by Chris Byrnes
The Swiss NLA semi-final playoffs got under way this past weekend with the Zurich Challengers taking on cross-town rival Zurich Barracudas at the ballpark in Zurich. The Challengers after a slow start this season were one of the hottest teams going into the playoffs and beat the Barracudas decisively during the run up to the playoffs.
With beautiful sunny skies and temperatures hovering over 30 degrees the fans in Zurich were treated with some of the best baseball this season with both games coming down to the last at bats. The Barracudas prevailed in both games winning with a 3-2 walk off win in the bottom of the 11th inning and squeaking out a 5-4 win on Sunday.
Game 1 Summary – Zurich Barracudas 3 – Zurich Challengers 2
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
| Zurich Challengers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| Zurich Barracudas | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
In game 1 of the best of five series the Barracudas Andi Rüesch faced off against the veteran Tobi Siegrist and this one was a battle between the two pitchers. Both pitchers were dominant on the night and gave their teams the chance to win. It was the Barracudas who started off the scoring in the 1st inning when Chris Michals earned a two out walk and Shane Uhle knocked a single to right placing runners on 1st and 2nd base. Up to the plate came Nderim Coma who smashed a double down the right field line to score Michals from 2nd base.
The Challengers answered back in the next inning on a heads up base running play by James Sanders. With Chico Colinres at the plate and Sanders on 2nd base the pitch from Rüesch appeared to hit Colinres and ball bounced to the backstop. The umpire ruled it a ball and Sanders scooted around from 2nd base to tie the score 1-1.
In the top of the 3rd the Barracudas game changer Harry Wischnewski led off with a single and preceded to steal 2nd base and advanced to 3rd base on the throwing error. The next batter Chris Michals one of the hottest hitters in the league belted a deep fly to center field to score Wischnewski and put the Barracudas back on top 2-1
The game would remain that way until the top of the 8th when the Challengers first ballot hall of famer Tobi Siegrist walked and stole second base with two outs. The Challengers sent up a Carlos Miguel Nepomuceno to pinch hit and he came through in the clutch with a single to right field to send this game into extra innings.
The Challenges put the pressure on Rüesch in the top of the 10th inning when Tobi Siegrist hit a two out double down the left field line. That prompted a visit to the mound from Barracudas manager Chris Byrnes who made the call to the bullpen with his ace Roger Savoldelli to put out the fire. Savoldelli did the job and got Bryan Shemley to pop up to end the threat.
Harry Bregy came on to replace Siegrist in the bottom of the 11th and the Barracudas Shane Uhle hammered a single to right field and Nderim Coma laid down a nice sacrifice bunt to advance Uhle into scoring position. Hasson Rogers stepped up to the plate and worked the count to 3-2 and then hit a slow chopper over the mound to the second base side making a difficult play for the Challengers 2nd baseman Nepomuceno and Uhle who was stealing on the play never stopped running and scored the winning run to complete a very exciting and well played game between the two rivals.
Game 2 Summary – Zurich Barracudas 5 – Zurich Challengers 4
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Zurich Barracudas | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| Zurich Challengers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 2 |
On Sunday the Challegers sent Rob Sedin their hard throwing pitcher to the mound to face the Barracudas. Sedin mowed down the Barracudas a few weeks ago shutting them out. The Barracudas sent the crafty Chris Michals to the mound.
This day was to be different as the Barracudas jumped on Sedin in the 1st inning when Josh Crouse hit a ball to right field and kept on running to second and beat the throw from right fielder Jay Casimiro. Chris Michals proceeded to lift a fly ball to right field and Crouse advanced to 3rd base with two outs. Crouse was not finished running as he got a great jump on a passed ball and beat the throw to the pitcher to lift the Barracudas to a 1-0 lead and spark the Barracudas.
The Barracudas came back on fire in the bottom of the 3rd inning when rookie Philip Reger starting his first playoff game came through with a single. Sedin then hit Harry Wischnewski with a pitch and then Crouse chopped one to shortstop for an infield hit to load the bases with one out. Chris Michals once again came through for the Cudas with a single to score Reger to make it 2-0. Shane Uhle blasted a single to score two more runs to make it 4-0 before Sedin could get out of the inning.
The Cudas came back to score another run off Sedin in the 4th to make it 5-0 when Sedin hit Uhle with the bases loaded. James Sanders came in to pitch the rest of the way and shut down the Barracudas.
The Challengers did not sit back they scored a run in the bottom of the inning to make the score 5-1. Clayton Carson lofted a soft fly ball that was lost in the sun for a double and Tobi Siegrist delivered a single to score Carson.
In the 5th inning the Challengers started to get to Michals. Carlos Nepomuceno hit a ball in the right center gap and it looked like a sure double but the secretary of defense Harry Wischnewski sprinted in the gap, slide in front of the ball, picked it up and fired a strike to shortstop Crouse who applied the tag to get Nepomuceno. That was a big time defensive plays and one of the best of the season. However, the Challengers kept coming with two outs. Saentis Zeller who had three hits on the day lofted a single to center and Sedin hit a rocket off the wall to score Zeller. Carson walked and once again Siegrist singled to make the score 5-3. That warranted a visit by Barracudas manager Chris Byrnes who once again made the call to his trustworthy relief pitcher Roger Savoldelli who got Bryan Shemley to pop up again for the second time in two games to get out of the inning without any further damage. Savoldelli went on to pitch another solid two innings to bring the game to the 8th inning with a 5-3 lead.
Josh Crouse the Barracudas all star relief pitcher game on to finish the last two innings but the Challengers fought back again and scored another run when Tobi Siegrist hit another double and James Sanders smacked a single to close the gap to 5-4 going into the 9th.
The Challengers were relentless as Zeller hit a rope to center field with one out and advanced to 2nd base on wild pitch by Crouse. With one out and the tying run on 2nd base the Challengers heart of the order coming up it looked like the Challengers had Crouse right where they wanted him. Crouse showed why he is an all star by getting Sedin to pop up to the catcher and retired Carson on a ground out to end the game. Savoldelli picked up his second win on the weekend and Crouse earned the save.
The Challengers hard luck losers in game 1 and 2 will send out Tobi Siegrist in game three to face Andi Rüesch next Saturday in Zurich.