Who’s going to win it all? Three potential candidates, and one underdog!
FLYERS THERWIL VS CHALLENGERS ZURICH
FLYERS THERWIL
A year after their early departure in last year’s playoffs the Flyers once again finished the season in first place. The most surprising fact about the team is their young pitching staff. Besides long time pitcher Koller (11-3, 3.59 ERA) coach Sam Faeder has managed to integrate young U21 talents like Adi Kaufmann (2-0, 3 saves, .34 ERA), rookie Lukas Croton (5-0, 3 saves, 1.84 ERA), and Hide Oshima (1-1), 5.29 ERA). With a team ERA of 2.84, they sport the best rotation in Switzerland. Sam Faeder (29 RBI) and Daniel Eichenberger (7 homeruns, 29 RBI) add some pop to a very consistent lineup.
CHALLENGERS ZURICH
The Challengers improved a lot after missing the playoffs last year for the first time in 13 years. This is even more impressive as coach James Sanders had to replace two of last year’s regular starters, Bregy (taking a year off), and Thomas Burger (injury). They were successfully replaced by Palatinus and Siegrist, whose combined efforts, with that of Sanders contributed to put the Challengers back in the playoffs. Siegrist‘s stats for a rookie pitcher are particularly impressive (6-1, 5.03 ERA). The Challengers are a good hitting team, and have a team batting average of .338, which tops the Flyers team average of .329.
PREDICTION
The Flyers won the season series 3-1, and the Challengers are only 2-10 versus the top three teams. Easy right? Maybe not… The Flyers will have to show that the have the nerves to pull this one through. The playoffs might prove to be a high hurdle for the young Flyers pitching staff, but with solid defense they are my clear favorite. Flyer win 3 games to 1!
INDIANS LAUSANNE VS CARDINALS BERN
INDIANS LAUSANNE
One of the most improved teams last season were the Indians, and they’ve accelerated again this year. Since Jay Casimiro took over the coaching job he has managed to form a very desciplined team, the final ingredient that made a good team great. With 22 wins this season they are only one game behind the Flyers. Lausanne has always been one of the top hitting teams in Switzerland but they would not be where they are now if not for Nicolas Jaquemet. Their Swiss starting pitcher who had a career year (11-1) on the mound. Hard hitting De Freites (7 homeruns) and Jimenez (13 homeruns) are the jewels of the lineup. None of the Indians are easy outs, a total of eight players contributed to their 38 homeruns this season.
CARDINALS BERN
Four time champions Bern with coach John Baum are looking for championship number five! After starting the season 13-0 experts were wondering who could beat them this season. However they only managed 8-7 down the stretch. What went wrong? Their usually impeccable defense seems to less consistent this year. The pitching staff has had a good year but is not as deep as the previous season. To add some needed depth the Cardinals purchased the contract of Swiss national team pitcher Andrea Girasole for the end of the season and the playoffs.
PREDICTION
The Cardinals won the season series 3-1 but the victories all came early in the season. Can the slugging Indians wear down the Bern pitching staff? If Jay Casimiro can get his players to play as disciplined as they have during the season they could pose a serious threat. Can John Baum motivate his players to dig in yet again? Never underestimate a team that knows how to win. It might not seem logical but I’ll go with that: Cards win 3-1!
Preview courtesy of J.P Mottl, head coach of the Zurich Barracudas
