After Mannheim and Paderborn dominated in the 1990ies and early 2000s we saw five different German champions in the last five years. Four of them will battle each other in the semi-finals in the Baseball-Bundesliga which will begin on Saturday with doubleheaders.
The matchup between reigning title holder Heidenheim Heidekoepfe and the Solingen Alligators is a rematch of last year’s duel, where Heidenheim prevailed in five wild games. The Heidekoepfe, which also have another highlight ahead of them with the European Cup Final Four in Barcelona, reached the finals after a sweep against the Bonn Capitals. Markus Winkler and Dusty Bergman are set as starting pitchers. Martin Dewald, Hagen Raetz and Peter Dankerl will not be available in the first two games. With Matt Pali and Chris Beck they will feature two players which were on the other side one year ago.
After winning the championship in 2006 the Alligators always were eliminated in the semi-finals and hope again to return to the championship series this year. They swept their quarterfinals against the Haar Disciples in three games. Andre Hughes and Josh Rickards will be their starting pitchers with hard-throwing Nils Hartkopf waiting in the bullpen to take the mound if necessary. Mid-season additions Paul Rutgers and Evan Porter have turned a relatively weak offense into a strength for the team of head coach Andy Fleischacker.
In the other semi-finals the Paderborn Untouchables take on the Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg. The U’s won six German championships between 1999 and 2005. This is their first return to the semi-finals in five seasons. They weren’t that consistent so far this season, but they overcame a 0-2 deficit against the Mannheim Tornados in the quarterfinals to advance to the semis. Eugen Heilmann and Daniel Meier will be the starting pitchers with Heilmann having to bounce back after two starts last weekend. At the plate Bjoern Schonlau, Julius Uelschen and Sascha Brockmeyer bailed out Michael Franke against Mannheim who was a non-factor.
After winning the southern championship 2008 champion Regensburg had to go through four games in the quarterfinals against the HSV Stealers, losing game three in extra innings. After leaving with a rib injury Boris Bokaj is back healthy and will start together with Eric Faint. The American sidearmer successfully transitioned from the bullpen into a starter role and filled that role as game-two starter. At the plate Ludwig Glaser, Petr Cech and Rodney Gessmann haven’t lost a beat in comparison to the regular season. For head coach Martin Helmig the duels with Paderborn will be reunion after coaching them during their championship run.
Schedule:
Saturday, September 4:
13:00 Paderborn Untouchables – Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg
15:30 Paderborn Untouchables – Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg
13:00 Heidenheim Heidekoepfe – Solingen Alligators
15:30 Heidenheim Heidekoepfe – Solingen Alligators
(Games three to five will follow on September 11&12)
Playdowns Schedule:
Saturday, September 4, 1pm & 3.30pm:
North:
Dortmund – Dohren
Cologne – Pulheim
South:
Mainz – Saarlouis
Gauting – Neuenburg
Photo: (c) Gregor Eisenhuth, www.eisenhuth-photographie.de