Challengers force Game 5 with win in extra innings

The Challengers were one strike away from being eliminated, but refused to lose and came back from a 3-1 deficit in their final at-bat to win 4-3 in 11 innings.

James Sanders threw his second gem of the Series, pitching an unprecedented 11 innings complete game. Tobias Siegrist had the game-tying hit in the ninth, and the game winning grounder in the 11th inning, going 3-for-6 with three RBI's.

A huge error by until-then flawless second baseman Matthias Jung enabled Ueli von Burg to score from second base, sending the players and numerous fans into a frenzy.

Just like in Games 1 and 2, both teams had slow starts and couldn't score in the first two frames. In the bottom of the third, Siegrist plated his team's first run with an RBI-single off Lucas Croton.

Until then, the Flyers were held at bay by Sanders, getting only one runner as far as third base on Sanders' own faulty pickoff attempt at second base.

But the Flyers, nevertheless, took the lead in the top of the fifth thanks to a defensive lapse. Takanobu Oshima's bunt was fielded clearly by Sanders, but with first baseman Chris Palatinus charging in, and no fielder covering first base, his throw sailed into right field, enabling Michel LaTorre to score from second base.

A sacrifice bunt and a ground out later, the Flyers had a 2-1 lead.

The Challengers again found no recipe against youngster Lucas Croton, getting shut out after their lone run in the third inning.

Neither team managed to mount a serious threat in the sixth and seventh innings, before the Flyers again capitalized on two Challenger errors. Chris Blackbee hit an RBI-single that scored Daniel Eichenberger who reached on a throwing error by shortstop von Burg.

But that one run was all the Flyers could get off Sanders in that inning.

Angel Maduro's double to lead off the seventh inning made the day for Croton. On came Adrian Kaufmann, who threw two shutout innings in Game 1 one week ago. He managed to retire the next three batters on two strikeouts and a ground out.

In the next inning, the Challengers put runners on the corners with two outs, but again failed to capitalize, going into the final inning trailing 3-1.

Sanders allowed only Seppi Zwyer's single with one out, giving his team one last chance for a comeback.

Kaufmann quickly retired Maduro and Palatinus on two ground outs, and already had two strikes on Von Burg.

But von Burg drew a walk, and Sanders followed with a single.

Next up was Siegrist who hit a liner to deep left center field. Left fielder Stefan Koller raced in and dove for the ball, but missed it by inches, enabling both Von Burg and Sanders to score to tie the game.

In the tenth inning, Flyers coach Sam Faeder sent Blackbee to the mound, and he managed to retire three of the four batters he faced in that inning.

Sanders threw a perfect 11th, and the Challengers were determined to put an end to the game as the top of the lineup stepped to the plate in the bottom of the inning.

Von Burg and Sanders led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Siegrist then hit an easy grounder to second baseman Jung who fielded the ball, but then tossed it high over shortstop Oshima's outstretched glove, sending Von Burg racing home with the winning run.

The Series will shift back to Therwil for Game 5 on September 19, where the Challengers lost both games, 10-2 and 15-0. But history is on the Challengers' side as they have won their last four Playoff Series, dating back to 1999.

Game notes
Sanders' 11 innings pitched are unmatched in Challengers history. Several pitchers shared the record of nine innings until today. ...It was only the second Playoff game in Challengers history that took 11 innings. The other one was Game 4 of the 2004 Semifinals against the Zurich Barracudas on September 26, 2004. Back then, Sanders played for the Barracudas and dominated the Challengers over 5 2-3 innings in relief. The Challengers went on to win the Series a week later, and eventually beat the Flyers in four games in the Finals. ...Thomas Blank set a new career high by striking out 13 times in a season. ...Thomas Landis hit his career-high 4th sacrifice bunt of the season in the sixth inning. ...Siegrist's fielder's choice was his 200th career at-bat against the Therwil Flyers - the most against any team - batting .345 against them.