Challengers 24, Rainbows 4

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Thomas Landis went the distance in Game 1, giving up three earned runs on three hits and seven walks while striking out 10.

Thomas Landis (1-0) pitched a complete-game three-hitter while his offense provided him with a huge lead by collecting 21 hits en route to a 24-4 victory over the Embrach Rainbows in Game 1 on Sunday.

The Challengers took a 4-run lead after the first inning on Saentis Zeller's triple, followed by Gary Kochlefl's RBI-double and two more hits by Anubis Benitez and Nick Lehmann.

By scoring four more in the second frame, the Challengers already had an 8-1 lead, but they didn't stop there. They profited from three errors by the Rainbows' defense in the third and scored five times for a commanding 13-2 lead after just three innings.

Rainbows shortstop Height collected his team's only RBI's by taking Landis deep twice in the 2nd and 5th inning.

The Rainbows scored on center fielder Patrick Bosshard's throwing error in the 3rd inning and scored another run in the 7th inning on Landis' balk with runners on 1st and 3rd.

Rainbows starter Roger Savoldelli had a rough outing as he allowed 14 runs - six of them unearned - on 13 hits before he was lifted in favor of Peter Schittenhelm at the beginning of the fifth inning.

The first five batters Schittenhelm faced promptly got on base before he was able to retire Saentis Zeller on a hard liner to center field that scored Bosshard from third. He didn't get much support from his defense either, though, as they committed five errors in his two innings that led to six unearned runs.

Youngster Nicki Lehmann, last year's Most improved Player and Best Fielder with the Challengers, collected a game-high four hits in five at-bats, including a double, and batting in three. He allowed just two basestealers and had only one passed ball compared to four by the Rainbows' catchers.

Catcher Nick Lehmann went 4-for-5 with a double and 3 RBI's.

The Challengers were also running aggressively on the basepaths, going 11-0 in steal attempts. The only negative was Kochlefl's pickoff at 1st base by Savoldelli.

The Challengers were able to score at least once in every inning while limiting the Rainbows to four run-scoring innings. They scored a single run in each of the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 7th innings.

Although the two teams combined for 28 runs and 24 hits (and 16 errors), the seven-inning contest lasted just 2 hours and 30 minutes.