The favored Bonn Capitals took the first two games of the opening weekend of the best-of-five German Bundesliga championship series, defeating the Untouchables Paderborn 3-0 in Game 1 on Saturday and 10-3 in Game 2 on Sunday at home in Bonn. The two victories leave the Capitals needing just one W to claim the club’s second German championship.
The Capitals entered the weekend action with a reduced pitching staff after Noah Lindt (Vernon CC (Texas)) and Paul Schmitz (University of Houston) had left the team to travel to the United States, where they will both be playing collegiately, but the absences went unnoticed, with the depth of Bonn’s pitching staff on display in both victories.
In Game 1, Maurice Wilhelm (5 IP, 3H)) and Sascha Koch (3IP, 3H, 5K) combined to keep Paderborn off the scoreboard for eight innings, with Dovydas Neverauskaus, formerly of the MLB’s Pittsburgh Pirates, pitching a scoreless ninth inning for the save.
Paderborn almost scored in the fifth inning, but an outfield assist by right fielder Wilson Lee kept the Untouchables off the scoreboard.
On offense, Bonn scored twice in the second inning and added another run in the seventh, with Justus Recki (2-for-3), Eric Brenk, and Danny Lankhorst each contributing one RBI. Daniel Sanchez scored twice.
Sunday’s Game 2 saw Paderborn manage what it could not in Game 1, with a Finn Bergman two-run homer giving Paderborn its first runs of the championship series and the early lead. Bonn starter Zack Dodson, a one-time Pittsburgh Pirates farmhand, settled after the opening frame, however, with the score remaining 2-0 in Paderborn’s favor until the bottom of the fourth, when a John Schultz double and a Daniel Sanchez single tied the game at two apiece.
Bonn would go on to add another three runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to pull away, with the scoring capped off by a Wilson Lee three-run homer in the eighth.
Dodson got the W after pitching six solid innings (4H, 2ER, 5K), with Nick Micelli solid in middle relief (2IP, 2H, 3K) and Neverauskas again closing out the game with a 1-2-3 final frame.
The action will continue next weekend in Paderborn, with Game 3 planned for Saturday, Sep 3, with Game 4 and Game 5, if necessary, scheduled for Sunday, Sep 4.
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Game 1, Capitals, 3-0 (box score)
Game 2, Capitals, 10-3 (box score)
Game 3, at Paderborn, Sat, Sep 3
Game 4 (if necessary) at Paderborn, Sun, Sep 4
Game 5 (if necessary) at Paderborn, Sun Sep 4