by John Baum
THERWIL FLYERS AND BERN CARDINALS LOCK HORNS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE MISTER-BASEBALL PUT BOTH IN THEIR TOP 50 EUROPEAN CLUB RANKINGS!
In a rematch of last year’s semi-final, the Flyers and Cardinals clash in the quarter-finals of this year’s Swiss Cup. The Flyers, winners of their last eleven games in domestic play, look to solidify themselves as the country’s best team. The Cards on the other hand, go into the game this Saturday trying to re-establish the dominance they have enjoyed over the past three seasons. The last games played against each other proved to be two of the best baseball games the country may have ever seen, as the Flyers walked off victorious after two walk off homeruns! The Flyers, once again without playing/coach John Alexander (marriage), will try to reproduce some of that magic! The going will be difficult though, as the Cardinals, fresh off their qualifier win, will approach this game with playoff intensity. Last time out I took the Cardinals to win both games…this time I give the nod to the visiting Flyers. They have proved they can beat the best, now the Cardinals must do the same.
THE TWO REMAINING BARRACUDAS TEAMS BUTT HEADS FOR A PLACE IN THE SEMIS…
The NLA, and NLB teams from the Zurich Barracudas will fight for a place in this year’s Cup semifinals. With the NLA coming off two lopsided losses, could this open the door for a huge upset in Switzerland, but especially Zurich? It’s hard to imagine the NLA team dropping a game to its own NLB team, but the NL1 ‘Cudas narrowly missed out last weekend against the NLA Indians from Lausanne, 4-3. So anything is possible… but, my money is on the NLA to bounce back, and advance to the next round.
REMATCH OF LAST WEEKEND AS DEVIS LOOK TO BEAT EAGLES FOR THIRD TIME IN A WEEK
The Wil Devils travel to Reussbuehl hoping to make it a clean sweep over three games, and make their second semifinal appearance in the last three years. The Eagles, still riddled with injury, don’t seem to have the pieces in place to change what happened last weekend, when they were swept by the Devils. Look for the Devils to advance in a close ballgame.
LAST WEEKEND THE NLA LAUSANNE INDIANS DEFEATED THE NL1 ZURICH BARRACUDAS 4-3 TO ADVANCE TO THE SEMIFINALS WHERE THEY WILL FACE THE WINNER OF THE DEVILS AND EAGLES.