by Chris Byrnes
The Zurich Barracudas swept the visiting Bern Cardinals in dramatic fashion winning both games in the bottom of the 10th 11-10 and 18-17 and move to 17-4 on the season. The Cardinals drop to 9-13 and find themselves on the brink of playoff elimination.
Game 1 – Barracudas 11 Cardinals 10
Game one figured to be a pitching duel between the Cardinals Tobias Imboden and Barracudas Andi Rüesch as both pitchers were outstanding in the last matchup won by the Barracudas 2-0 in Bern. The Barracudas got off to a good start reaching Imboden for nine runs to take a 9-5 lead into the sixth inning. In the sixth inning the Cardinals reached Rüesch for four runs to tie the game at 9. The Barracudas jumped ahead in the 7th when Harry Wischnewski walked and advanced to 2nd base on a passed ball then moved to 3rd on an infield out and came home on a Josh Crouse sac fly to centerfield.
Rüesch took a 10-9 lead into the 9th but the Cardinals mounted a rally in the 9th by putting runners on base and scoring on an Barracuda throwing error to tie the game at 10. Rüesch shut down the Cardinals in the 10th and Josh Crouse managed a leadoff walk against Imboden and proceeded to swipe 2nd base. Crouse was able to advance to 3rd base on a passed ball and came home on a Nderim Coma single to right center for the walk off win. That was Coma’s second walk off hit of the season.
The Barracudas were led offensively by their bus drive Josh Crouse who had three hits and six rbi’s in the game. Chris Michals and Nelson Santana also added three hits while Nderim Coma added 3 rbi’s. Andi Rüesch picked up his league leading seventh win by pitching a complete game.
The Cardinals were paced by their hall of fame player Johnny Perigos who notched three hits. Regis Reinhard the U18 catcher playing in his second NLA game added two hits and an RBI for the Cards. Tobias Imboden took the loss and moved to 3-7 on the year.
Game 2 – Barracudas 18 Cardinals 17
The fans were also expecting a pitching duel in this game as Chris Michals was facing Ernesto Pereira but the game turned out to be more a hitters game with the Barracudas coming from behind to win a close one 18-17.
It looked like the Barracudas would cruise along in this one as they jumped out to an early 10-2 lead after three innings chasing starter Ernesto Pereira from the game John Baum came in to pitch the remainder. Chris Michals was moving along but in the fifth inning the Barracudas had to remove Michals due to injury in the fifth inning after he loaded the bases. In came Josh Crouse to get the Barracudas out of trouble but the Cardinals greeted him with four straight hits and Crouse was replaced by Nderim Coma who finally got the Barracudas out of the inning after the Cardinals scored 13 runs to take a 15-10 lead. The Barracudas started their comeback by getting one run back in the bottom of the 5th inning when Loco Ochsner walked moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a Josh Crouse single to close the gap to 15-11.
The Cardinals put up another two runs in the 7th inning when Gonzalez Rodriquez led off with a single and Edwin Vargas hit a long ground rule double. Both scored when Nelson Santana could not handle a ground ball to his left and that made the score 17-11 Cardinals. The Barracudas fought back and scored another run in the bottom of the 7th inning when once again Loco Ochsner led off with a walk and Josh Crouse singled him home to put the game at 17-12 going into the 8th inning.
Bert Marsnik came on to pitch and shut down the Cardinals in the 8th. The Barracudas made their attack in the bottom of the 8th tying the game by scoring five runs. The Barracudas Nic Larson led off with a walk followed by a single by Alexandro Münger and then Strahil Georgiev delivered a rbi single to score Larson. Münger scored on a wild pitch and then Marc Schnider hit a ball that was misplayed by the 2nd baseman scoring Georgiev. Josh Crouse walked and then Nelson Santana dropped a double down the left field line to score the tying run.
The game stayed tied at 15 until the bottom of the 10th when Strahil Georgiev worked out a walk and Marc Schnider dropped down a nice sac bunt to advance Georgiev. Josh Crouse who was seven for eight on the day delivered the game winning single to score Georgiev.
The Barracudas were led by Josh Crouse who was five for five and three rbi’s and Nelson Santana who delivered four hits and three rbi’s. Chris Michals, Loco Ochnser and Strahil Georgiev added two hits apiece. Bert Marsnik pitched three scoreless innings in relief to earn his second win of the season and lowered his stingy ERA to 1.13.
The win moved the Barracudas to 17-4 on the season and 6-1 in one run games with four walk off wins.
Tim Wittwer and Marc Oboussier both delivered three hits and Thierry Burkhardt added three rbi’s to pace the Bern Cardinals. John Baum took the loss in relief.
Swiss NLA Playoff picture
The playoff picture is starting to shape up with only a few games left. The Barracudas magic number is one win or one loss by the Flyers to clinch 1st place, They face the Cardinals, Challengers and have a double header with Lions to finish up the season.
The battle for 2nd place is a dog fight between the Zurich Challengers, Therwil Flyers and Luzern Eagles. The Challengers play the Eagles this weekend and the Barracudas on Tuesday and finish up with a double header against the Zurich Lions while the Eagles have a more difficult schedule as they have to play a double header versus the Therwil Flyers to finish out the season. The Eagles would have to win the remaining three games to have a chance for 2nd place. The Flyers have double headers versus the lions, Eagles and Cardinals and finish up the season against the Challengers and it could be that game that eventually decides the 2nd place team.