by John Baum
Cardinals vs. Barracudas
In a rematch of last season’s semi-finals, the Bern Cardinals and Zurich Barracudas will play Sunday in Bern. American import, Kyle Patrick, will make his debut for the ‘Cudas. Newly acquired players Rudy Vargas and Alex Ruiz will play their first games in front of their home crowd. Both clubs will have to deal with the loss of their top domestic pitchers from last season, as Severin Fries (Cards), and Jeff Mottl (Cudas), won’t be playing this year. The Cardinals are the only team to have played thus far, defeating the Lausanne Indians 11-1. Game 1 begins at 11:00 AM, and will feature a first pitch by LxBxH owner, Silvano Gauch; one of the Cardinals main sponsors.
In two tight games, Cards sweep Barracudas… 8-4; 4-1.
Flyers vs. Frogs
It will be a tough opening weekend for the Sissach Frogs, as they play host to the Therwil Flyers, Saturday April 18th. The Flyers, 18-2 in last year’s regular season, and most people’s favorite to again finish at the top of the standings, make the short drive to Sissach to take on an overmatched opponent. The Frogs and coach Teddy Figueroa will have their hands full with a loaded ballclub from Therwil. Import Sam Faeder will take his turn at trying to direct the Flyers back to the top of Swiss baseball.
Flyers win both… 12-2; 9-3.
Challengers vs. Eagles
The newly revamped Challengers will take their first step towards finding their way back to the playoffs when they travel to Reussbuehl to take on the Eagles. New coach James Sanders, along with recently signed Tom Huston will give the Challengers a much different look than last season. The Challengers also picked back up veteran Ueli von Burg to solidify the infield. Add these signings, with the Eagles loss of their two main offensive threats, and not signing a foreign player, and it looks like the Challengers should have an easy go off on their opening weekend.
Challengers drive home happy… 15-2; 16-2.
Indians vs. Rainbows
The Lausanne Indians look to rebound from their opening day loss to the Cardinals as they host the Embrach Rainbows. The Indians, last year’s runner-up, will hope to pick their game up after a disappointing showing in the season opener. They may have their hands full with a much improved Rainbows ballclub. The team out of Embrach will look to send a message to the other teams that they plan to make the playoffs this season. Meanwhile the Indians don’t want to start the season having to play catch up. Will the Rainbows be able to live up to expectations? Was last year just a fluke for the Indians? These questions will start to be answered this weekend.
A split in Lausanne… 10-8(‘Bows), 9-4(Lausanne).
| Time | Home | Visitor | Field | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates and Times are subject to change! In case of doubt check with the responsible national federation! | ||||||
| Saturday, April 18 2009 | ||||||
| 11:00 | Sissach Frogs | Therwil Flyers | Sissach Tannbrunn |  |
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| 11:00 | Zürich Challengers | Reussbühl Eagles | Embrach PZ Hard | |
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| Sunday, April 19 2009 | ||||||
| 11:00 | Zürich Barracudas | Bern Cardinals | Bern Allmend | |
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| 12:00 | Lausanne Indians | Embrach Rainbows | Terrain de Chav... | |
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Photo: © Bern Cardinals
