Challengers clinch playoff spot in second-to-last inning of regular season

The Challengers battled all the way to the finish line to grab the fourth and final Playoff spot, outlasting the Therwil Flyers 8-6.

With the win, the Challengers finish the regular season with a 12-12 record, tying the Zürich Barracudas, but getting the edge thanks to fewer runs allowed in their direct encounters, which they split 2-2.

Yonimiler Martinez went 3-for-5 with the game-winning two-run homer in the eighth, his third of the season, and four RBIs, Brian Hipps also collected three hits to raise his team-leading batting average to .476, and James Sanders was flown in to pick up the win in a complete game effort.

Sanders (4-0) scattered eight hits and allowed a season-high five earned runs, raising his ERA to 1.41. He struck out four, but also walked five and hit four batters, but proceeded to pick up his fourth win of the season.

The Challengers feasted early on starter John Tucker, getting four runs in the first three innings on seven hits, three of them for extra bases.

The Flyers scored just one unearned run in that span, but broke loose against Sanders in the fourth. Two hit-by-pitches, RBI-singles by Reto Siegel, Stefan Koller and Ianis Bouteloup, and an RBI-double by Daniel Eichenberger gave the Flyers a 5-4 lead.

The Challengers came back to tie it in the next inning as Tom Huston scored on two errors by shortstop Takanobu Oshima and first baseman Eichenberger, who threw the ball into he stands, trying to get Huston at third base after Thomas Blank reached on Oshima's throwing error to first.

The Flyers retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning as Oshima made up for his error with an RBI-single that scored Seppi Zwyer from third.

But the Challengers again managed to knot the score at 6 apiece in the next inning as Tobias Siegrist scored on Yonimiler Martinez' fielder's choice.

Neither team scored in the seventh inning, largely thanks to an 8-2 double play by Yonimiler Martinez, nailing Michel LaTorre at home.

And that same Yonimiler Martinez tagged reliever Hideori Oshima with a drive over the left center field fences for an 8-6 lead that stood until the end.

Game notes
The 2010 Challengers are the first team to reach the Playoffs with a .500 record since the Bern Cardinals and Embrach Rainbows both did it in 2000. ...Ueli von Burg picked up his 50th RBI with the Challengers as he hit an RBI-single in the third.