Challengers Zürich
Mon Aug 24th
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.
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Sat Aug 22nd
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.
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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.
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Sat Aug 22nd
The Challengers open their best-of-three wild card series against the Bern Cardinals this Sunday, with the fourth and final playoff spot on the line — a new addition to this year's postseason format, pitting the fourth- and fifth-placed teams from the regular season against each other. Both of the weekend's games are scheduled on the Bern Allmend, with a potential decisive third game a week later back in Zurich if the series is split. The Challengers go in as favorites: they enter the series with momentum and already beat the Cardinals in their most recent meeting on home turf. A win on Sunday would put them one game from the playoffs.
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Fri Aug 21st
The Challengers' second team ended the interim round in the NLB with a 14-2 win against Therwil Flyers' second team. This sees the Zurich side finish the interim round in second place. As clear as the result looks, the action on the field was far from one-sided. The Flyers actually opened the scoring. After the Challengers put up four runs in the second inning — including an RBI double from Patrick Zöllig and an RBI single from Yoshihiro Miura — the home team made it 2-4 and kept the game open. It wasn't until the fifth inning that the Challengers cracked the opposing defense. Following hits from Zöllig and Miura again, as well as Shaen Bernhardt and Bastian Kämpfer, plus walks by the Siemers brothers Mike and Jack to make it 7-2, Florin Kämpfer provided the highlight of the day with a grand slam. The RBI singles from Enrique Suárez Baños, Shaen Bernhardt and Jack Siemers to make it 14-2 were just the icing on the cake. Florin Kämpfer also picked up his third win. Over five innings he gave up six hits and two runs, with four walks and ten strikeouts.
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Wed Aug 19th
The Challengers' NLA season came to a painful end with a 7-8 loss to Zürich Barracudas' second team in the decider for the fourth and final playoff spot — meaning the ten-time champions will watch the postseason from the sidelines this year. Zürich led 4-1 early, but the Barracudas chipped away to move ahead 8-4 heading into the ninth. A late rally, sparked by RBI contributions from playing coach David Castillo, who finished the game with four RBIs, plus hits from Leonel Hernandez Reyes, Säntis Zeller and Carsten Zuber, pulled the Challengers back to 7-8, and an Oliver Bernet RBI single in the ninth brought the tying run to third base. It wasn't enough — the Barracudas closed it out for their third out of the inning to end Zürich's season.
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Sun Aug 16th
The Challengers had no answer for defending champions Therwil Flyers in their final interim-round double-header, dropping both games 2-18 and 1-16 to slide to fifth place with the playoff picture tightening. It's been a season of change for the roster, and the gap to the league's best showed on the day against a Flyers side that has yet to be seriously challenged this year. Elsewhere, Zürich Barracudas' second team beat the Zürich Lions in a local derby, adding to the pressure — the Challengers now face a must-win game against the Barracudas on Wednesday just to keep their playoff hopes alive.
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Sun Aug 16th
The Challengers softball team closed out a run of five wins in barely 30 hours with a triple-header sweep of SG Flyers/Panthers at Klopstockwiese, sealing home-field advantage for the fourth playoff spot heading into the wild card round. Game one was the most one-sided of the three, a 21-2 win built on a combined no-hitter from Vianne Benz and Kirsten Schmidt, with Schmidt (2 hits, 4 RBIs), Marina Vaccaro (2 hits, 3 RBIs), Lara Müller (2 hits, 2 RBIs) and Benz (4 RBIs) all driving in runs. Game two went 11-1, with Simona Cellar's two hits including an inside-the-park home run, Karen Hendren adding two hits of her own, and Simone Zurschmitten going four innings on the mound, allowing just one run on two hits. The nightcap brought a second no-hitter of the day, this time from Carmen Lutz-Demetz, who backed up four innings of two-run ball with two hits and three RBIs at the plate as the Challengers closed out game three 12-2.
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Sat Aug 15th
Kirsten Schmidt retired all twelve batters she faced to throw a perfect game as the Challengers swept a double-header against the Bern Cardinals, moving up to fourth place in the standings in the process. Schmidt needed just 43 pitches — 32 of them strikes — across four innings to complete the perfect game in an 11-1 opener that also saw RBIs from Karen Hendren, Lara Müller and Vianne Benz, plus a Schmidt RBI double of her own. The Challengers backed it up with another win in the nightcap, where Karen Hendren and Simone Zurschmitten each collected two hits, Marina Vaccaro Brüderli drove in two runs, and Mia Matas came up with a highlight-reel line-drive catch on defense. Aline Baum's ten-pitch, six-foul-ball at-bat summed up the fight the Cardinals put up even as the Challengers pulled away.
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Wed Aug 12th
A tough week against the Barracudas continued for the club, as the NLB side fell 4-18 in their own derby matchup after the NLA team had already dropped their night games to the same opponent days earlier. The Challengers actually struck first, with Shadir Mora and Jason Wüger scoring to make it 2-0, but the Barracudas responded with six runs — four of them extra-base hits — in the third inning alone and never looked back, closing the game out early at 18-4.
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Tue Aug 11th
The Challengers came up short in both legs of this year's city derby against the Zürich Barracudas, losing the Monday and Tuesday night games 2-12 and 8-20 at Heerenschürli. The Barracudas raced to a 4-0 lead in the opener before the Challengers answered with two runs in the third, a David Castillo two-run single among the highlights, but couldn't close the gap further. The second game was tighter for longer — Zürich scored five runs on six hits in the first inning, only to hand the momentum straight back with a rash of errors that let in eight runs in the third. The Challengers stayed within reach at 7-10 through five innings before the Barracudas pulled clear to complete the derby sweep.
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Sat Aug 8th
It's derby week at the Baseballstadion Heerenschürli, with the Challengers hosting Zürich Barracudas across three night games in the last week of the Zurich school holidays. The NLA side kicks things off on Monday at 7:00 pm and continues the derby on Tuesday at 6:30 pm, with fourth-placed Zürich looking to leapfrog the third-placed Barracudas. The NLB team follows on Wednesday at 6:30 pm against an unbeaten Barracudas Academy squad, fresh off their own win over the Wil Pirates. Three nights, two rosters, one rival — plenty on the line at Heerenschürli this week.
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Sat Aug 8th
The NLB Challengers swept a double-header against the Sissach Frogs, winning 19-4 and 16-3 to move to 8 wins in their last 10 games and close the gap on division leaders Barracudas Academy and Wil Pirates. Noah Nussbaum's two-run triple helped power the opener, with Jasper Freigang going the distance on the mound for the complete-game win. Florin Kämpfer starred in the nightcap on both sides of the ball, hitting a two-run triple of his own and then taking the ball to hold Sissach to just one hit after the second inning. The Challengers now turn to a direct showdown with the Barracudas on Wednesday.
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Sun Aug 2nd
The Challengers' NLB side split a road double-header against a previously unbeaten Wil Pirates team, dropping the opener 3-5 before rallying to win the nightcap 10-5. Jasper Freigang's home run staked Zürich to an early 3-0 lead in game one, but the Pirates tied it up and moved ahead 5-3 by the third; a bases-loaded chance in the final inning went unconverted as Wil turned a game-ending double play. The Challengers bounced back in game two: Florin Kämpfer opened the scoring with a first-inning home run, and after falling behind 2-5 through three innings, Zürich erupted for six runs in the fourth — four hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch — before adding two more late to seal the split.
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Wed May 27th
The NLB Challengers were swept in a pair of night games against a red-hot Zürich Barracudas side, losing 2-12 and 5-15 at Heerenschürli to slip to fifth place at 4 wins and 6 losses on the season. Zürich actually opened the scoring in both games, with two runs in the first inning each time, but the unbeaten Barracudas — now 9-0 and sitting top of the table — answered emphatically both nights, breaking the second game open with four first-inning runs on their way to an 11-2 lead after three.
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Sun May 17th
The Challengers' NLB side swept Therwil Flyers' second team at Heerenschürli, capping the day with a dramatic extra-innings walk-off after trailing by eight runs earlier in the game. Jasper Freigang set the tone in game one, throwing seven shutout innings — two hits, four walks, seven strikeouts — while also going 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs, as six runs in the fourth inning put the game away 9-1; Fabrizio Bucher, Mike Siemers and Shaen Bernhardt all chipped in. Game two looked to be heading the other way entirely, with the Flyers building an 8-0 lead through three innings, but the Challengers stormed back with five runs in the final frame to force extras. Ari Lonstein was outstanding in relief, striking out 13 over five innings, and Noam Blickenstorfer settled it for good with a bases-loaded, walk-off walk to complete the comeback.
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Wed May 13th
The Challengers' NLB side hosts Therwil Flyers' second team this Sunday at Heerenschürli, with games at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm — a rematch just ten days after the two clubs' first teams faced off. Zürich arrives with momentum on their side, while the Flyers have yet to record a win this season. The Challengers will be looking to keep their upward trend going against a Therwil side still searching for its first result of the year.
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Sun May 10th
Needing a sweep to keep their Master Round hopes fully in their own hands, the Challengers split a double-header against the Zürich Lions — winning the opener 11-5 before falling 11-13 in ten innings on a Lions walk-off. Game one was comfortable: Säntis Zeller and Leonel Hernandez Reyes each collected three hits, Carsten Zuber drove in three, and Simon Steffen added a triple among his three runs scored, while Ari Lonstein struck out ten over five innings to earn the win and Jasper Freigang closed it out with a save. Game two slipped away late — Fabrizio Bucher and Shadir Mora Soler each hit two-run doubles to keep the Challengers in it, but the Lions walked it off in extras. With the split, Zürich will need a small miracle elsewhere in the standings to stay alive for the Master Round.
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Sun May 10th
The Challengers softball team came out on the wrong end of the Mother's Day derby against the Zürich Barracudas, who wore pink for the club's Pink Ribbon campaign on their way to a 15-3 win. Lara Müller opened the scoring with a two-run double in the first inning, and Carmen Lutz-Demetz added a double of her own, while Simona Cellar turned an unassisted double play on defense. But Andrea Brändli's three-run home run to left field swung momentum firmly the Barracudas' way, and absences in the lineup combined with wild pitches in the later innings let the game get away from the Challengers.
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Sun May 10th
The U12 Juveniles kept their unbeaten season intact with a double-header sweep on the road in Embrach, winning 14-5 and 13-2 to remain the only undefeated team in the league. The young Challengers jumped out to a 7-1 lead after two innings in the opener before closing it out 14-5, then followed the same script in the nightcap — a 3-1 lead through two innings that they extended into a comfortable 13-2 win. A fitting way to spend Mother's Day for a group that has yet to lose all season.
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