Challengers trash Flyers 16-5 for 2-1 Series lead

In what was to be an exciting game, the Challengers turned things ugly and trashed the Therwil Flyers 16-5 in Game 3 of the best-of-five Swiss Finals.

	Thomas Landis was on top of his game again when it counted the most.

Starter Thomas Landis was matched up against Game 1 winner Alain Kurz, but the duel lasted only 3+ innings.

Although the Flyers managed to take a 2-0 lead on solo homers by Reto Siegel to lead off the game and Jacob Clinton, the Challengers never panicked and put together the biggest inning of the season, if not in Challengers history.

The team batted around twice in the fourth inning against three Flyer pitchers, scoring 14 times for a convincing and surprising 15-2 lead after just four innings.

Kurz faced the first four batters without retiring one of them before being lifted for Stefan Koller.

But he managed to record only one out but not before having given up 10 earned runs.

Anubis Benitez had a grand-slam homer and a two-run double in that inning alone, and Landis and Tobias Siegrist also collected two hits and scored twice in that inning.

Reliever Reto Siegel took over and was greeted by an RBI-double by Armin Blickenstorfer">Armin Blickenstorfer.

But he managed to retire the next two batters to end the onslaught.

In that inning alone, the Challengers combined for 10 hits - more than the Flyers had in the entire game - , four walks and a hit-by-pitch.

They didn't stop there and got another run in the fifth inning on Landis' RBI-double.

Landis started to tire in the final two innings, loading the bases in both innings.

In the sixth, the Flyers scraped together a run on two singles and a sac fly, but left the bases loaded as Clinton struck out looking to end the inning.

In the seventh frame, Siegel and Seppi Zwyer led off with a double and a single, and Kurz' sac fly and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to Djibril Traore pushed the only runs of the inning across the plate for the Flyers.

Catcher Nico Schenk struck out looking with the bases loaded to end the game.

The Challengers will head to Therwil for Game 4 with a 2-1 lead, needing only one more victory to capture their fourth National Title in five years.

Game notes
Catcher Siegrist's RBI in the fourth inning was his 100th of his NLA-career. ...Jose Valdez' double in the third inning was his 250th hit with the Challengers in the NLA (second on the all-time list).