Summary
The Bonn Capitals sent a message to the league in their sweep of the Dohren Wild Farmers, allowing just three runs while scoring 41 of their own in the two-game series, with Game 2 punctuated by a 19-run eighth inning that brought a premature end to the proceedings. The other two series in the Bundesliga North resulted in splits, with the Berlin Flamingos perhaps still celebrating Joel Chongo Rivera’s walk-off grand slam in Game 2 against Paderborn. The loss was Paderborn’s first, leaving it just a hair off Bonn’s pace, with the two clubs scheduled to meet for the first time on May 22.
In the South, Regensburg improved to 7-1 after two home victories against their Bavarian rivals from Haar, pulling two games ahead of the defending champions from Heidenheim, who swept the Mainz Athletics to rebound from their .500 start to the campaign. Stuttgart celebrated twice as well, with the two victories over the Mannheim Tornados placing the Reds at the head of the pack of four-win clubs.
Results (box scores linked)
North
Dohren Wild Farmers v. Bonn Capitals (0-12, 3-29)
Dortmund Wanderers v. Hamburg Stealers (9-8, 0-5)
Berlin Flamingos v. Untouchables Paderborn (4-14, 9-7)
Bye week: Cologne Cardinals.
South
Tübingen Hawks v. IT sure Falcons Ulm (16-15, 4-5)
Mainz Athletics v. Heidenheim Heideköpfe (5-12, 0-14)
Guggenberger Legionäre Regensburg v. Munich-Haar Disciples (4-0, 5-4)
Stuttgart Reds v. Mannheim Tornados (3-0, 8-4)
Highlights
While Joel Chongo Rivera’s game-winning grand slam was the highlight of Game 2 of the Paderborn-Berlin series, in Game 1 it was Paderborn who celebrated the long ball, with the club’s batters launching five balls over the fence. Maurice Bendrian hit two homers, driving in five RBI.
Bonn’s 19-run eighth inning included two grand slams, one by Eric Brenk (3-for-8, five RBI) and the other by Wilson Lee (3-for-5, two HR, seven RBI).
Dohren’s pitchers allowed 21 walks in the game and threw 255 pitches in eight innings of hard work.
Strong pitching was on offer in Regensburg, on the other hand. In Game 1 Christian Pedrol struck out 10 Haar batters in five shutout innings, earning the W along the way, with Jan Tomek pitching four no-hit innings to earn the save. In Game 2, Kaleb Bowman struck out 12 in seven shutout innings, collecting 16 swinging strikes along the way. The good pitching ran out in the eighth, however, with the bullpen giving up four runs in the frame to turn a 3-0 lead into a 4-3 deficit. Regensburg rallied with a run in the bottom of the inning and one more in the ninth to earn the victory thanks to a Devon Ramirez sacrifice fly.
Speaking of strong pitching, Hamburg’s Sean Cruz threw a complete-game shutout in Game 2 of his club’s series against Dortmund. He allowed just three hits while walking one and striking out five. He faced the minimum in the game’s final three innings.
Stuttgart’s Jose Mendoza threw a complete-game shutout of his own against Mannheim, but he kept things interesting along the way, walking six and allowing five hits. The Tornados got a runner to third base in three separate innings, but failed to finish the job, with the line-up a combined 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Heidenheim needed a late-inning rally to defeat Mainz in Game 1 of their series. Trailing 5-4 to start the eighth inning, the defending champions added seven runs in the frame and one more in the ninth for good measure. Shawn Larry hit two homers in the game, driving in six runs, with Gary Owens adding a solo home run of his own. Owens would go on to homer twice in Game 2. He went a combined 5-for-10 in the series, with three homers and six RBI.
Ulm and Tübingen played an exciting eleven innings in Game 1 of their series. Tübingen scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings and responded to Ulm’s four runs in the top of the tenth with four of their own when they came to the plate. Ulm upped the ante by scoring twice in the eleventh, but the Hawks had had enough and scored three to claim the W. The two teams combined for 35 hits, with Tübingen’s player-manager Joshua Wyant, who scored the deciding run on a Kalle Michel sacrifice fly, going 5-for-7 in the contest. He then took the mound in Game 2, throwing 159 pitches in a losing effort.
Standings
North | |||
W | L | ||
Bonn | 6 | 0 | |
Paderborn | 5 | 1 | |
Berlin | 5 | 4 | |
Hamburg | 4 | 4 | |
Cologne | 1 | 3 | |
Dortmund | 1 | 5 | |
Dohren | 1 | 6 | |
South | |||
W | L | ||
Regensburg | 7 | 1 | |
Heidenheim | 5 | 3 | |
Stuttgart | 4 | 3 | |
Haar | 4 | 4 | |
Mainz | 4 | 4 | |
Mannheim | 3 | 4 | |
Tübingen | 3 | 5 | |
Ulm | 1 | 7 |