JCC Softball Cincinnati

A wonderful night for softball (and baseball) unless your last name was Brafman as both my team and Jacob’s team lost. But enough about us, let’s get onto the action:

On Field one we had Team Groh vs. Team Fogel 

Ken for the victors: 

After a scoreless 1st inning, Pete Soltesz led off the bottom of the 2nd with a double and came around to score as did Groh on a rare wild pitch from Jamey Kurtzer. Tyler Stansbury hit a 2-run homer with two outs in the 3rd to increase the lead to 4-0. Team Fogel plated 4 runs to tie in the top of the 4th after stringing together several line drives. Soltesz, Von Holle, Groh started off the bottom of the 4th with singles and all 3 scored with David Solomon and Anslinger hits to make it 7-4. Team Groh broke it open in the 5th as Tyler hit his 2nd homerun over the fence and after Castellini had his 2nd hit, Von Holle hit his 1st homer over the fence driving in Jack Cohen and Pete to put Groh up 12-4. In the 7th Jeremy Fogel hit the 4th ball out a 3-run shot to finish the scoring at 12-8. Two amazing defensive plays by Jack Cohen and Jeremy Fogel each saving inside the park homeruns with run down catches. Jon Ruben pitched a scoreless inning and Danny Meisterman also flashed some leather in his first game of the year. 

On Field 2 it was Team Brafman (minus the Capt) vs. Team Simons

Marc Simons for the winners: 

Yesterday was an epic showdown between Team Brafman and Simons. Team Brafman struck first with some nifty baserunning, putting pressure on team Simons to counter. David Wertheim delivered by knocking one out of the park to pull ahead. Team Brafman wasn’t done as they compiled a 6-run inning to pull ahead 11-10 in the late going. Zach Michelson then hit a triple, and mind you not a JCC triple, but legend has it, he may still be on his way to third. Team Simons was able to pull ahead 14-12 in the bottom of the 6th inning and held on for their first win of the season. Many minor injuries in this game but overall it was a fun, well fought game on both sides. 

On Field 3 it was Team Grefer vs. Team Goldhoff

AJ for the winners:

Another great win for the Goons this week as we took out the Grefer-less Grefer’s. Where do even begin? Contributions all over the board…we had not one, not two, not three, but four inside the park home runs, from four different players. Including: Griffin Harris (to go with his 4 hits), Ian Segall (on his first swing of his JCC softball career), Ian Conwell (on the 12^th or 13^th pitch of an unbelievable at bat), and of course the commissioner Adam Cronstein. Zach Fritzhand also had 3 hits and 4 RBI’s for himself as well.

The story of the game at first though seemed to be the sun, as both teams were struggling in the first couple innings to see the ball in the outfield. As the sun set though the Goons stepped up the defense, started running the basepaths (8 steals on the day) and held off the Grefer’s until they scored 5 in the 6^th to come within 3. Jamey Drennan though locked in and finished off another good outing to bring us to 2-0.

Next week we play Team Wagner looking to keep it rolling.

And last but not least on Field 4 it was Team Wolf vs. Team Solomon

Wes for the winners:

After a bye in week 1, Team Wolf kicked off our season with a bang—and a whole lot of grit—pulling off a thrilling 16-14 win in our first game of the year.

Let’s be honest: it wasn’t the prettiest start. We gave up 9 runs in the top of the first inning, which had some of us wondering if this was going to be a long year. But instead of folding, we answered right back in the bottom half with 4 runs, including a two-run double by Pat Feldman, setting the tone for this season right off the bat. 

The middle innings were a battle. Both teams traded runs and big plays, keeping the score close and the energy high. Corey Norris provided excellent pitching as a sub, and Tyler Wolf came through with a 3 hit day. Heading into the bottom of the 6th, we found ourselves down 14-10—but Team Wolf wasn’t done yet.

With our backs against the wall, we rallied for a huge 6-run inning, taking the lead for the first time all night. The top of the 7th was all about defense, and we locked it down to secure the win.

Final score: 16-14, Team Wolf.
A hard-fought victory, a great way to start the season, and a reminder that even when we’re down, we’re never out.

League notes

Short and sweet this week

Happy birthday to Rick Lefton who is leading the March of the Living in Poland at the moment 

JCC Legend Mark Wolf also celebrated a birthday

Don’t forget to sign up for the J Classic in June and JCC night at the Reds game on May 13

If you have the means and want to, I can’t stress enough how amazing the Sphere is in Las Vegas. I saw Dead and Co twice over the weekend. It was well worth the money (at least to me)

It must be nice to make $32 million dollars in life and be as bad at it as the Candy man currently is for the Reds. Small market teams can’t continually whiff  on free agents like the Reds do and think they can compete. Shameful.

If there is a bigger waste of time than the NFL draft in sports I have yet to find it.

Finally Roger told me he has some old Martin St. Louis and Gump Worsley hockey cards if anyone is interested

See everyone on Wednesday!

Welcome back to the blog everyone! What a nice night for softball. After a lot of rain and lousy weather this spring (take it from a baseball dad), it was great to be back out there (even if we are all sore today). Let’s get to the action.

On Field one it was Team Solomon vs. Team Grefer:

Kyle for the winners:

We beat Team Solomon 14-12 in a sloppy game to start the year. We had plenty of defensive miscues but were barely able to eke out the win.

Mike Gray pitched a solid game and had a double and a triple to jolt the offense. Dan Grefer and Brian Goldberg each had a few hits but subs Dan Green, Drew Hart, and James Swan did the heavy lifting on offense with 3 hits each (including a smashed triple to center field by Swan).

Happy to get started with a win!

On field two it was Team Groh vs. Team Goldhoff

Rookie Capt. AJ for the winners:

A great opening week for Goldhoff’s Goons (As the app refers to us) as we beat Team Groh 6-2 in a fun defensive battle. Jamey Drennan pitched fantastic in his debut, only giving up 4 hits and 2 runs, while seemingly getting everyone to pop out.

On the offensive side we got contributions from all over the lineup including Griffin Harris, Adam Cronstein, and Zach Fritzhand who each with 2 hits. I had a hit bringing in two runs and Michael Heldman got a hit and made it around to score in his first game in the league.

The defense won the day though with Griff and Adam locking down the middle of the outfield, we also got big catches from Howard Goldwasser, Ian Conwell, and Michael Heldman.

Overall this was a great team effort and we look forward to continuing to get better next week.

On Field 3 it was Team Fogel vs. Team Brafman

For the first time in over a YEAR in the regular season Marc for the winners

In a back and forth game vs. Team Fogel on field one Team Brafman got off to a great start with a walk off 9-8 win. “It’s been a very long time since I can celebrate a regular season win and it felt good to get off on the right side,”  Brafman said. Down early 3-0 in the first, Mike Margolis made a great catch in RF with the bases loaded to save three runs and keep Team Brafman in the game. While Team Fogel kept pushing across runs (including a rocket off the bat of “The Other” Josh Rosen) Team Brafman kept it close. Down 8-4 in the 6th, Team Brafman tied it with hits coming from all over the lineup including a big single from rookie Corey Meyers and Brafman’s 4th hit of the night. After a scoreless top of the 7th Team Brafman’s bottom of the order got the winning inning going. Rookie Jeff “Oscar Meyer” Wiener led off with a single, Gary Fisher moved the runner along and Team Game Ball winner Mike Margolis singled for his 2nd hit of the night moved the runners along. The Special One Mike Rothstein then singled to load the bases and Zach Mayer won it with a single to LF. 

Kudos to Jimmy Lefton for a great pitching performance in his first game back and Harry “Hood” Meisner for making a couple of nice catches in LCF and for a big hit in the 6th. 

Team Brafman looks to continue their winning ways next week. 

Finally on field four it was Team Wagner vs. Team Simons

Brad for the winners:

Team Wagner beat Team Simons in extra innings on opening night, 13-12. The game went back and forth with plenty of strategic moves, including lots of bunts, intentional walks, and key defensive plays by both teams. Wagner took a 10-7 lead late as Team Simons had crucial hits to tie in the 7th. Team Wagner held Team Simons scoreless in the extra frame. The victors started the bottom of the 8th by getting their first three hitters on, then with one out, Corey Norris hit a hard ground ball to David Wertheim playing a shifted 2nd base, who threw to Captain Simons playing catcher for the force out. Still, Simons could not handle the throw, and Joel Buckley scored the winning run.

Everyone contributed to Team Wagner at the plate, including their elder statesman, Roger Rosenthal.

Team Rookie Seth Shaifer also played well in his Triple Creek debut.

Team Wagner is off next week and will be home recovering while watching reruns of “I Love Lucy.”

Team Simons will take on Team Brafman next week. The game will air on CMT. Bill Dance and Richard Petty will be on the call.

League Notes

A bunch of birthdays:

Scott “Why can’t We Be” Friend

Dave Cohen 

Matt Miller

Brad Gallop

Scott Raskin

Danny Grefer

Josh Lisman

Handsome Sam Castellini

Jeff Finkelstein

Greg Leader

Stu Solomon

Once again, if I missed your birthday, sorry.

A big shout out to former player “Big” Alex Lefton on getting engaged

Reminder that it’s JCC night at the Reds game on May 13 vs. the White Sox

The J-Classic is coming up. J Classic – Mayerson JCC  Please sign up, donate or come to dinner.

Wing night is also coming up at the Silver Spring House. I can’t remember the date but a big thank you to Gig for his continued support of the league.

In Reds news, it’s good to know that the Candy man is now 1-25 with something like 13 strikeouts. The Reds’ front office continues to come up with winners in free agency.

Finally, in Roger news, I have to give him credit for somehow finding me a Sean “SK” Kirkpatrick bobblehead with him as a DJ. I have no idea why this was a bobblehead or how he got it but thanks

See ya next week!

The season came to an end on a somewhat gloomy night on Wednesday as Team Fogel and Team Harris battled it out. The two youngest captains in the league squared off for the Youk award. 

Griff for the winners:

In an exciting championship showdown at the illustrious Triple Creek Park, Team Harris emerged victorious over Team Fogel with a final score of 11-6. Notably, Team Harris was missing, arguably, their MVP (Most Vexatious Player) of the season, Roger Rosenthal, who was on a cruise in Canada. Rosenthal fired the team up before the game with a video message from the cruise ship telling them to simply “just win the damn game.” Team Harris knew they couldn’t let him down after that.

The game was filled with standout moments and impressive performances from both sides.  Team Harris jumped out to an early lead in the first inning scoring 3 runs and never looked back after that. For Team Harris, Ryan Marcus hit a solo home run in the 3rd inning to highlight his 3-hit performance, while Ryan Baum contributed with several nice hits throughout the game. Captain Griff Harris hit a crucial 3-run home run in the top of the 6^th inning to extend the lead to 11-3. The captain also made a nice diving catch on the warning track to save multiple runs in the bottom half of the 6^th. Stu Weinstein pitched a gem. He kept Team Fogel’s hitters off balance all night, only allowing 6 runs over 7 innings. Other key offensive contributions came from Pat Feldman, Mark Weisser (who went 3 for 3), Dan Bernstein, and Stu Weinstein himself, who had a couple of big hits.

Big shout out to Jeremy Fogel of Team Fogel for making a spectacular catch in the 1st inning, robbing a potential 3-run home run.  He also threw a laser to nail a runner at 3rd base later in the game. Joel Buckley also shined for Team Fogel with an outstanding catch at shortstop for the final out of the 2nd inning to save multiple runs.

The game saw Team Harris leading every inning, with scores progressing from 3-2 after the 2^nd inning to the final score of 11-6. The atmosphere was electric with a sellout crowd, including some league veterans, despite the cloudy weather. After the game, the team (JZ) celebrated their victory by popping (dumping all over himself) a bottle of champagne provided by Brad Wagner, adding a festive end to their championship win.

Congrats to Team Harris and all of the guys on both teams for a great game and post season tournament. 

League notes:

Weather permitting, the ASG is on Sunday morning at 9:30. Make sure you check the rain out line before you come to the game.

The Oy Vey 5K is on November 10. Please sign up here: Oy Vey 5K – Mayerson JCC

Happy birthdays this week:

“The Special One”  Mike Rothstein

Former player, Neil Nadel

Eddie Gallop

Zach Mayer

It was also Wes Wolf’s anniversary this week. Congrats to Wes and Hailey.

As David Weil and I were talking about earlier this week, only the Reds could fire a manager with 5 games left so they don’t have to pay him to go on the road. Now they still have to pay him the last two years on his contract, so maybe David Bell got the better end of the deal. But NOTHING the Reds did comes close to the cheapness of the Pirates. With only 4 at bats away from getting a $200,000 bonus, the Pirates cut Rowdy Tellez. Again, 4 at bats away from paying a guy $200K, the Pirates cut him. They claim it was a baseball move. So when I bitch and moan about the Reds, at least I’m not a Pirates fan.

It was a great season once again, guys. We (the league) got a big shout out during the JCC annual meeting last night.    A huge shout out to Ryan and all the captains for their hard work. Can’t wait till next season (maybe my team will win a regular season game). 

Marc