Category: Game Results

I take full blame for the weather yesterday. For 9 weeks I’ve been gushing about how great the weather has been. So please blame me for the rain and wind yesterday. Also, in my next life I want to grow up to a TV Weatherman. They never have to be right, they are almost always wrong and no one seems to care. 

On to the action on the field. 

On Field 1 it was Team Brafman vs. Team Wagner

Team Brafman won 12-4 or something like that. Super Sub JZ hit two 2-run homers and Joel “Hallelujah”  Buckley set the table by going 4-4 and making three amazing plays in the field. Captain Brafman had a couple of hits and 3 RBI’s. Dee Harris continued his strong season at the plate, while Todd “The Mayor” Wasserman also came through with a big RBI single. On defense besides Buckley, Griff Harris, “The Hebrew Hammer” Ryan Baum Jamey “The Rookie” Drennan and Alex Kraus all flashed the leather for Team Brafman. “Winning two in a row I believe is what you call a winning streak,” team leader and sage vet, Eppy, said post game. “I’m just trying to keep the ball over the plate and let my defense work for me.”

Team Brafman looks to make it three in a row Wednesday vs Team Zawatsky 

On Field 2 we had Team Kamrass vs. Team Grefer

Micah for the winners:

Team Kamrass topped Team Grefer 8-6 in a rain shortened six inning game. It was a real back and forth battle. Fink stayed sharp with the weather, and the entire team played great defense. The defensive highlight was a RCF-SS-C double play to kill a rally. Team Grefer led 6-5 at the end of the 5th. Eric Goldstein had a blast to left in the top of sixth and Team Kamrass went up 8-6. Fink retired the heart of the order 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth before the umpire mercifully called the game. It was good to start of the second half the same way we played most of the first half, finding ways to win close games.

On Field 3 we had the Big “Wolf” Machine vs. Team Stu

Wes once again for the winners

Team Wolf improves to 9-0 this season with another stellar performance. This time, beating the talented Team Soloman in the rain with a 12-2 fifth inning run rule. By that time, the rain had picked up and all seemed pleased to get to dry land. 

Team Wolf jumped out to its trademark early lead with 3 in the first and 6 more in the second inning led by 2 RBI doubles from Mike Gray and Tyler Wolf. Keith “The Hose” Kombrinck had a career day highlighted by two run-scoring leadoff singles, and a perfect throw from catcher, to catch Stu Solomon (who was 2-2 w/ an RBI) stealing second base. 

Mike Gray led the way with another stellar performance on the mound, bringing a shutout into the fourth inning. His intensity, accuracy and leadership, combined with Team Wolf’s consistent defense has proven to be a winning formula this season. 

Finally on Field 4 we had team Fogel vs. Team Zawatsky

Roger for Team Fogel

TEAM FOGEL       16

TEAM ZAWATSKY 6

Playing for the first time in bad weather this season, TEAM FOGEL, jumped out early and often and never looked back as they defeated TEAM ZAWATSKY, 16-6, in a shortened five-inning game.

Both BRANDON “GAMECOCK” WRONKER and captain JEREMY “THE COMET” FOGEL blasted homeruns back-to-back over the right field fence.

It is believed that this feat hasn’t been done since the late 70’s…..if you want to know for sure, ask either GARY GREFER or RICK LEFTON….they’re the historians for the league.

It should also be pointed out that WRONKER’s parents were visiting from Atlanta and his father video taped the shot. Also it should be noted, his wife and mother were late getting to the game and missed it.

“That was my first homerun over the fence in my 25 years of playing softball or baseball and my mother missed it, he said afterwards. “I guess she and my wife had to make sure their make-up was just right before going to the game.”

Everyone on the team except ROGER “X MAN” ROSENTHAL got hits and added to the offensive explosion.

“Hey, someone has to make outs and I’m pretty good at it. I’ve been hitting the ball well, but like anyone in a hitting slump, the ball tends to find someone. Maybe I’ll ask MATT “THE BEARCAT” MILLER for some hitting tips and see if he can help a teammate out. I wonder if he wants to help a XAVIER fan out.”

COREY “DON’T CALL ME CY” NORRIS pitched a nice game and was helped by a stellar defense.

TEAM FOGEL has a bye this coming week and rumors are flying that the team will go see the movie, THE BAD NEWS BEARS, on how not to play softball.

LEAGUE NOTES

1. Since MARC BRAFMAN always talks about the CINCINNATI REDS, let me talk about the XAVIER UNIVERSITY baseball team…..they not only knocked off a top ten UCONN team in the BIG EAST title game to win an automatic bid to the NCAA, but they also knocked off highly regarded VANDERBILT on their home field to stay alive in the tournament. They lost the next game and were eliminated.

2. MARC BRAFMAN bought a bobblehead from me and actually paid me right away…..miracles do happen!

3. KEN GROH wanted to play Sunday so badly, that he hired a private jet to bring him home from Philadelphia…..

4. Recently, I asked ADAM CRONSTEIN’s oldest son if he had a temper like his father. “Sometimes” was the reply from young Cronstein.

5. The NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS are winding down…..can anyone other than a few people in the league (you know who you are) tell me who the two teams left are?

Is this an actual rule and, if so, why? Yesterday during the rain we had league mascot, Jacob Brafman, move our bats under the cover of the concession stand to keep them dry in between innings. But after the 2nd or 3rd, the ump told us we couldn’t do that. Does he think we are pulling a Chris Sabo and corking our bats?

A big shout out to Rabbi Yitz, first on getting back onto the field, but also on the marriage of his son, Schneur, two weeks ago (sorry for the delay). Also attending the wedding and reporting that it was a lot of fun was the “Minister of Fun,” Dave Cohen.

David “Slim Shady” Wertheim has been in the news of late for all of the amazing promoting and jobs his dad’s company, Five Iron Rentals, is doing these days. David runs a great crew and has been on the news promoting all of the festivals and events they are involved in. Keep up the good work since once again you’ll be writing about the 4-5 best team in college football this season. 

No one has played more baseball/softball over the last 50+ years than our guy, Scott Wolf. It’s hard to imagine anyone breaking their finger on a catch like he did last week. Get better soon, Scott.

Mark “The Bruiser” Wolfe’s daughter and my dad share a birthday, or very close to it. So, for some reason my dad finds his way over to their house each year for Mark’s daughter’s birthday party. This year they even baked him a cake which he shared with the kids. Thanks Mark, now I have to do the same.

Speaking of parents it’s always great to see parents and wives at the games. It’s especially amazing when they come out and watch us in the rain. 

A reminder that June 21 is Wing Night at the Silver Spring House. Please plan on going.

In this week in the Reds. It’s Elly time isn’t it? I have no idea if he is the next Eric Davis or the next Billy Hamilton. All I know is that he is must watch TV when he comes to the plate. I don’t know if I can remember in 5 games a guy beating out a grounder to 1B, scoring on a ground ball to the SS with the infield in or scoring from 1st on a double to the gap. And if JR House, the Reds 3rd base coach, hadn’t gotten in his way scoring easily on that play. All I know is this is shaping up to be a pretty interesting (if not good) team to pay attention to the rest of the way. And god help David Bell if he is forced to play Wil Myers any more this year. 

See everyone on Wednesday.

Marc

On another beautiful night for softball there were great games all over Triple Creek. 

On Field One it was undefeated Team Wolf vs. Team Grefer. 

Team Wolf won 13-11 and I’m sure all of their normal bats hit the ball well. They remain undefeated on the season.

On Field Two It was team Wagner vs. Team Stu

Brad for the winners:

‘Team Wagner continued their winning ways with a 16-4 victory over Team Solomon on Wednesday night. Team Solomon scored four runs in the opening frame but Team Wagner fiercely answered with an 11 spot in their half of the first.  After Team Wagner plated a couple more runs, the fans were treated to an early exit.  Speaking of early exits, Captain Stu was pretty close to earning his first tossing of the year, but Marc Brafman and Wes Wolf had to hold him back and inform the ump that Stu is behaving, and that Marc and Wes have “seen” way worse. Big hits for Wagner were brought to you by Mark Franklin, Matt Grindle, Josh Rosen, Chris Kunkel, and their fearless leader.
Howie Schwartz once again pitched a gem and combined with 77 year old, Jerry Kirzner, kept the defense flawless all night.
Team Wagner faces off against Team Fogel next week. That game will air HBO Max with Melido and Pascual Perez on the call.

On Field Three it was the new look Team Lefton vs. Team Kamrass

Jimmy for the winners:

Team Lefton got back on track last night. New starter, Jamey Kurtzer, made the most of his new opportunity by pitching a gem, keeping them off balance all night and allowing only 4 runs. Final score was 10-4. Everyone contributed offensively for Team Lefton. Marc Simons was special in RF making amazing plays all game. Without his great play the game would have gone the other way.

Finally on Field Four it was Team Zawatsky vs. Team Brafman

A back and forth game wasn’t settled until the bottom of the 7th when Team Z pulled one out, 13-12. Trailing most of the game, Team Z got big hits from the “Half Man Gang” Ryan Marcus, Pat “Sunshine” Feldman and “The Special One” Mike Rothstein. The game turned, though, on a very nice running catch in the RC field gap by Eli Zawatsky off the bat of Jeff “The Natural” Weisbrot. After a tough couple of innings, Ken Groh settled down and pitched a great game. Eddie Gallop also had a nice long single.

For Team Brafman Jamey “The Rookie” Drennan, Jeff Weisbrot and newly acquired Ryan “The Hebrew Hammer” Baum all had big hits at the plate. Eppy pitched a fine game as well. Not to be forgotten, Mark “Bruiser” Wolfe made a great pop up catch to end an inning for Team Brafman.

League Notes:

Congrats go out to Steve Zawatsky on the graduation of his daughter, Phoebe, from Miami of Ohio and his daughter, Lyla, from Sycamore

Happy birthday to Jeremy Fogel.

I know he is only a small part in the chain but shout out to Matt Miller for his work on the recruiting trail with UC basketball. They landed the #4 transfer portal guy last week. A huge get for the Bearcats (We are coming for you Roger).

Last Sunday after our game, Rick Tenenholtz was watching Jacob and I take BP. He pointed out a couple of things to Jacob who then smoked two line drives right back at me. And in his game hit his first triple the next night. So thanks Rick for your help and we hope Mark is enjoying life in Texas.

Todd “The Mayor” Wasserman informed me the other night that he was at Moeller the same time as both Barry Larkin and Ken Griffey. He mentioned that he taught both of them everything he knows about hitting and that he should be credited on both of their Hall of Fame plaques at Cooperstown, accordingly. 

In 3rd degree of JCC softball news Steve Zawatsky’s sister-in-law won her 3rd sports Emmy for her work in pre-game production. (it’s a slow news week here)

Last night Elly De La Cruz (EDLC) hit a 450-foot homer. He has the 1-3 and 5th hardest hit ball left handed of anyone in baseball (that is all of baseball) and then right handed has hit 4 homers over 400 feet. And yet somehow Will Meyers is still in RF for the Reds everyday..

Last note on the Reds. If you haven’t gone to JCC night at the Reds game in the past, I encourage you to do so next year. It makes NO difference if the Reds are any good, it’s just a fun night at GABP, and because no one goes to the games you are promised a shot to get on the big board.

Finally, once again Wing night at the Silver Spring House is June 21. Please try to come and support Big Gig for all of his support of the league.

In the world of Roger this week he is working on big deals with local Cincinnati has been and Z-list celebrity, Wildman Walker (Of WEBN Dawn Patrol fame). 

Roger said that the Wildman is a huge collector of everything but mainly likes baseball cards of the mid-80’s Reds and hockey players who only play on teams from Canada. 

See everyone next week.

A bonus BIG addition to the softball blog this week as we have both Wednesday, May 17 Sunday, May 21 to update. Another amazing weather week. Ryan must have sold his soul for the first half so far. Let’s keep it up this week.

Let’s first start with last Wednesday 

On Field one, we had Team Zawatsky vs. Team Kamrass.

Micah for the winners:

Team Kamrass stayed undefeated with a 15-13 against Team Z. Playing without shortstop Zach Mayer (who likely would’ve been tossed had he been there for reasons discussed later) and playing against a sub Z found, who likely is better than many of the Reds, wasn’t enough to end the winning streak.

Fink pitched another great game and got out of a couple of jams. The combination of David Solomon and Scott Raskin gunned out another baserunner trying to steal. Bryce Anslinger moved to right center this week and had a few nice catches. And Captain Micah Kamrass finally achieved his dream of jumping the fence to make a catch, it just happened to be the foul fence.

The whole team did a great job hitting tonight. Big hits came from Super James Swan, Adam Heldman, and Michael Margolis.

A new rule controversy not yet seen in our league took place tonight. While a runner was trying to score, he collided with the umpire before he could touch the plate, and was then tagged out. The umpire made up “I think he would’ve been safe, so he’s safe.” A later check of the rules shows this is not the case. The umpire is part of the field of play and there is no such thing as umpire interference. So now we all know.

Team Kamrass keeps finding a way to score more runs than the other team. The plan is to do the same on Sunday against Team Wolf.

On Field Two it was Team Brafman vs. Team Fogel

Roger for the winners:

TEAM BRAFMAN 2

TEAM FOGEL      9

In a total team effort, TEAM FOGEL gave up two runs in the top of the opening frame and shut the door the rest of the way and let the offense and defense do their thing.

COREY “I AM NOT CY YOUNG” NORRIS pitched another gem and didn’t walk a batter and let his defense play a near flawless game.

“I’m not going to strike any one out or walk anyone so my defense has to be good and once again it was great. All I need to do is put the ball in play and I have confidence they’ll make the plays behind me, ” he said in a post game interview.

The play of the night was a SPORTSCENTER TOP 10 PLAY when reserve catcher DAN “DANNY” GREEN caught an attempted bunt.

“Hey, as I’ve said in the past, I’ll do whatever we need. I’ll play anywhere. Wherever the captain tells me to play, that’s where I’ll play, but one thing I won’t do is clean up the bench area after a game.”

There were hitting stars aplenty including BRANDON “THE GAMECOCK” WRONKER….SCOTT “WILL YOU PLEASE BE MY” FRIEND…..JASON “THE COWBOY” ESTERKAMP….JOEL “SPARKY” FOGEL……and even the veteran ROGER ROSENTHAL, who not only had a single and sacrifice bunt, but also “stole” second base.

By the way, on the hit, he slid into first base instead of running thru the base like you’re supposed to.

“I can’t believe I did that. I was telling a friend at lunch today that you don’t do that and what do I do?, ” he stated afterwards in the winner’s clubhouse.

KUDOS also go out to sub IAN CONWELL (TEAM WAGNER), who had perhaps the best game of his career as he hit the ball well and played an unbelievable RCF…..he also scored from second base on a sacrifice bunt.

After the game, ROSENTHAL said, “We’ve got to make a trade for you and give Team Wagner a MICHAEL JORDAN rookie card for your rights.”

On Field three we had Lefton vs. Wolf 

Wes for the victors:

This week Team Wolf continued their dominance with a 15-0 drubbing of Team Lefton. Starting the game with the first 8 batters reaching base and scoring led by 2 RBIs each from Wes, Scottie and Mike Gray.

Team Wolf’s defense was just as consistent as their hitting. Dan LaCerva led the way with quality plays at both right field and second base. Mike Gray is the team’s true key to defensive success, pitching aggressively and in the strike zone. He has only allowed 1 walk on the year and shows no signs of slowing up.

This performance, following a 13-1 run rule of team Wagner last week, places team Wolf at the top of the standings. A showdown with also-undefeated Team Kamrass awaits on Sunday.

Finally, on Field 4 we had Team Grefer vs. Team Solomon

Kyle for the winners:

We beat Team Solomon 11-6 and the difference was our defense. Joey Hiudt set the tone early running down a ball in right field on the first play of the game, and everyone in the outfield made nice plays with Jack Cohen running down a ball in deep center, and Adam Cronstein making a sliding catch on the dirt. David Wertheim and Mark Levine also made some nice plays on the infield. Jon Ruben also pitched another great game by serving it up and trusting the defense behind him.

Offensively the trio at the top of the order of David Wertheim, Jack Cohen, and Adam Cronstein all hit the ball well. The bottom of our order also had some key hits with Rick Tenenholtz hitting one over the outfield and Mark Levine hitting a double to right field.

And onto yesterday

On Field 1 Team Brafman played Lefton 

For the first time this season, Team Brafman was on the winning side beating Team Lefton 14-13 by the skin of their teeth. The big hits for Team Brafman came from Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley who went 5-5, Griff Harris and Tait “Richie” Cunningham who had three huge triples. Also Jamey “The Rookie” Drennan went 5-5 and even Team Captain, Marc Brafman, finally got a couple of hits. On defense a fantastic double play was turned by Dee Harris and Todd “The Mayor” Wasserman, while Mark “the Bruiser” Wolf and Alex Kraus both made all of the plays in the field. With a 6-run lead and two outs, Team Lefton came off the mat and had the tying run at second base. Only some great glove work by Drennan and Wasserman prevented the tying run from scoring on a rocket shot by Ryan “The Hebrew Hammer” Baum.

“I was just glad to throw strikes and let Lefton hit it,” winning pitcher Eppy said post game all the while telling Team Brafman bat boy, Jacob Brafman, about the time he ate a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts at a UDF post game. “The guy behind the counter didn’t think I could do it so I had to prove him wrong,” Eppy said. Team Brafman hopes to continue their winning ways Wednesday night vs. Team Zawatsky. (A special note: Congrats to Team Lefton’s Matthew Leader and Peter Brownell for both graduating from Sycamore yesterday. Both of them hit absolute bombs in the game. Leader had a triple and Brownell had a gap homer and another off the fence. Well done, boys!)

On field 2 we had Team Wes vs. Team Micah

Wes for the winners:

Team Wolf continues a dominant run with an 11-3 win in this weekend match-up against previously undefeated Team Kamrass who were missing some key players.

The key to success was another hot start, this time with 6 runs in the first inning highlighted by consecutive shots to the wall by Wes Wolf and Matt Brodof. Pete Soltesz & Michael Askin also led the way with multi-hit games and line drives sprayed all over the field. 

Mike Gray continues his success on the mound with another gem. No walks and very few hard hit balls drove another all around performance by Team Wolf on defense. 

Over the last three games, Team Wolf has outscored their opponents 39-4 and shows no signs of letting up. Next week they get another shot at perfection when they face Team Grefer. 

On Field 3 it was Team Wagner vs. Team Grefer

Brad for the winners:

Team Wagner got back in the win column after a much needed bye week, and took down Team Grefer 18-14 on Sunday morning in front of a standing-room-only crowd.  The victors were down 9-4 when they scored nine runs in the fourth inning to take a commanding lead.  Chris Kunkel had a three-run triple, was on base multiple times, and played great at 2nd base including a rally saving catch.  Howie Schwartz was stellar on the mound and helped his own cause with a two-run single.  Other big hits came from Josh Rosen, AJ Goldhoff, John Spears, and Cam Kirzner.  Captain Wagner discussed in his postgame interview with Charlie Goldsmith and P-Doc, that it was a rare must win first half game.  Team Wagner looks to continue the winning ways on Wednesday when they play Team Solomon on Field 2.  That game will be aired on 700WLW and 55KRC with a quadruple cast of Dan, Terry, Joe, and Byron on the call.  Team Grefer takes on Team Wolf in a game that everyone will be amped up for.  That game airs on the MLB Network with Pedro, Dennis, and Carmelo Martinez on the call.

And last but not least on field 4 we have Team Stu vs. Team Fogel

Stu for the winners:

People are saying the heated exchange between Tyler and Mark was the spark that ignited Team Solomon’s season. I’m not saying that, but people are saying that.

Team Solomon defeated Team Fogel 22-12. Hits were abundant throughout the lineup. Adam “Levine” Teitlebaum set the table going 3-4. Harry “ Superman” Misner, Tyler “ The Natural” Stansbury,  Stuart “The Captain” Solomon, and Ryan “All Smiles” Silverman all had multiple hits to keep the scoring up. We can not overstate that Alan “The Mouth” Lessure was on base 3 times, scoring twice. 

Defensively, Team Solomon limited any big inning with three separate and different double plays, the biggest one coming when Team Fogel tried to score from second on a sac fly. The relay from Ryan to Andrew Solomon to Tyler to Evan “Healthcare Hero” Weisser was a thing of beauty. As always Mark “Pa Pa” Weisser with a great pitching performance.

Team Solomon looks to continue their winning ways next week and into the second half.

League Notes

Congrats to Commish Ryan Silverman on his daughter Emma graduating from Sycamore yesterday.

Tuesday May 23 is JCC night at the Reds. They might stink but it’s always fun to sit in the moon deck on a nice night. Plus maybe we can heckle Willie Mays Benson if Bell is dumb enough to play him.

A tip of the cap to Mike Margolis on the graduation of his daughter from Wisconsin. 

I don’t know if he won or not, but Brandon Guttman’s son was nominated for player of the week from CCD last week. We all look forward to both of them being in the league once again down the road. 

Howard Goldwasser’s daughter graduated from Rutgers last week becoming only the second person I know to admit going to Rutgers. Speaking of which, how’d you like to be a parent of any student athlete at Rutgers and being forced to stay up till 2 AM to watch them play USC or UCLA. Because nothing says BIG 10 like Rutgers playing UCLA in any sport. 

A belated happy birthday to David BP Snyder (and I hope you didn’t have to wear another beer after I spilled yours all over the floor last week)

Super Sub Tait Cunningham is engaged and will be married this July. Congrats!

How come everyone in Cincy knows it’s dumb to pitch to Aaron Judge with a base open in the 10th inning except David Bell? 

And finally in this week in Roger. 

Roger has nothing better to do with his time on a Sunday afternoon than look up Cincinnati Hills League stats online. (That is the league that Wyoming, Maderia, Indian Hill and Finneytown are in) He wanted to report that my old school, Finneytown, was outscored this year 177-3 in baseball. What’s worse is that unfortunately I too knew this stat, so I guess I had nothing better to do either.

See everyone tomorrow night at the Reds game and Wednesday at the field

Marc