by Chris Byrnes
The Zurich Barracudas travelled to Bern to face the Cardinals in a key double header for both teams as the Cardinals are fighting for the last playoff spot and the Barracudas are trying to stay atop of the standings.
In game one, Cardinals pitcher Thierry Burkhardt and battery mate Jonah Schaller got the job done to lead their team to a very close 5-4 victory. Burkhardt delivered a three run home run and pitched nine innings allowing only two earned runs and picked up his fifth victory of the season. Battery mate Jonah Schaller delivered a single to score a run. Barracudas Andi Rüesch pitched well in defeat and Tyler Wagner hit his fourth home run of the season.
Side note: Burkhadt and Schaller have the best show hair in the Swiss NLA.
In game two, the Barracudas came out and put pressure immediately on Cardinals pitcher Ernesto Pereira and scored five early runs while Barracudas cruised to a 7-1 victory. Barracudas pitcher Chris Michals was too much for the Cards hitters allowing only six hits and one earned run to improve his season record to five wins. Offensively the Barracudas were led by Harry Wischnewski, Tyler Wagner, Hasson Rogers and Strahil Georgiev all delivering RbI hits.
Swiss NLA Round up
With the Flyers sweep of the Devils and the Barracudas split with the Cardinals it looks like the Flyers are in the prime position to take 1st place. The pivotal game will be on August 8th when the Flyers visit the Barracudas for a make up game.
In the race for the other two playoff spots there are three teams battling it out. The Zurich Challengers swept the Frogs over the weekend to solidify their quest for the playoffs. The Frogs have lost four in a row and face a difficult four games with the Barracudas and the Challengers and they will have to win at least two games to stay in the picture. The Luzern Eagles also swept the Bandits to keep things interesting. The Eagles have two remaining games with the Flyers and need to win at least one to stay in the hunt.
