The quarterfinals in the German Baseball-Bundesliga are in the books. The Heidenheim Heidekoepfe swept the HSV Stealers 3-0 in the best-of-five series, but needed a walk-off RBI double by Charlie Calamia to down Hamburg 5-4 in game three.
The Solingen Alligators ousted the Haar Disciples 3-1 in round one of the playoffs. Two runs in the bottom of the ninth, including the decisive on a wild pitch helped them to a 6-5 win in game three. In game four Chris Mezger struck out 13 in a one-hit complete game 3-0 shutout.
The other two series went over five games. The Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg won 3-2 against the Untouchables Paderborn. Behind a strong game of Mike Bolsenbroek Regensburg won game three 7-1. Paderborn rallied late for a 4-3 victory in game four to tie the series. In game five Jonathan Eisenhuth went the distance, while Philipp Howard and Elias von Garßen each had three RBI to lead the Buchbinder Legionaere to a 10-4 win.
The Bonn Capitals were the only higher seed to get eliminated in round one. They lost 2-3 against the Stuttgart Reds. Thomas de Wolf hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth to lead the Reds to a 4-3 win in game three. Trevor Caughey got 14 Ks in a 7-0 complete game shutout in game four, tying the series. In the decisive fifth match on Sunday Stuttgart had Marcel Hering delivering a late RBI single to win 5-4.
In the semi-finals, which start on Friday evening, the Stuttgart Reds face the Heidenheim Heidekoepfe, while the Buchbinder Legionaere host the Solingen Alligators for a rematch of last year’s finals.
Photo by Gregor Eisenhuth