Mister Baseball

by John Baum

Cardinals keep Barracudas off the board, move into fourth place…

In game one, Tobias Imboden ran into very little trouble, going the distance, shutting out the ‘Cudas and striking out eight, in eight innings. Imboden surrendered six hits along the way, but for the second time this season allowed no runs to the team from Zurich.

Offensively Samuel Paulino collected two hits, including a double, Seth Suplin with two singles, and Miro Bussmann with three hits led the way. Vitus Huber continued to find a way on base, and to home, walking four times and scoring three times. Lexu Walchli also ended the first game without making an out, three walks, a single and two runs. The final score ending at 10-0.

Game two began well for the Cards as starting pitcher John Baum retired the side in order in the first. The home team sent six men to the plate in the bottom half, but came away with only one run as ‘Cudas starter Derek Bondo worked out of a bases loaded jam, allowing only one run on three hits. Baum continued to cruise, striking out twelve in his complete game shutout, allowing only four baserunners for the game, including two hits.

The Cardinal offense continued to pressure Bondo, with little success until the fourth inning. Imboden led off with a single, and eventually scored on a wild pitch. After a two-out Huber walk, Baum laced a two-run double to left center, giving his team a 4-1 lead. The game was never in doubt after this inning, and the Cards added to the lead thanks to hits from Raphael Hanzi, and Imboden once again. The game ended at 7-0.

Frogs surprise Challengers with double header sweep…

Text from Challengers webpage:

The Challengers’ misery in 2010 continues with a 14-11 loss to the Sissach Frogs in Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader. Another three errors in the field and no hitting in the clutch dropped the Challengers’ record to 4-6, an unexpected start after losing two key players with James Sanders and Ueli von Burg. Carlos Brito led the Frogs’ offense with two singles, two doubles and four RBI’s, while also picking up the win by tossing 5 1-3 innings in relief.

In game two, Challengers rookie Patrick Maier couldn’t double up on his last week’s performance, and was credited with the loss in a three-inning outing in which he gave up nine runs on eight hits and four walks, while also striking out three. The Frogs outhit the Challengers 15-9 and held on for the win despite a shaky sixth inning in which the Challengers came within 13-11 by scoring five runs.

The game started out with the Frogs scoring four times off Maier. The Challengers managed to get three runs back off Bonfanti, but again had to concede two more in the second inning. Strong offensive showings on both sides pushed the score to 9-5 in favor of the Frogs after just three innings. Thomas Landis stole two bases in the first two innings, and later added two doubles in a 2-for-3 performance.

Thomas Blank led all Challengers with three hits, and Yonimiler Martinez was the only other Challenger with more than one hit as he went 2-for-5 with a double and three runs scored. In the end, the Challengers again wasted too many good opportunities, going 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

Mustangs continue torrid start, take two from Luzern

On Sunday in Luzern, the Mustangs took on the Eagles for the second time of the year. This was Embrach’s first away contest this season but it did not bother the ‘Stangs. After splitting with the Eagles earlier in the year, the Mustangs took control in this double header winning both games. This final matchup between the two teams ended with the Mustangs winning the 4 game series 3 games to 1.

Game one started like any other first game for Embrach, with Roger Savoldelli on the hill. He pitched a great game but the twist came in the top of the 8th with a 10 run lead when for the first time he gave the ball up to rookie pitcher Oliver Walser. Walser gave up only one hit and 4 runs in the inning while also recording 2 strike outs in his first pitching appearance ever. Savoldelli came back to close the game in the 9th, he ended up with 8 scoreless innings and the win for the ‘Stangs.

Offensively the Mustangs scored 14 runs on just 7 hits. They put the pressure on the Eagles on the base paths and forced many Luzern mistakes. In 8th inning Eagles hitter Vargas notched 3 RBIs with 3 run home run to right. The Mustang offense retaliated with their own homer in the top of the ninth when J.J. Swartz hit his first NLA homerun in his first ever NLA game. Embrach won the first game with a final of 14-4.

Game two initially looked like a battle against the rain after the Mustangs went up 2 nothing in the 3rd and a storm was brewing just beyond center field, but after a short rain delay in the 5th, the game was able to be continued. Chris Byrnes started the game on the mound and pitched a solid 5 innings only giving up 1 run. This was enough to earn the win in game two. Josh Crouse finished the final innings on the mound by shutting out the Eagle’s offense.

The Mustangs only put together 4 hits and 4 runs in the 7 innings off Luzern’s junk ball pitcher, Jerome Müller. One of those hits happened to be the second homerun of the day for American hitter J.J. Swartz, this solo blast to right field came in the 2nd inning and began the scoring for the Mustangs. The final score of game two was 4-1.

With these two wins Embrach moves to a record of 10-2, still in second place in the NLA. Next week the Mustangs will take on the Barracudas in their first match-up of the season.

	Time	Home	Visitor	Result
Saturday, June 05 2010
	11:00	Zürich Challengers	Sissach Frogs	06:09
	11:00	Bern Cardinals	Zürich Barracudas	10:00
	14:00	Zürich Challengers	Sissach Frogs	11:14
	14:00	Bern Cardinals	Zürich Barracudas	07:00
Sunday, June 06 2010
	11:00	Lucerne Eagles	Embrach Mustangs	04:14
	12:00	Lausanne Indians	Therwil Flyers
	14:00	Lucerne Eagles	Embrach Mustangs	01:04
	15:00	Lausanne Indians	Therwil Flyers

Standings

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