by Chris Byrnes
The Zurich Barracudas backed by the strong pitching of Andi Rüesch defeated the Therwil Flyers in Zurich by a score of 5-1. The Barracudas move to 4-1 on the season and the Flyers drop to 3-3 in a very competitive NLA division.
The Barracudas scored early and never looked back. They scored in the bottom of the 1st inning when Josh Crouse led off with a single to left center. Crouse attempted to steal second base but Flyer pitcher Hide Oshima threw to first base but Crouse beat the throw to second base and was safe. Crouse moved to third base on a wild pitch by Oshima. The next batter Bert Marsnik got the job done with an RBI ground out scoring Crouse for a 1-0 lead.
The score remained 1-0 until the sixth inning. The Flyers threatened to score in the third, fourth and fifth innings but Andi Rüesch and the Barracuda defense shut down the Flyers with two inning ending double plays. In the bottom of the sixth once again Josh Crouse opened the inning with his second single of the game and stole second base. Bert Marsnik hit a rocket to centerfield for a single but Crouse had to stop at third. With runners on the corner Harry Wischnewski who is 4/6 with runners in scoring position this season did not disappoint by getting a ground ball rbi to score Crouse making it 2-0. Chris Michaels came to the plate and Oshima walked him to place runners on 1st and 2nd base with one out. Nderim Coma stepped to the plate and the Barracudas executed a double steal to place runners on 2nd and 3rd base. Coma came through for the Barracudas as he fought his way back from an 0-2 count, fouled off some balls and spit on a few breaking pitches in the dirt and then drove a 2-2 Oshima fastball down the left field line for a two run double making the score 4-0. That was the key play of the game and a very professional at bat for Coma.
Rüesch handled the Flyers offense in the 6th and 7th inning but in the 8th inning the Flyers scored an unearned run to make the score 4-1. The Barracudas answered right back in the bottom of the 8th when Harry Wischnewski was hit by pitch and moved to third base when Chris Michals hit a rocket down the line for a single. Nderim Coma with another professional at bat managed to get the ground ball RBI to score Wischnewski making it a 5-1 game. Rüesch finished off business in the ninth to earn his second win of the season and lowered his ERA to 1.31 on the season.
The Barracudas managed only ten base runners against Oshima but utilized key hitting to score five runs. Nderim Coma who had three RBIs led the Barracudas offensively and Josh Crouse added two hits, scored two runs and stole two bases to spark the Barracudas. Harry Wischnewski scored two runs, swiped two bags and had an RBI and Bert Marsnik contributed and RBI.
The Flyers offense left 16 runners on base and was not able to get the timely hitting they are accustomed and managed five hits and only one run.
The Barracudas will battle the defending Champions Bern Cardinals in Bern next weekend while the Flyers will entertain the Zurich Lions.