Challengers outlast Flyers in nine, 4-3

Just as in the first contest, the two teams played to a tie after seven innings.

And this time, it took the two teams even nine innings to finally find a winner.

An error by third baseman Stefan Koller enabled Harry Bregy to come around with the winning run in a 4-3 victory.

The Challengers used five pitchers , with Thomas Landis ending up as the winner.

Player coach Anthony Bennett picked up his second save of the season by throwing the final inning, allowing only one baserunner due to an error.

The Challengers scored first as another misplay by Koller in the second inning led to the first run of the game.

A successful first & third double steal put one more run on the board for the Challengers for a 2-0 lead.

They even managed to score one more unearned run off starter Reto Siegel in the fourth inning as Thomas Landis' RBI-double plated Anubis Benitez from second base.

The Flyers couldn't answer starter Oliver Labhart's stuff and managed to score only one single run in the first four innings.

But after walking the first batter to lead off the fifth inning, coach Bennett decided it was not worth taking a gamble with the top of the lineup coming up.

He summoned rookie relieved Thomas Burger onto the mound, and it paid off as Reto Siegel grounded into a 4-6 fielder's choice that got Nelson Vilomar at second base.

But Burger walked Matthias Jung and Seppi Zwyer reached on first baseman Harry Bregy's error to load the bases with no outs.

After he walked Castillo to force in a run, Guillermo Castro replaced Burger on the mound.

Castro joined the Challengers this spring training. He has already spent a couple of years in Switzerland with the Zurich Barracudas and the Embrach Rainbows mainly as a pitcher.

He managed to get LaTorre to ground into a bases-loaded 3-2 force play for the second out.

But he lost Koller to four balls to force in another run, enabling the Flyers to tie the game.

But Karim Traore then lined out to left field to end the threat.

From the sixth through the eighth inning, neither team managed to get a runner past second base.

The Challengers had runners at first and second base with two outs in the sixth inning, but reliever Nelson Vilomar retired the next nine batters he faced in order.

For the Challengers, Thomas Landis took the mound in the sixth inning, and in each of the three innings he pitched in, he had a runner at second base. But neither of them scored.

In the top of the ninth inning, Jose Castillo was on the mound for the Flyers, and he quickly retired the first two batters.

But light-hitting Bregy singled and stole second base.

Tobias Siegrist followed with a grounder to third baseman Koller who picked up the ball and made a wide throw, enabling Bregy to score all the way.

That run proved to be enough as player coach Bennett put himself on the mound to close out the game.

The first batter reached on a fielding error by third baseman Chris Palatinus, but Bennett got LaTorre to pop up to second baseman Thomas Blank for the first out.

Koller then stepped to the plate and lined the first pitch right back to the mound into Bennett's glove, enabling him to easily double Castillo off first base to end the game.

Game notes
The Challengers went into extra innings for already the third time in their last four games.