the big challenge for the day was go give all players some playing time. But new manager Alexia Zingg mastered that task easily.
From the beginning the tactic of the SG was to win the first game against the Eighters. So, the coaching staff sent the best players to the field including the two experienced players Kurt Kovac and Werner Zingg, who both came to support the SG on and off the field. Many thanks to both of you!!! On the mound, Gabe Staub gave his comeback in a Truck Star uniform. While warming up, it was obvious to everybody that his arm hasn’t lost anything and still fired lightning strikes. The SG Truck Star/Challengers was the away team in the first game, so they had to bat first. And thanks to an RBI groundout by Michel Romang, the team went up 1-0. It was then time for Staub to pitch. And how he threw it was pretty clear that the Eigthers had a big problem. They were obviously not used to seeing fastballs at that speed and were late almost everytime they swung, prompting the defense to shift to opposite field. It was to no surprise that the score was still 1-0 after one inning.
In the 2nd frame, the SG added 3 more runs to build a bit of a margin. This was definitely necessary as the defense – when a ball was put in play – did show some rust and had trouble fielding the ball cleanly. But as Staub was doing most of the work by striking out opposing hitters, it wasn’t that big of a deal, even though the Eigthers scored a run in the bottom of inning 2. But they had their problems too. Both pitchers struggled to find the strike zone and when they found it, the SG hitters were ready to square up: Nicolas Motte missed a grand slam by only about 2 meters, giving him a 3-run double. Kurt Kovac however did not miss and hit a huge 2-run home run. By the end of the 2 hours the SG had its first win in team history by a score of 17-4.
The second game of the day against the Bern Cardinals II didn’t go that smoothly. Before the first pitch, the coaching staff made clear that the main goal was to give everybody some playing time. As the score was 10-0 after 2 innings for the Cardinals, it was easily possible to give the rookies such as Robin and Dominik Gisin, Pedro Lorenzo and Ilario Scapozza some time in the outfield. By the end of the game the crafted scoreboard read SG Truck Star/Challengers 5, Bern Cardinals 18. The result wasn’t of much importance to the team. It was obvious that the defense needed a lot of work in the upcoming weeks to be ready for the next games on May 3rd in Dulliken. But the thing nobody can take away anymore is the team’s first win! Well done, guys!