Cardinals Register 12th Straight Win

Wil Devils And Therwil Flyers Split Weekend Series
Therwil Flyers and the Wil Devils split their weekend series last week in Swiss Baseball League action in Therwil.

Daniel Eichenberger connected for a 3-run home run and the Flyers broke a 0-0 deadlock with a six-run seventh en route to an 8-1 win in their season opening game. Reto Siegel, Chris Blackbee, and Nelson Vilomar all stroked two hits apiece to pace Therwil’s 13-hit attack including three doubles.

Stefan Koller (1-0) went the distance allowing only four hits and striking out 11 to win his first start of the new season. Roger Salvodelli was tagged with the loss after giving up six runs and 12 hits.

In the second contest, Wil starter Rusty Tiedermann limited the Flyers to a pair of hits while fanning 11 and the Devils scored five runs in the fourth en route to a surprising 6-0 victory. The win was Wil’s first win in the first division after winning the second division title last season.

The Flyers talented slugger Nelson Vilomar was injured in the game after getting hit with an errant pickoff throw. The extent of the injury has yet to be determined.

Bern Cardinals Extend Winning Streak With Sweep Over Barracudas
The three-time defending Swiss champions opened their title defense with a sweep over the resurgent Zurich Barracudas last weekend in a matchup pitting two of the best squads in Switzerland.

Chris Beyeler overcame some control problems and Samuel Paulino and Angelo Rodriguez started the new season swinging the bats well as the Cards handed the Barracudas a 9-8 setback in Game 1.

Beyeler (1-0) hit three batters and walked another one as Zurich scored twice in the opening frame to take a 2-1 lead without the aid of a hit. But the talented Bern hurler regrouped to keep the Barracudas offense scoreless the following three innings.

The Cards offense went to work on Zurich’s talented young pitcher, Jeffrey Mottl, as Paulino went 2-for-3 with a double while Rodriguez hit a homer, scored three times, and knocked home three RBI’s.

Severin Fries relieved Beyeler and earned his first save of the year as the Cards secured the season opening win.

Bern’s Player/Coach John Baum started the second game opposite Frank Berchtold and the Cards wasted little time taking control of the game touching the Zurich ace for four runs in the second. Baum ripped a key two-run single to help his squad take a 4-0 lead.

The Barracudas threatened in the third after a walk and a double by Farid Bekkali put runners on second and third with no outs. But Baum fanned the next batter and solid defense by the Cards foiled Zurich’s bid to get on the board.

Johnny Perigo popped his first homer of the season as Bern increased its lead to 5-0 enroute to an 8-1 win and a sweep of the doubleheader. The Cards, who extended their winning streak from 2007 to 12 games and have won 26 of their last 27 games, are the most dominant team in Switzerland since the 1993 Therwil Flyers squad which went undefeated.

Lausanne Indians Trounces Challengers Twice
The Lausanne Indians established themselves as legit playoff contenders last weekend with two convincing wins (21-11, 22-4) against the Zurich Challengers. The Latino-flavored Indians improved to 3-1 on the season while the Challengers dropped to 1-3.