Challengers take over 1st place with 19-13 triumph

The NLB-team of the Challengers is on a roll, beating the Chur Braves 19-13 in another 4-hour marathon on Sunday.

The two teams combined for 25 hits, 14 errors, 29 walks and had a total of 31 men left on base.

The Challengers opened the scoring in the first inning and quickly scored six runs off starter Rütti on RBI-singles by Christian Bülte, Oliver Labhart and Wolfgang Laabs, an RBI-double by Patrick Bosshard, a bases-loaded walk to Protim Datta and Willy Schaub's sac fly for a 6-0 lead.

The Challengers went on to extend their lead to 10-2 in the second inning, and by the fifth frame, they held on to a comfortable 13-2 lead.

Harry Bregy managed to keep the Braves in check by pitching 5+ innings, giving up seven runs - four of them unearned - on four hits and eight walks, and also striking out eight. With that preformance, he earned his team-leading third win of the year.

The Braves managed to get closer by the eighth inning, profiting from several mistakes by the Challenger defense.

After eight frames, the score was 15-12 in favor of the Challengers.

In the top of the ninth, Bosshard then put away the game with his second homer of the season, a three-run shot that scored Manuel Schretzmann and Bülte who both reached on fielding errors.

Laabs added an insurance run with his second RBI-single of the game.

Game notes: Bülte played his first game for the Challengers this year and went 2-for-6, scored four runs, collected an RBI, but also commited three errors in the field. ...Starting second baseman Schretzmann went hitless in five at-bats and dropped his batting average to .050 (1-for-20). ...Rookie Datta struck out four times and has now a team-leading eight strikeouts in 11 at-bats this season.