Mister Baseball

by John Baum

Indians use the long ball to defeat Cards 7-4
The Bern Cardinals lost the final game of the 2009 regular season Sunday, thus not securing home field for the semis. That opportunity lies in the hands of the Lausanne Indians who need two wins next week against the Zurich Challengers to secure home field advantage vs. the Cards. Cardinal starting pitcher, Chris Beyeler, ran into early trouble after an infield single and a double put runners on second and third with two outs. The next batter, Bonnila, bounced a slow roller between the shortstop and third baseman to give his team an early 2-0 lead. They would strike again in the third inning, as a Casimiro leadoff double would lead to another run, and a 3-0 score. The visitors than took a commanding lead in the fifth inning, as two deep homeruns from De Freites and Jimenez pushed the lead to 6-0. The Cardinals showed heart, and didn’t quit. With their backs against the wall they answered with two of their own runs in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a Ronnie Zimmermann two-out double. The home team added another run in the sixth to cut the lead in half at 6-3, but this would be as close as they would get. An insurance run off reliever John Baum in the seventh, and one run for Bern in the ninth ending the game at a score of 7-4.

The Cardinals finish the season at 21-7…The Indians travel to play Zurich next Sunday, and at that point the playoff seeding will be decided. The playoffs are slated to begin August 29th.

Cudas’ and Frogs split on second to last weekend
The Barracudas played host to the 7th place Sissach Frogs on Saturday afternoon on one of the hottest days of the year in Hünenberg. The Barracudas won game one 9-8 in a thrilling 10 inning come from behind victory and then were disappointed in game 2 when they were taken down 11-4…

Frank Berchtold got the start in game one for the Barracudas and had a tremendous start limiting the Frogs to two runs in seven innings. The scoring got started in the second inning for both teams as each was able to plate a single run. Holgi Schmidt scored in the bottom half of the inning for the ‘Cudas after he reached base on a fielder’s choice after a Manu Hirtz walk. He advanced to second on a Clemens Lombriser single and then scored after a botched pickoff attempt allowed him to get to 3rd and then a wild pitch scored him. Each team scored once again in the 3rd. This time Chico Colindres crossed home after walking followed by a Nderim Coma single and then a balk and another wild pitch. Berchtold settled down after the 3rd and held the Frogs scoreless through his final four innings of work. Only one Frog runner reached base in these four innings, a 2 out walk in the 5th. The Barracudas also couldn’t score through the 6th although they left the bases loaded in the 5th and a runner stranded at 3rd in the 6th. The ‘Cudas grabbed the lead in the 7th when Colindres scored his second run of the game after reaching base on an error. He scored on a Manu Hirtz squeeze bunt three batters later. Nderim Coma came into relief for the Berchtold in the 8th and the Frogs jumped on him for four runs in his first inning back after a prolonged vacation. The Barracudas were able to get one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning to make the score 6-4 going into the 9th. Lombriser started with a walk and then Miguel Conde pinch hit after an out was recorded and also walked. The top of the lineup then came up and Brent Nichols singled to score Lombriser. Colindres also walked to load the bases with one out but the inning ended after Coma hit a rocket up the middle that the pitcher made a great play on and then turned the 1-2-3 double play. The Frogs added two more insurance runs in the top of the 9th to make the score 8-4, but the Barracuda offense wasn’t done fighting. Andi Ruesch and Hirtz started the comeback with back to back singles. After one out was recorded, Lombriser also singled, his second of the game. Stefan Spring walked to put the tying run on base and then Miguel Conde was hit by a pitch to put the winning run on first with the bases loaded. Nichols came up and tied the game with a line drive single to right, his second hit of the game, but the inning ended when the Frogs made great relay throws and threw out both Conde at third and Nichols at 2nd. Coma shut down the Frogs in the 10th and then Colindres started the bottom half of the inning with a single. He advanced to 3rd on an errant pickoff throw and then scored when Coma hit a ball that was dropped by the left fielder, but would have been deep enough to score Colindres anyway. Coma was the winning pitcher for the ‘Cudas in the great come from behind victory.

Game two wasn’t as great for the Barracudas as they got down early and couldn’t mount a similar comeback to game one. Ralph Vonderschmitt started for the Barracudas and the ball just didn’t seem to bounce the right way while he was pitching. The Frogs scored two in the top of the first inning before the Barracudas responded with two of their own in the bottom of the first. For the Barracudas, Brent Nichols led off with a walk and then Nderim Coma followed 2 batters latter with his team leading 6th home run. The top of the second was a nightmare for the Barracudas as the Frogs pushed across seven runs in an inning that wouldn’t end. The Barracudas only walked one and made one error in the inning. The Frogs had no extra base hits either, but were still able to score seven runs with five singles. Brent Nichols came into relief for the Barracudas in the middle of the inning and shared in the onslaught by the Frogs. The Frogs then pushed across two more runs in the top of the 3rd to give them their total of eleven. Nichols did not allow another hit or walk after the 3rd and struck out eleven in his six innings of work. The only other damage from the Barracuda offense came in the 5th when Miguel Conde led off with a double that was roped down the left field line. After two outs, Nichols walked again and then stole second. Chico Colindres then drove home both runs with a clutch two out single. The game would end with a final score of 11-4.

The Barracudas play their final two games of the year next Sunday in Reussbuehl against the Eagles in a makeup of the doubleheader that was rained out a few weeks ago.

	Time	Home	Visitor	Result
Saturday, August 15 2009
	11:00	Zürich Barracudas	Sissach Frogs	09:08
	14:00	Zürich Barracudas	Sissach Frogs	04:11
Sunday, August 16 2009
	11:00	Zürich Challengers	Embrach Rainbows	11:13
	14:00	Zürich Challengers	Embrach Rainbows	10:00
	14:00	Bern Cardinals	Lausanne Indians	04:07

Standings