by John Baum
Flyers move to within 1/2 game of first place Cards with doubleheader sweep in Therwil
The Bern Cardinals, coming off their second straight Euro Qualifier win in Attnang, Austria; had a disappointing beginning to the second half of the domestic campaign. Playing a flat brand of baseball, they were defeated twice, 6-4 and 7-0. Chris Beyeler kept his team in game one with a steady pitching performance, giving up four earned runs in the complete game. The offense for the Cardinals was nearly non-existent, as they connected on only seven hits, four of those hits coming in a two run fourth inning. Rudy Vargas gave the Cards an early lead as he connected on his third homerun of the season off of Stefan Koller in the second inning. The lead however didn’t last long, as the Flyers answered back quickly with a run in the bottom of the inning, and two more in the third to take a 3-1 lead thanks to a fielding error on the shortstop. The Cardinals would answer themselves with two runs in the top of the fourth, tying the game at four. The Flyers would then take another two run lead, which would eventually be enough as they held onto a 6-4 win as Adi Kauffmann closed the door in the last three innings.
Game two was over before it began, the Cards played uninspired baseball against a legitamate title contender, and the final score reflected the Flyers dominance on the day. The game would end with a score of 7-0, and tighten the race at the top of the standings. Chris Blackbee and Kauffmann combined on the four-hit shutout. The Cards however remain in first place with the Flyers and Indians on their heels.
Indians make up ground on Cardinals, remain in third place; Indians sweep Frogs and solidify their play-offs spot
Damien Baumann was the starter for the Indians, he was able to keep the Frog offense at bay, allowing only five earned runs in eight innings, while striking out five. Nicolas Jaquemet, tired after the Euro Qualifier in Antwerp, threw the last inning, securing an Indian win by a score of 13-7. Once again the Indians scored on long balls as Colon and Ramirez would both leave the yard. Player/coach Jay Casimiro contributed with his first career inside-the-park homerun.
In game two, Raphael de Freites was tagged for five runs in 1.2 innings pitched before he was ejected from the game. Ramirez would relieve him, and go on to finish the game without allowing any runs. The Indians took the lead in the third inning on consecutive single from Gendre and Baumann, and a double by Fidel Breijo. The game would remain scoreless the last three innings, giving the Indians the sweep by an 8-5 finish. The win pushes the Indians record to 13-4.
Challengers sweep ‘Cudas in derby, take control of last playoff spot
The Challengers swept their cross-town rivals Barracudas on Saturday, June 27 in a Zurich derby played in Sissach. The C’s edged the Cudas 8-7 in Game one, before they held on for a 2-1 victory in Game 2, as all the runs were scored in the first two frames, while playing coach James Sanders tossed a complete game for his second win of the season. With the two wins the C’s extended their winning streak to six games and moved into fourth position with a 12-8 record two games ahead of the Barracudas.
{mrb-standing:switzerland-2009}