Ballpark Opener in Zurich highlights Swiss Baseball Weekend

by John Baum

BARRACUDAS VS. CHALLENGERS

ZURICH DERBY AT NEW HEERENSCHURLI HIGHLIGHTS FULL SLATE OF WEEKEND CLASHES…

A monumental day for Swiss baseball, and in particular baseball in Zurich happens Saturday as the first baseball stadium in the country gets her feet wet with a Zurich derby. The Challengers play host to their in town rival Barracudas in hopes of getting their season started in the right direction. The Barracudas, who will be missing their top two arms to start the year, will be hoping to keep the C’s offense from running wild. New import, Derek Bondo, will help the ‘Cudas in game two, and Nderim Coma should go in game one.

The Challengers will rely on a bevy of arms in game one; with Thomas Burger, Chris Palatinus, and Tobias Siegrist hoping arms by committee can get the job done. James Sanders will look to get back to his dominating ways in game two. The Challengers are loaded on the offensive side of the ball, and should once again challenge as the leagues leading offense.

Challengers and ‘Cudas take home a win a piece in stadium debut…12-4; 3-2.

EAGLES VS. FROGS

LAST YEAR’S BOTTOM OF THE TABLE TEAMS LOOK TO GET JUMP ON THE OTHER…

The Luzern Eagles travel to Sissach to take on the hometown Frogs. Last season Sissach squeaked out four wins, while the Eagles were only able to manage one. Both teams will struggle on the mound, as Frogs ace Danny Traina will not be able to pitch for some time. The Eagles’ Jerome Mueller and Stefan Haltmeir will do their best to keep the opposing team off the board. This will be key as the Eagles will find runs hard to come by. Christian Klarer and Stefan Wick, along with an import to name later will provide the offense for the Frogs.

Frogs take two at home…9-3; 8-4.

THERWIL FLYERS VS. LAUSANNE INDIANS

FLYERS LOOK TO REMAIN PERFECT WHEN INDIANS COME TO TOWN…

After a dismantling of an undermanned Cardinal team last week, the Flyers take on another playoff team from last year as the Indians make the trip to just outside Basel. J.B. Tucker’s NLA debut couldn’t have gone any smoother last week as his team showed their class, and plan to defend their title. The Flyers have the deepest pitching staff in the country, and will need all those arms against the hard hitting Indians. After putting up 26 runs last weekend, the offense can do its part as well.

The Indians solved their game two worries with the signing of John Marc Walls, but will still have to outslug their opponent in game one as Nic Jaquemet will give up some runs. The Indians, like the Cards last week will be without the services of several players, proving to be too much to overcome against the home team Flyers…

Therwil wins two…13-5; 6-4.

BERN CARDINALS VS. EMBRACH MUSTANGS

CARDINALS HOPE TO RIGHT SHIP, TRAVEL TO EMBRACH TO TAKE ON MUSTANGS…

The Bern Cardinals will look to get back to .500 after losing two games the opening weekend against the Flyers. In unfamiliar territory at 0-2, the Cards will have to find better success on all sides of the ball, pitching, fielding, and hitting if they don’t want to fall even farther behind the front running club from Therwil. Embrach, who just barely missed out on last year’s playoffs, are primed and ready to take the next step this year. Roger Salvodelli and Josh Crouse form a soled one-two punch in the starting rotation. The Mustangs signed an American shortstop, and also picked up Harry Wishnewski from the Frogs. This will help on the offensive side of the ball, but will it be enough?

The Cards Tobias Imboden, minus one six run inning, threw very well last week in game one. Raphael Hanzi will be around this week, bolstering the pitching staff. They are without the services of John Baum once again this week, and Seth Suplin is questionable with a knee contusion.

Cards find way to win in two tough games…7-3; 7-4.

Time	Home	Visitor	Field
Dates and Times are subject to change! In case of doubt check with the responsible national federation!
Saturday, April 17 2010
11:00	Zürich Challengers	Zürich Barracudas	Zürich Heerens...
11:00	Sissach Frogs	Lucerne Eagles	Sissach Tannbrunn
Sunday, April 18 2010
11:00	Bern Cardinals	Embrach Mustangs	Embrach PZ Hard
11:00	Therwil Flyers	Lausanne Indians	Therwil Känelmatt