Zürich's home for baseball and softball. Six teams from the national league to recreational slowpitch.
The U12 juveniles have once again qualified for the Final Four tournament for the Swiss championship title. This year's decider will be held on the Allmend in Bern. The tournament takes place next Sunday, August 30. As winners of the regular season in the East group, the Challengers face the Geneva Dragons, who finished second in the West group, in the semifinal at 12:00 pm. The winner of this semifinal will meet the winner of the second semifinal — contested by the Rümlang Kobras and the Bern Cardinals — in the final at 4:00 pm. The semifinal losers will play for bronze at 2:00 pm. The outcome of the tournament seems more open than ever, as no team was able to truly pull away from the competition in the regular season. The hosts, Bern Cardinals, bring the best record at 11-3.
Mon Aug 24th
After two clear wins against the Bern Cardinals a week earlier, the Challengers went into the wild card series against the same opponent as favorites. The Zurich side confirmed their fourth-place finish from the regular season in the matchup with the fifth-placed Cardinals, winning clearly once again on both occasions. The visitors needed a moment to get going. But with five runs in the second inning to make it 7-1, they set the course for victory early. After four innings, the scoreboard on the Bern Allmend showed a 17-2 win for the Challengers. Kirsten Schmidt shone with a total of two triples and two doubles, four RBIs and three runs, while Simona Cellar, Carmen Lutz-Demetz, Karen Hendren and Leandra Simitovic each contributed two hits to the clear win. Even after the break between the two games, the Zurich women picked up right where they left off. Again it was decisively 7-0 early on, and although the Cardinals also showed some good offensive plays, game 2 also went safely to the Challengers, 22-9. Kirsten Schmidt recorded three hits, including a 2-run homer in the fifth inning, four RBIs and three runs; Carmen Lutz-Demetz contributed two hits, five RBIs and three runs; Leandra Simitovic collected two hits, three RBIs and four runs; and Karen Hendren, Simone Zurschmitten and Ciara Giles-Doran also delivered multi-hit games. With these two wins, the Challengers ended the best-of-three wild card series in the fastest possible way. As a reward, they now face the playoff semifinal, again in the same format, against defending champions Wittenbach Panthers. Not only did the Panthers finish the regular season in first place, but they also celebrated the tournament win at the Women's Softball European Cup at home this week, with four wins from five games. In the final, they beat Kyiv Softball Club 4-0 in a strong performance.
Sat Aug 22nd
The U15 Cadets closed out their season with back-to-back losses in the placement round in Bern, finishing seventh overall after an unbeaten run through the regular season group stage. In the opener the Cadets fell 8-13 to Therwil Flyers' second team, before a 4-12 defeat to hosts Bern Cardinals settled the final placement. Coming into the round undefeated, the two results were a reminder of how tight the gap is between the top teams once the group stage gives way to knockout baseball — a lesson the young squad will carry into next season.
Sat Aug 22nd
What we offer
| Team | G | W | L | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Therwil Flyers 1 | 28 | 25 | 3 | .893 |
| Zürich Barracudas | 31 | 23 | 8 | .742 |
| Zürich Barracudas Academy | 25 | 18 | 7 | .720 |
| Luzern Eagles | 23 | 16 | 7 | .696 |
| Zürich Challengers 2 | 28 | 15 | 13 | .536 |
| Lausanne Indians | 26 | 13 | 13 | .500 |
| Zürich Barracudas 3 | 25 | 11 | 14 | .440 |
| Embrach Mustangs | 22 | 9 | 13 | .409 |
| Wil Pirates | 23 | 8 | 15 | .348 |
| Zürich Lions | 20 | 7 | 13 | .350 |
| Zürich Challengers | 19 | 6 | 13 | .316 |
| Sissach Frogs | 20 | 3 | 17 | .150 |
| Therwil Flyers 2 | 20 | 1 | 19 | .050 |
| Team | G | W | L | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zürich Barracudas | 21 | 15 | 6 | .714 |
| Wittenbach Panthers | 18 | 15 | 3 | .833 |
| Luzern Eagles | 20 | 11 | 9 | .550 |
| Zürich Challengers | 22 | 10 | 12 | .455 |
| Bern Cardinals | 16 | 5 | 11 | .313 |
| SG Therwil Flyers/Wittenbach Panthers | 15 | 0 | 15 | .000 |
| Team | G | W | L | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SG Wil Devils/Wittenbach-Romanshorn | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Rümlang Kobras | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 |
| SG Four Beasts United | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 |
| SG Dulliken Ravens/Sissach Frogs | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Bern Cardinals | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Therwil Flyers 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
Synced automatically from EasyScore.
In their words
What I love most about leading this club isn't the standings – it's watching a kid who joined nervous and shy become one of our loudest dugout voices two years later. That's the whole point of what we do.
My son joined Juveniles not knowing a single rule of baseball, and within a few weeks he was begging us to get to practice early. The coaches are incredibly patient, and he's made friends he sees outside the club now too.
I signed up for a trial practice on a whim, having never touched a bat in my life. Two years later I'm still playing Slowpitch every week – it's honestly the highlight of my week and the group is just so welcoming.
What keeps me here after all these years isn't just the baseball – it's that some of my closest friends in this club are people I've never even played a single game with.
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