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25.08.2009
2009 NLA Playoff Previews
by Chris PalatinusThe Swiss Playoffs will go underway this weekend with the Semifinals. Can the Therwil Flyers keep their hot run and go all the way, or is one of the three contending teams ready to step up to the challenge?
In a matchup of last year’s Finals, the Lausanne Indians will enjoy home field advantage against the reigning Champions Bern Cardinals. The Indians have lost the regular season series 3-1 by a combined score of 15-35. Both Swiss pitchers, Christoph Beyeler and Tobias Imboden were especially tough on the Indians as both allowed only a single run in their two outings.
The Cardinals started red-hot into the season and won their first 13 games before finally dropping one to the Zurich Challengers. They went on to win the European Qualifier’s Cup for a second straight year, but returned fatigue and lost three of their next seven games. They lost games against non-Playoff teams like the Zurich Barracudas and the Embrach Rainbows , and eventually dropped all the way down to third place in the stadings. If they make the Finals, they will again have a break because of the European Cup Final tournament, and it remains to be seen, if they have enough stamina left for the National Championships.
The Indians are a team that still relies on their incredible slugging power and the stunning success of southpaw Nicolas Jaquemet. Jaquemet continues to baffle hitters with his off-speed stuff, backed by a solid offense of veteran Latin players. Their offense is stacked with homerun power from top to almost bottom, and if every player stays healthy and motivated, they could go all the way. But often times, they have a short fuse and are always in danger of finishing games with less than nine players, although this has improved over the years thanks to a cool-headed coaching by Jay Casimiro who replaced hot-headed Jose Colon.
Prediction: Cardinals in 4.
The other matchup between the front-running Therwil Flyers and the Challengers is a rematch of years past. Between 1999 and 2004, the two teams met four times in the Finals with the Challengers winning all four Series. The Flyers made the Finals in six consecutive years in that span, winning only once in 2003 against the Cardinals. The Flyers won this year’s regular season series 3-1, outscoring the Challengers 40-28 early in the season.
The Challengers have struggled as of late, but that was because of the fact that their schedule wasn’t that challenging anymore after having played all top teams in the first half of the season, and then almost having wrapped up the Playoff berth by end of July. The Flyers still have a strong nucleus of veteran players Daniel Eichenberger, Reto Siegel, Stefan Koller and Seppy Zwyer, plus two strong foreign players in Chris Blackbee and player coach Sam Faeder. Coupled with a bunch of young and talented players like Hideki Oshima, Lucas Croton or Adrian Kaufmann, they have a very powerful lineup that lost only five games in the regular season.
The Challengers try to counter with experience, as Thomas Landis, Tobias Siegrist and Chris Palatinus will be playing in their 11th Playoffs. With new additions like long-time Barracuda Ueli von Burg, veteran Tom Huston and player coach James Sanders, plus strong Latin players Jesus Martinez, Carlos Peña and Yonimiler Martinez, the Challengers have scored a league-high 266 runs, but also allowed 216 runs, the most of any Playoff team. The pitching staff is the Challengers’ Achilles tendon as Thomas Burger went down with an inflammation of his throwing shoulder. The patchwork rotation included Burger (5 starts) Siegrist (4), Palatinus (6), Sanders (7) and Yonimiler Martinez (3). Seven different pitchers recorded at least one win this season, the most since 2001 as Benny Räber led a staff of seven pitchers with at least one win.
Prediction: Challengers in 5.
Chris was Vice President of the Challengers and now plays in the NLA. He was also the playing-coach of the Challengers in 2003 and 2004, winning a total of five National titles between 1998 and 2004.
E-mail: chris[at]challengers.ch.
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