Challengers rally in final inning to beat Frogs 11-8 in extra innings

It took the Swiss Champions Challengers extra innings to beat the Sissach Frogs in Game 1 of Sunday's doubleheader.

	Benny Räber ended up with a no-decision after 5 2-3 innings.

The Frogs, missing last year's Playoffs by finishing fifth in the standings, added a new coach to their NLA-team, hoping to make the jump to the Final Four this season.

They started out strong by jumping to a four-run lead after the first two innings.

They put together five hits - two of them for extra bases - against starter Benny Räber while the guests produced nothing but a walk by Thomas Landis against starter Claudio Heim.

They came alive in the third inning on RBI-singles by Anubis Benitez and Jose Valdez, and Nick Lehmann's run-scoring ground out.

But the Frogs scored three more runs in the next two innings to go up 7-4. A good defensive performance by the Challengers kept the game close and prevented the Frogs from pulling away too much.

No runners crossed the plate in the fifth and sixth innings, but the Challengers lost catcher Lehmann with a dislocated ring finger after a close play at the plate.

Julian Wiedmer grounded into a fielder's choice to third baseman Valdez who picked up the ball and fired a strike to Lehmann that nailed John Updike at the plate. Lehmann and Updike collided, with Lehmann ending up as the unlucky winner.

After a short break, Lehmann went to right field and Tobias Siegrist went behind the plate. Valdez relieved Räber and had to deliver just one pitch to finish the inning.

Lehmann went to the hospital after the game.

	Jose Valdez went 2-for-6 at the plate and was the winning pitcher by throwing 2 1-3 innings in relief.

The Challengers started the seventh and final inning still trailing 7-4, but three of the first five batters reached base safely against closer Updike.

With two outs, Harry Bregy walked to load the bases, and Patrick Zöllig's patience paid off as he drew another walk to force in the sixth run for the Challengers.

Benitez then hit a hard grounder to third baseman Heim who couldn't handle the ball, allowing Siegrist to cross the plate with the tying run.

Valdez (1-0) shut out the opponents in the bottom half of the inning to send the game to extra innings.

And there the Challengers erupted for four runs against reliever Ivano Piaia, getting two extra-base hits, two walks and also profiting from a defensive blunder.

The game ended 11-8 in the Challengers' favor with Valdez collecting the win.

Game notes
It was Valdez' first win in the NLA since June 30, 2001 against the Reussbühl Eagles. ...Siegrist hit his first career triple in the eight inning off reliever Piaia. ...The Frogs stranded 15 baserunners, eight of them in scoring position.