Challengers roll to easy 15-5 win

The Challengers maintained their torrid hitting in a 15-5 win over the Zurich Barracudas in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader.

	Thomas Landis led his team with four hits, four RBI's and four runs scored.

The Challenger lineup combined for 15 hits in 34 at-bats against starter Nicco Kölliker to push their league-leading team batting average to .443.

Thomas Landis led the charge by going 4-for-4, including a homer, two doubles, a single, four runs scored and collecting four RBI's.

He also started on the mound for the first time since June 2 when he pitched a complete-game victory against the Bern Cardinals.

But after his offense gave him a 4-0 lead, he barely managed to complete the first inning, giving up run-scoring hits to Jeff Cloos and Thomas Götschi, hitting Farid Bekkali with a pitch, and also walking two batters before inducing Sandro Giambonini to pop out to the shortstop for the third out.

	Tobi Siegrist kept his 16-game hitting streak alive with a double in the first inning.

But in the second inning, Landis made sure that his lead would hold up by driving an offering from Kölliker over the center field fences for a two-run homer - his sixth of the season - that extended his team's lead to 6-3.

Landis then signaled to his coach that he was done pitching and it would be a good idea to bring a reliever.

So lefty Harry Bregy took over in the second inning, trying to protect that three-run lead.

He not just did that, but he completely shut down the Barracudas' offense over the next five innings, allowing only three hits from the second through sixth inning, with Strahil Georgiev being the only baserunner ever to reach third base.

In the meantime, Bregy's offense continued to flourish with two more runs in the fifth inning, and a six-run outburst in the top of the sixth.

	Harry Bregy pitched six innings in relief for his fourth win of the season.

In that inning alone, the Challengers sent nine batters to the plate, collecting five run-scoring hits from five different batters. A throwing error by catcher Stephan Suter led to a 15-3 lead by the Challengers.

Coach Cloos stuck with Kölliker, hoping already to get revenge in Game 2.

But the Barracudas mounted one small rally in the bottom of the seventh and final inning, putting the first three batters on with singles by Ueli Von Burg and Manu Hirtz, and a walk to Cloos.

Von Burg scored on center fielder Landis' bobble, and Bekkali's ground out to shortstop Anubis Benitez plated Hirtz for the final score of 15-5.

Bregy retired the final two batters on fly outs to the outfield for his fourth win in four tries, lowering his ERA to 3.13 by allowing just a single earned run in his six innings of work.

Game notes
Benitez' single in the second inning was his 200th NLA-hit in a Challengers uniform. ...Roger Brunner collected his 150th career RBI with a run-scoring ground out in the fifth inning.