Challengers dominate Eagles with 17-1 win

The Challengers had no intention to play another nailbiter against the underdogs Reussbühl Eagles in Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader.

	Benny Räber left with a no-hit shutout after five innings with soreness in his throwing arm.

In Game 1, the Challengers came away with a hard-fought 5-4 win, but this time their offense kicked into a higher gear and collected 14 hits en route to a convincing 17-1 win.

The Challengers also profited from a lackluster Eagles defense that committed eight errors, compared to just one by the Challengers.

The Challengers opened the gates already in the first inning as four unearned runs crossed the plate off starter Peratta.

Roger Brunner had a run-scoring ground out, and catcher Nick Lehmann added a two-run single.

Manny Marchant's RBI-single in the next inning added one more run, but the real damage was done in the third inning when Harry Bregy greeted reliever Marcel Enz with a double.

Lehmann followed with a single, and Thomas Landis plated both runners with a two-run single.

Marchant followed with a two-run single of his own.

Brunner collected another RBI with his fifth double of the season, and Chris Palatinus capped the inning with an RBI-single.

The Eagles were lucky to escape the ininng as Bregy ended it by grounding into a rare 5-4 double play.

There was no score in the fourth inning, but the Challengers scored three times in the fifth.

Landis and Marchant led it off with back-to-back doubles, and two more errors pushed the Challengers' lead to 14-0.

Meanwhile, starter Benny Räber was working a no-hit shutout through five innings before he had to leave the game due to soreness in his throwing shoulder.

He pitched to just four batters above the minimum of 15 batters in five innings, and only two of them ever reached third base.

He walked six batters, but Räber picked one of them off second base, and the other one got erased in a 4-6-3 double play.

Closer Marchant came on, and he promptly gave up the first Eagle hit, a single to Enz.

He went on to score the only opposing run as third baseman Kurt Kovac committed his third error of the season on a ground ball.

But Marchant retired the final five batters he faced to seal the Challengers' win.

Game notes
Armin Blickenstorfer">Armin Blickenstorfer struck out looking in the sixth inning. It was his 500th NLA at-bat. ...The Challengers are 8-0 against the Eagles in the last two seasons.