Challengers get 10th win in a row with 22-2 rout

The Challengers won for the 10th time in a row by beating the Richterswil Athletics 22-2 in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader at the Heerenschürli.

The game was over after five innings thanks to the double-mercy rule that ends games with a run difference of 20 or more runs after five innings.

Manny Marchant set a new Swiss record by going yard four times. He finished the game going 5-for-5, scoring five times and also collecting 10 RBI's. He now leads all Challengers with 14 homers, 35 RBI's, a .566 batting average, 37 runs scored, and a slugging average of 1.434.

Thomas Landis started his second game of the season on the mound and lasted four innings, giving up only two runs on three hits and five walks, striking out four for his first win of the season.

His offense provided him with a big lead by scoring five runs in the second inning on Marchant's solo homer, an error, RBI-singles by Joe Cox and Anubis Benitez and a run-scoring ground out by rookie Harry Bregy.

Marchant's shot in the next inning scored two more, and the Challengers then exploded for 11 runs in the bottom of the fourth by sending 16 batters to the plate.

Landis and Armin Blickenstorfer">Armin Blickenstorfer had RBI-singles, Marchant, Tobias Siegrist and Benitez each added a three-run shot for an 18-2 lead after four frames.

Player-coach Andy Fleischacker pitched the final inning, retiring all three batters in order.

Marchant's grand-slam homer with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning ended the game.

Game notes: Landis' single in the 4th inning was his 333rd hit of his NLA-career. ...Chris Palatinus had his 400th NLA at-bat in the 3rd inning, popping out to left field.