Sorry for the delay in getting the blog up this week. The Beaches of Charleston, SC were calling.
On Field 1 it was Team Harris vs. Team Wagner:
Roger for the winners:
After losing two games in a row after a 3-0 start, TEAM HARRIS had a nice bounce back victory over TEAM WAGNER in which there was plenty of credit to go around.
Let’s start with the excellent pitching of MARK WEISSER and the defense behind him……RYAN MARCUS made a great catch on a line shot, GRIFF HARRIS made a diving catch of a shot to centerfield……JZ ZEIDENSTEIN caught a couple of shots to right centerfield…..RYAN BAUM made a nice running catch in left field……and finally, DAN BERNSTEIN snared a line drive down the first base line.
On the offensive side, everyone contributed in one way or another with BIG hits coming off the bats of DEE HARRIS (3-3 and a BB)…….ANDY GOLLIN (run scoring double)….JZ (two shots to the left field fence)….WEISSER (key two-out hit)……and even ROGER ROSENTHAL, with a two-out bloop single to keep a BIG inning alive.
The game was close throughout until an outburst by the victors in the late innings to put some distance between the two teams.
QUOTES…..
“Great game in all areas. I like how we bounced back after two losses to beat a pretty good team. I think we have the ship righted now,” Captain GRIFF HARRIS said afterwards.
“I’m only as good as my defense and they played great behind me. And as usual, my son (EVAN WEISSER) called a great game and had no passed balls. I’m not putting him in the JOHNNY BENCH category yet, but he’s well on his way,” the elder WEISSER said after the game.
RYAN MARCUS ran into bad luck as he smoked a couple of balls right at fielders, “I can’t buy a hit. Maybe I should pray before the game, it can’t hurt,” he said afterwards.
TIDBITS…..
*Here’s hoping EVAN WEISSER is OK….he sat out one inning……those late nights can get to you…..lol.
*SPECIAL THANKS go to former commissioner GREG “GIG” FRANKLIN for providing the wings after the game……STEVE EPPSTEIN, who usually does the honor, saved a bunch of money and felt obligated to spend his fair share for the night so he ended up buying ten bobbleheads from ROGER ROSENTHAL……
*GRIFF HARRIS is like a softball playing machine…..he plays in like five leagues and when he was cornered by this reporter about which one he likes the most he said, “Of course, the JCC league. I love playing with my father and all the guys. How could I not like that?”
*RYAN SMALL’S mother came to visit her son and said she hadn’t seen him play ball since he was little….guess what?….he’s NO better than he was 30 years ago…….lol.
*While everyone in the league is following their baseball teams, there are a few that do know that other sports are going on, mainly the NHL and NBA playoffs…..MIKE ROTHSTEIN and COREY NORRIS ventured to Indianapolis recently to watch their BOSTON CELTICS win the Eastern Conference title…..just don’t ask them about the BOSTON BRUINS choke for another year…..lol……….speaking of hockey…..while most of the televisions at the eatery were on hockey, yours truly got excited after the EDMONTON OILERS scored and one DAVID WEIL said, “Who cares?”……typical comment from a Cincinnati sports fan.
AND FINALLY, it was strange not to see MARC BRAFMAN and son JACOB, the league mascot, in attendance after the game to enjoy the wings…..it was rumored that the two “boys” were on a cross country tour of every major league lacrosse team park…..speaking of parks, TODD WASSERMAN and a few of his buddies are going to four baseball fields in the upcoming week….have fun!
Until next time, take care and stay safe and GO X!!!!!!!
On Field 2 It was Team Wolf vs. Team Kamrass
I’m guessing Team Wolf won
On Field 3 we had team Grefer vs. Team Solomon
Kyle for the winners:
Team Grefer beat Team Solomon 17-6 in 5 innings. After a shaky start defensively, we were able to lock in for the middle innings and come away with the win. Offensively we were carried by Landon Krantz and Zach Mayer with 4 hits each. Dan Grefer and Ryan Silverman also contributed with some clutch hits, and Oren Shmoel showed some power on a triple to right center. Tim Trautman pitched another good game with only one walk, and we look to keep the momentum going on Sunday!
Finally on Field 4 Team Fogel took on the hapless Team Brafman
Jeremy for the winners:
In a battle with a Brafman-less Team Brafman on Field 4, Team Fogel continued to flash the leather as they have been in previous weeks which led them to their third consecutive win after an early season slide. The bats came out early, but it was two double plays which set the tone for this victory. Joel Buckley continued to dust off his gold glove at Shortstop, but Norm Frankel turned back the clock to 1980 (his quote) with a diving stop and throw from his back to nab what would’ve been a lead off base hit in the later innings. Clutch hitting throughout the order kept this game out of reach, and a shoutout to Matt Miller for registering his first home run of the season.
League Notes:
A HUGE thank you once again to Gig for the wings at the Spring House and for your continued support of the league. (My mom said she’ll even give you a kiss the next time she sees you).
Another HUGE shout out to Rick Lefton and the entire JCC staff for another amazing J Classic. This event which at one point was named the Adams classic after Shorty’s Dad has turned into an amazing community-wide event. Well done Rick, and congrats to all of you who played yesterday!
Congrats to all of the Dad’s in the league whose kids graduated from whatever grade they are in. Always exciting to see where they are going to college or the next school.
For the second time in a couple of weeks I was down in the trainer’s room getting my knee worked on (I’m back baby!…on Sunday) and the head trainer of the men’s basketball team saw me. He just shook his head and said let me guess…your softball league again, right? Add him to the list of our wives who say we should stop playing.
On that note, if Neil Young and Crazy Horse are still touring (along with the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones) we can still get out and play, right?
Your Reds notes of the week. When your front office releases Mike Ford because “they don’t have a spot for him” only to resign him 24 hours later and put him in the lineup hitting 3rd for a month you know you are in trouble. Which of course the Reds are. But hey it could be worse. We could root for the Mets who had a pitcher get thrown out of a game mid-batter, toss his glove into the stands on his way out of the game, then say in the locker room that he was playing on the worst team in the league. Shockingly he got released the next day.
See everyone on Sunday. Let’s hope Mother Nature cooperates.