Challengers almost shutout Eagles in season opener

The Challengers started with a convincing 8-2 win over the Reussbühl Eagles into the 2004 season.

	Harry Bregy had a shutout going into the final inning.

Sunday's Game 1 saw the first game played in the NLA with wooden bats, and it was a good one.

If the score is an indicator for things to come, then the NLA will see a lot of good games and a season full of excitement.

Maybe that was the reason why starter Harry Bregy didn't allow a run in the first six innings. But striking out nine batters could have been done with aluminum bats, as well.

Through the first six innings, Eagles' first baseman Tom Huston was the only runner to ever reach third base.

Other than that, Bregy and his defense did a great job shutting down a strong Eagles offense.

A throwing error by third baseman Chris Palatinus and a blunder by shortstop Patrick Zöllig enabled the Eagles to score their first run.

Jerome Müller also came around three batters later to give his team the second run.

The Challengers' offense combined for ten hits off knuckleballer Müller to score eight runs - two of them unearned.

	Roger Brunner went 2-for-3 and had a game-high three RBI's.

Four Challenger players had two hits each, with Thomas Landis and Roger Brunner being the only ones with extra-base hits.

Brunner also collected a game-high three RBI's.

By scoring five runs in the first three innings, the Challengers put a lot on pressure on the Eagles since scoring runs in bunches has become more difficult after the switch to wooden bats.

Brunner's RBI-single and rookie Thomas Blank's two-run single put the first runs on the board for the Challengers.

Brunner's two-run double in the next inning already gave his team a huge advantage.

Palatinus' sac fly and Landis' run-scoring ground out in the fourth inning further bolstered the Challengers' lead.

Landis' RBI-double in the sixth inning scored the eighth and final run for the Challengers.

Game notes
Bregy's complete game was his first since July 21, 2001 when he allowed just one run against the Wil Devils. ...In the sixth inning, Brunner grounded out to second in his 500th NLA at-bat. ...Palatinus had a sac fly and a sac bunt in the game, making him the only player to collect at least one sacrifice in all of his 10 NLA seasons.