Mister Baseball

by John Baum

Cardinals stay perfect…sweep Lausanne 13-1, 7-6.
In a match-up of the first and second place teams Sunday, the Bern Cardinals   (7-0) keep their slate clean of losses after taking two from the Lausanne Indians (4-3). Game one featured a fine pitching performance from Tobias Imboden, as he limited the mighty Indian bats to only five hits while striking out five batters. The Cards offense scored early, jumping out to a 4-0 lead after two innings. Indians starter Nic Jaquemet would then settle down, keeping the Cardinals bats quiet over the next three innings, allowing only one more run to score. Meanwhile, Imboden would continue to cruise, allowing his only run of the game in the third inning. The Cards eventually put the game out of reach with four runs in the seventh, and four runs in the eighth. In the last inning the visitors connected on three homeruns, John Baum and Johnny Perigos going back to back, and Ronnie Zimmermann following them two batters later. After Imboden set the Indians down in the eighth, the Cards secured the run-rule victory by a score of 13-1. Johnny Perigos added two doubles to his third homer of the season, going 3-5, 2RBI, 3 Runs. Baum; 2-4, HR, 3RBI, 2 Runs: Zimmermann; 3-5, HR, 3 RBI: Rudy Vargas; 3-5, 3 RBI.

The Cards once again scored in the first inning in game two to take a lead against Indians starter Matt White. Two RBI groundouts scored Vitus Huber and Samuel Paulino. The Indians would get one of those runs back quickly in the bottom of the innings as Jay Casimiro would leave the yard against Cards starter John Baum. In the top of the second, the visiting Cardinals got that run back to extend their lead to 3-1. In the fourth inning the Indians once again cut into the lead, scoring one time to make it a one run game. The back and forth affair would continue in the fifth inning as the Cardinals scored four times to take a commanding 7-2 lead. The big hit coming off the bat of Baum, as he plated two runs with a double. The Indians however would not roll over, and countered in the bottom of the inning with three runs of their own to make it a two run game. Baum would set the Indians down in order in the sixth, but a one out walk in the seventh that would eventually score on a wild pitch strike three, would cut the lead to one. With the tying run now on second after a stolen base, Baum induced a pop out to third to end the game. The sweep puts the Cardinals overall record of 7-0. The Indians drop back to third place with an overall record of 4-3.

Frogs and Eagles split, both get first wins of the year…
In two tight ballgames, the winless Eagles and Frogs both get their first wins of the 2009 season. Game one turned out to be a tough fought win for the Eagles, as Stefan Haltmeier went eight innings, outdueling Frogs ace Danny Traina, 7-6. Jerome Mueller came in to close things out in the ninth inning, shutting the door and converting his first save of the year.

The Eagles looked poised to sweep the Frogs when they jumped out to an early 9-0 lead in game two. That lead lasted only into the third inning when five errors and strong Frog hitting took the lead away from the Eagles. Danny Traina, who went eight innings in game one would come in to close it out for his team, he would do just that, garnering his first win of the year in a real slugfest, 15-13. Both teams’ records now stand at 1-5.

Flyers move into second place with sweep of Challengers

Recap by Sam Faeder

In a rematch following last week’s split doubleheader; the Therwil Flyers (5-1) swept two games from the Zurich Challengers (3-3) to move into second place in the young season. Behind stellar pitching, sparkling defense, and timely hitting, the Flyers took both games and won the season series with the Challengers.

The Flyers were always in control in game one, jumping out to leads of 6-0 and 10-3 early in the contest. Five errors by the Challenger defense opened things up for the Flyers, who pounced on the costly mistakes. In game one, the offense was paced by Chris Blackbee who was 4-5, 2 doubles, 3 RBI. Michael LaTorre added three hits and three runs.

Stefan Koller (3-0) gave another gritty, 7+ inning performance to hold back the Challengers attack. With a steady diet of moving fastballs, Koller kept Zurich at bay. He gave way in the 8th to Lukas Croton (2-0, 2 saves) who threw the 9th for his second save of the season.

The second game showed a Flyers resolve that was missing last weekend. Coming out of the gate strong, Therwil scored early to take a 4-3 lead after two. Hide Oshima (1-1) battled for 3+ innings, after a rough first. Croton came out of the pen once again to shut the door; escaping a fourth inning jam with the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Therwil opened the flood gates in the fifth, scoring seven runs to put the game out of reach. Several Challenger errors spoiled another strong start from Zurich veteran right hander James Sanders. Croton picked up the win for the Flyers. The wins push the Flyers season record to 5-1…the Challengers fall to 3-3, and into a fourth place tie.

	Time	Home	Visitor	Result
Saturday, May 02 2009
	11:00	Zürich Challengers	Therwil Flyers	07:11
	11:00	Embrach Rainbows	Zürich Barracudas	06:09
	14:00	Zürich Challengers	Therwil Flyers	03:11
	14:00	Embrach Rainbows	Zürich Barracudas	05:03
Sunday, May 03 2009
	11:00	Reussbühl Eagles	Sissach Frogs	06:05
	12:00	Lausanne Indians	Bern Cardinals	01:13
	14:00	Reussbühl Eagles	Sissach Frogs	13:15
	15:00	Lausanne Indians	Bern Cardinals	06:07

Standings

Photo: © Bern Cardinals