Man, what a first night Commish Ryan dialed up for us on Wednesday as the 2023 JCC softball season got off to a great start. “Maybe all of my prayers to Mother Nature were answered after last season,” Ryan said. “She owes us one after all the rain.” After dusting off the rust from a long offseason let’s get down to the action.
On field one we had Team Solomon vs. Team Wolf
First Wes for the winners: (Congrats on your first team win, Wes)
The inaugural game for Team Wolf was a 14-8 win against Team Solomon! Starting with an inside-the-park home run from captain, Wes Wolf, in the 1st, a few more timely hits brought 4 runs in through 2. Mike Gray came out firing with only two runs allowed through 4, backed by a great stand-in catching performance from Duffy Wolf and Keith Kombrinck.
Tyler Wolf led the way at the plate going 4-4 with 4 RBI and Brian Goldberg followed with a bases-clearing double leading to 3 RBI in a 6-run fifth inning. Overall, a great showing from Team Wolf who will be even more potent when Matt Brodof makes his debut next week.
And Coach Stu for the losing team:
It was great being back on the diamond. While Team Solomon took the L last night, we had a great time together and I am optimistic for the season.
Some Highlights:
Harry “Hercules” Meisner only needed one pitch to hit an absolute BOMB to LCF. Then, he hit a ball to the wall and used that Black Sheep speed for an inside-the-park homer.
Stuart “Everyone’s Favorite Captain” Solomon went 3-4 and played a wonderful 3B. He had a diving catch to rob a sharp single, a nice barehanded play to throw out the runner, and another nice play on a slowly hit grounder to third.
Adam “Robert California” Teitlebaum had a great first game. One the first batter he saw, he made a sliding play in RF. Additionally, he was all over the basepaths. Additionally, he has a glorious mustache.
Oren “The Best Basketball Player in the League” Shmoel had several very nice defensive plays capped off by an unassisted DP at 2nd.
Lastly, Alan “The Salsa King of the Midwest” Lessure went 1-3 with an RBI to rub it in the face of all the captains. He is Him of the last round.
On field two we had Team Z taking on Team Fogel
Roger ghost writing for the winning Team Fogel:
TEAM FOGEL 19
TEAM ZAWATZKY 5
The season opener for TEAM FOGEL was a smashing success! They defeated TEAM ZAWATZKY, 19-5, in a shortened five inning game…..
The only mistake on the night was the fact that team captain and former MASON HIGH SCHOOL baseball star, JEREMY FOGEL, thought his team was the visiting team…..
After some dazzling defensive plays in the top of the opening frame, the victors exploded for a four spot and never looked back.
“It was a total team effort, and it was exactly what I had hoped for in the season opener,” Fogel said afterwards. “Everyone contributed at the plate and/or in the field. We played a great game.”
It started with pitching veteran, COREY NORRIS, who breezed through four innings before giving up a five spot in the top of the fifth inning. He didn’t walk a batter.
The hitting stars were numerous, with highly paid stars like former WYOMING HIGH SCHOOL great, JASON ESTERKAMP….SCOTT “Why Can’t we Be” FRIEND….rookie BRANDON “the gamecock” WRONKER…..and FOGEL doing their fair share…..but it was the others, ZACH MICHELSON…..SCOTT ADAMS…..NORRIS….and rookie MATT MILLER (NO RELATION TO WES OR SEAN).
Minus from this list is ROGER ROSENTHAL, the elder statesman, who fell down twice, once running to first base after a sacrifice bunt and the other time fielding a ball at second base. He made the play each time and didn’t collect a hit, but did produce a sacrifice bunt to help plate a run and played a stellar defense.
Speaking of defense, the winners had ZERO errors……
Other comments after the game……
ROSENTHAL…….”Hey I thought if we won the first game, the captain was going to buy us each a bobblehead of our choice.”
NORRIS……………”Can anyone shut Roger up. I’ll buy them a beer if they do.”
MILLER…………….”I work for the University of Cincinnati, but I have to give credit where credit is due. XAVIER has the better men’s basketball program in town.”
and finally, FRIEND…….”All I know is THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA has the best football program in the country.”
A special thanks goes out to RYAN “the Hebrew Hammer” BAUM who subbed and played a solid game…….
On Field 3 it was Team Wagner vs. Team Brafman
Brad for the winners:
Team Wagner took down Team Brafman 16-12 on Opening Night. Team Wagner took the lead in the top of the 1st with four tally marks, including a big hit by Cam Kirzner. Brafman chipped away throughout the game and eventually took the lead 7-5 on some solid hits by their entire line up. Captain Wagner tied the game with a 2-run single and held off a huge rally by Brafman with an amazing play by Kirzner at SS, by doubling off Steve Eppstein at 2nd base off a line shot by Griff Harris. The victors plated eight in the top of the 7th and were able to hold off a 7th inning Brafman rally.
Captain Wagner was interviewed by John London after the game and was asked how it felt to get his first win on opening night after taking a few years off from captaining. Wagner stated, “Coming out of the draft I knew we would be very competitive with a solid mix of young guys and seasoned veterans. I pulled three all-nighters prepping for this draft.”
Howie Schwartz pitched a solid game and Norm Frankel played well at 1B, including a nice catch in foul territory. Big hits came a plenty including off the bats of Ian Conwell, AJ Goldhoff, and Chris Kunkel.
At one time tonight, Jerry Kirzner, Norm Frankel, and Howie Schwartz were all on base together. That’s an approximate combined age of 220.
Next week Team Wagner takes on Team Zawatsky, which will be aired on bankrupt Bally Sports instead of showing the Reds.
And Captain Brafman for the losers:
It was a good first showing for Team Brafman. We just couldn’t quite get over the hump. Kudos to the Living Legend Howie Schwartz who continues to do his thing. Big hits for Team Brafman came from super Sub JZ with a homer, Eric “The Mouth of the Midwest” Gruen who went 3-4, Dee Harris and Alex Kraus.
On defense a big shout out to rookie Jamey Drennan, who was fantastic at third most of the game, and Joel Hallelujah Buckley at SS. Finally, Eppy pitched a great first 4 innings and kept Team Wagner in check. “I expect a lot of wins from my team,” Brafman said post game. We will rebound and attack next week.
And last but not least on field 4 we had Team Kamrass vs. Team Grefer
Micah for the winners:
On a beautiful night for softball, Team Kamrass out-dueled Team Grefer 18-13. Fink pitched a great game, and every player on the team delivered key hits. Dave Solomon connected with Scott Raskin to throw out a runner stealing at second. Bryce Anslinger had a few timely catches in right field. New guy Jordan Skinner had a great league debut at third base.
“There was definitely some rust on both sides, but our team fought hard and was in control the entire way,” said Captain Micah Kamrass.
Tip of the cap to new guys Krantz and Ruben on Team Grefer, who will both be great additions for the league.
And Kyle for the losing team:
We lost a tough game to team Kamrass 18-13. After going down early we did a good job of fighting back to keep it close, but it wasn’t enough. Our defense was struggling early shaking off the offseason rust but got better as the game continued and we only allowed one run in the final 4 innings. Jon Ruben’s debut at pitcher started with a strikeout to the first batter he faced (that ended up being a passed ball and the guy reaching first, but it still counts). Joey Huidt and Adam Cronstein had great games at the plate, with Mark Levine and Howard Goldwasser also coming up with some big hits. Rookie Landon Krantz had a nice game at third base making some great plays, and David Wertheim made all the plays at shortstop.
League notes
Please mark June 21 down on your calendar as that is wing night at the Silver Spring house sponsored by Big Gig Franklin (our corp sponsor) come out after the game
Also mark down Jewish Night at the Reds game on May 23. It’s a fun night for all even if the Reds will lose to the Cards.
Speaking of the Reds, a tip of the softball cap to our own Albert Weisbrot who sang the national anthem on Monday night. Of course, once the word got out, the Reds had their lowest attended game in the history of GABP.
Speaking of the Reds part 2. While I give them credit for signing Hunter Green and hopefully a couple more of the young guys that does nothing to change my mind that this will be the worst Reds team of all time. They will blow past 100 losses. (I do like Spencer Steer, though)
Last week I mentioned that Gary Grefer plays in an over-55 league in Florida AKA the Mexican league in the offseason. Big congrats to Gary’s team for winning it this year. He said while the average age guys are in their 50’s there are guys over 70 playing. As someone who was sore from playing LF on Wed. that is pretty amazing. Nice job, Gary.
I know what most of you younger guys were doing the past 9-12 months and it wasn’t taking batting practice. There were more babies and young kids at the game on Wednesday than I can ever remember. Congrats to Alex Kraus, AJ and Jamey (the rookie) for having their kids out. And Rabbi Yitz for bringing his own team.
I can’t wait to talk to Ricky Lefton after he comes back from his trip during the March of the Living. While not a fun trip by any stretch it’s so important that Rick and Ann (Eric Goldstein’s wife) are leading the Cincy youth on this important trip.
And finally in our new segment we are calling “This week in the world of Roger Rosenthal.”
Roger informed me last night that he likes to go out and sing Karaoke in his down time. To me the worst singers in the history of music is a tie between Yoko Ono and Bjork. I somehow believe Roger singing Tiptoe Through the Tulips (one of his go to songs) might be worse. (but if you like music I encourage all of you to watch the doc on Jason Isbell currently showing on HBO. Very interesting)
See everyone Wednesday
Marc