Flyers force game 5 with 14-11 win

The Therwil Flyers used their last chance in this year's Finals series and beat the Challengers 14-11 to force a deciding game 5 next weekend.

	Thomas Landis had two hits but also struck out three times for the first time in his NLA-career.

The Flyers got early to starter Benny Räber, scoring six times in the first two innings, and consequently never gave up their lead.

Räber allowed five hits in the first inning, an RBI-double to Fernando Abril, and three RBI-singles to Roy Allenspach, Karim Traore and Koller.

After giving up a double and a homer to Reto Siegel to start the second inning, Räber was replaced with Thomas Landis.

Räber pitched just 1+ inning for his shortest outing of the season, giving up six earned runs on seven hits and one base-on-balls.

In the meantime, the Challengers were held to just a single run by Alain Kurz in the first inning on Landis' RBI-single.

	Roy Allenspach got the victory by pitching three innings in relief. He was later tossed for hitting two batters with a pitch.

But Kurz didn't last longer than Räber, getting the hook in the bottom of the first inning, as well. Allenspach took over, and he kept the Challengers scoreless through the next three innings.

The Flyers added to their run total by scoring four times in the top of the fourth on a fielding error by third baseman Anubis Benitez and a two-run homer by Allenspach for a 10-1 lead.

Then Allenspach started the bottom of the fifth inning hitting the first two batters with a pitch. Plate umpire Chuck Vail showed no mercy and immediately tossed Allenspach from the game.

	Jose Valdez hit two three-run homers to extend his record to 25 four-baggers in a single season.

Then it was up to Siegel to take over on the mound, and he was greeted by Jose Valdez who hit his 24th homer of the season, a three-run blast over the center field fences.

Siegel was yanked before managing to retire a single batter, and Kurz again took over. He gave up two walks with the bases-loaded to force in two more runs before finally getting out of the inning.

But the Challengers cut the Flyers' lead to 10-6 after five innings.

Landis gave up two more earned runs in the sixth inning as catcher Ivano Piaia hit his fourth homer of the Series with two outs to give his team a 12-6 advantage.

After the Challengers managed to score one more run in the bottom of the seventh on Bryan Shemley's solo homer, the Flyers again brought Siegel to the mound to pitch the final two innings.

And he started strong as he gave up a single, but then retired the next three batters he faced on strikes.

By the middle of the ninth inning, his offense provided him with a comfortable 14-7 lead.

He started the final inning by striking out pinch hitter Manny Marchant, allowing a double to Shemley and retiring Joe Cox on a ground out.

But the next three batters reached as Anubis Benitez hit an RBI-single, Nick Lehmann walked, and Valdez delivered another three-run shot to cut the Challengers' deficit to 14-11.

But Siegel finally managed to get the third out, striking out Landis swinging.

The Flyers are now back in business, having tied the Series at 2 apiece, with the all-deciding game 5 to be played next weekend in Therwil.

Game Notes: Valdez broke the Challengers' single season record for most RBI's (69), collecting six in Sunday's game to give him a total of 73 on the season. ...Landis stole his 88th base in the first inning, and moved into a tie for fifth place for most career steals. ...Chris Palatinus struck out twice and tied the Challengers' single-season record for most strikeouts of 29, set by Fabian Monn in 1996 in 72 at-bats. ...Djibril Traore of the Flyers struck out five times in five at-bats.