On a humid night for softball, the tension was high (at least on field 3). Let’s get to the action.
On Field 1 Team Fogel was the victor. Jeremy leads us off.
Resuming the game in the bottom of the first, Team Fogel got out of a second and third one out jam only yielding one run which was just the beginning of a masterful pitching performance by Jamey and defensive outing behind him. In a pitcher’s duel between Jamey and Howie, Team Fogel was able to scrape together a few runs which ended up being just enough to escape with a win. Timely hitting by both Fogels and Matt Miller was the difference in this one. The defense continued to be impressive as The Men in Black end the first half on a four-game winning streak.
On Field 2, it was the first half Toilet Bowl as Team Kamrass took on Team Brafman
Micah for the winners:
Team Kamrass finally got in the win column with a 15-4 victory over Team Brafman. Team Brafman resumed the game with hot bats and went up 4-1. From there, Jon Ruben’s pitching and strong defense from Team Kamrass (playing with just nine guys) shut them down the rest of the game.
Tyler Stansbury was the offensive MVP. He had 8 RBI, including 7 in the same inning. 4 of those came on a grand slam hit out of the park. Drew Hart also clobbered a home run. James Swan returned from Ireland with a hot bat (and a perfect bunt).
“Time to begin our win streak,” said Captain Micah Kamrass. “Our team will be dangerous in the second half.” Post game Team Brafman Capt. said “I knew I should have walked Stansbury twice.
On field 3 the most interesting game of the night took place. Grefer vs. Wolf.
Kyle for the winners:
We beat team Wolf 10-6 in an intense showdown. After starting the game in the bottom of the first down 3-0 we slowly brought the game closer until the 5th inning where we batted around and scored 7 runs. Our defense was again great with only a couple minor miscues, and Tim pitched another solid game on the mound. Offensively Gary Grefer had a huge triple to right field, and Will Coleman one upped him with an inside the park homerun to center field. Once again it was a complete team effort as everyone had a play that helped contribute to the win.
After the game we got some good fortune with team Harris and Tenenholtz losing, locking us in as the first half champs. I’m really proud of our team with how we were able to do a complete turnaround after getting run ruled by team Harris in the first game where Jimmy also hurt his knee.
And finally on Field 4 it was Team Stu vs. Team Harris
Team Solomon Trashes Team Harris 23-13, as Chris “KunkelBomb” Kunkel leads the offense with an impressive 3-3 day including the game winner (to put us up 10 in the bottom of the inning).
Hits were aplenty for Team Solomon as they started the day down 1-0. A six run first was capped off by Kunkels first of two triples. Ken Groh helped himself to a double and a triple.
Ben “Norm” Charlton and Adam “Metal Spikes” Cronstein set the table both going 3-3 with a walk. Both scored 3 runs from Stuart “World’s Best Captain” Solomon and AJ “Heart of” Goldhoff RBI singles.
The top of the lineup wasn’t the only part of the lineup to get on the base paths. Brandon Lindsey “Graham” went 3-3 with two rockets and 2 RBIs. Zach “Rock’em Zakem Robots” was on base twice and scored twice.
The drama began in the top of the 5th. Team Solomon was up 12 and Team Harris needed to score 3 to keep playing. After getting the first 2 outs, the defensive wheels started to fall off for Team Solomon letting up 9 runs to go down 3. Team Solomon responded in a BIG way scoring 7 in the bottom of the 5th. Big Hits from David “Bitter Herb” Wertheim on a bases loaded double scoring 3 and Chris Kunkel hitting a walk off triple to put us up 10.
Reports indicate several players took a shot of whiskey before the game to get loose. Some are saying this is the swing juice this team needs to make a deep run in the 2nd half.
League Notes:
Once again a reminder we are off next week for the Jewish Holiday. Go to the Reds/Guards game instead for your Roger Rosenthal official Elly De La Cruz bobblehead.
Sad news as Jeff Weisbrot’s grandmother died this week. We are all thinking of you, Jeff.
Happy birthday goes out to Big Al Lefton (former player).
Congrats to everyone’s favorite league sister, Brooke Fogel, who is taking her talents to Denver at the end of the summer.
Once again, a big thank you to Big Gig for wing night two weeks ago.
I’m sorry to have missed Jewish night at the Reds game this year. One, they beat the Cubbies, and two, Elly looked like he hit one into our section. Unfortunately FCC night is on a Wednesday so we won’t be able to go.
I’m not sure what to make of the Reds’ hitting this week, but I sure like how they are taking more pitches and, at least for now, aren’t striking out as much. Plus, as long as I don’t have Espinal and Mike Ford hitting everyday I’m happy with that.
Finally, in Roger world, does he ever call or text you random pictures of people who say they know you? He did this to me earlier in the week and I had no clue who this clown was that he took a picture of. Roger is the ultimate match maker of the league for random people.
See everyone in two weeks!