Month: June 2018

TEAM BRAFMAN WINS FIRST HALF IN A FIVE WAY TIE…….

TEAM BRAFMAN WINS FIRST HALF IN THE RAIN……….

In what might have been the rainiest (is that a word?) night of softball in the history of the league,

TEAM BRAFMAN, TEAM GREFER, TEAM LEADER, TEAM GROH and TEAM SOLOMON all

ended the first half at 5-3, but the tie-breaker went to BRAFMAN…….don’t ask…..(check out earlier

blog)…..

Also, I don’t ever remember a team with three losses winning a half……….

First to report in……..

by MARC BRAFMAN

BRAFMAN 5…………WEISSER 4

In a game of two teams going in opposite directions, TEAM WEISSER, in the role of spoiler and

TEAM BRAFMAN, in position to win the first half with some help, squared off…….

The first half champs came from behind again in a thrilling 5-4 mud filled contest….

“I felt like ROY HOBBS hitting in the rain.” said a happy JEREMY FOGEL afterwards after

delivering the game winning two run double in the bottom of the 7th inning.

The 20-year old University of Cincinnati student added, “I don’t know how I was able to pull it

together after my hard day of work. I’m just glad I was able to come through for the team.”

As is always the case, they relied on their defense to keep the game close as AARON COMPTON,

BEN “B-ROD” RODRIGUEZ, ERIC GRUEN and Rookie Of The Year candidate LEON “THE

BULL” SESSERMAN , JOEL “THE WRATH” KAHN and MIKE “THE FLASH” CREEMER

battled the elements to make plays all night.

One of the key plays was a perfect relay from B-ROD to GRUEN to CREEMER to nab TAYLOR

SCHWARTZ, roommate of SESSERMAN, at the plate in the top of the 7th inning to keep the game

tied.

Offensively, B-ROD, JASON “THE MAD HUNGARIAN” FAUST, RILEY ABLE and BRAFMAN

set the table for the big hit by FOGEL…….

Afterwards, the muddy and wet winning pitcher FAUST had this to say, “The more you play softball

the less you rely on your athletic ability and the more it becomes mental. I’m not sure that applies to

me or not, but I like the sound of it.”

Finally, the entire team would like to congratulate MIKE CREEMER for winning his first title ever.

“We couldn’t have done it without him, ” added BRAFMAN.

Again, a reminder that there are NO games on JULY 4……see you on JULY 11……HAPPY 4TH!!!!!

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS CAN BE DIRECTED TO ME AT……r.rosenthal1955@yahoo.com

RECAPS FROM ACTION LAST NIGHT……

*GROH 20

LEFTON 10

reported by KEN GROH……

“We took advantage of a depleted team, ” said winning captain KEN GROH.

Indeed they did as TEAM LEFTON were missing three top line players, but give credit to the victors

as they stayed in the hunt for first place in the first half…..

Offensively, JAMES SWAN, PAT FELDMAN, RYAN SMALL and RYAN BAUM all had three hits

and ADAM CRONSTEIN, NICK DEPIANO, TODD WASSERMAN, JERRY KIRZNER and

DAVID WEIL added two hits apiece…..

Both TYLER STANSBURY and SMALL hit home runs while driving in three and five runs,

respectively….JERRY KIRZNER, the oldest player in the league, but still playing well, had three

RBI’s including the game winner…..

SIDE NOTE……..BRAD GALLOP, son of EDDIE GALLOP, hurt himself in a slide into second

base…….here’s hoping he is OK and will be ready for the next game……

IN OTHER ACTION……….

**BRAFMAN 5

LEADER 4

reported by MARC BRAFMAN……..

The victors rallied for four runs in the bottom of the 6th inning and held on for the victory over the

first place TEAM LEADER…..

“There are certain games that stick with you during the years of JCC softball and last night was one

of those,” BRAFMAN said the day after…..

The rally was led by JOEL “THE WRATH OF” KAHN’s three run monster home run which gave the

victors the lead, 5-4, entering the last inning…….

JASON “THE MAD HUNGARIAN” FAUST, found a way to pitch out of a bases loaded one out

situation to record the win….

“Softball us 90% mental and the other half physical”, the winning pitcher said afterwards. “I’m glad

that I was able to physically let out a triple and mentally buckle down to get us out of the 7th inning.

Now if I could only learn how to catch the ball with my glove, ” he added……

Along with KAHN’s heroics, AARON COMPTON had two hits, DAVE “THE MINISTER OF FUN”

COHEN legged out an infield single and MIKE “BOLT” CREEMER had a big two out single and

double to pace the offense……

“Like most games this season, we flashed the leather and tonight was no exception,” BRAFMAN

added.

LEON “THE BULL” SESERMAN turned a 5-4 double play and also made a throw to first base from

his back…..”It’s amazing how much those TOM EMANSKI videos help,” the rookie said afterwards.

He added, “It doesn’t hurt that my roommate TAYLOR (SCHWARTZ) and I play soft toss before our

mid-day nap each day.”

Not to be outdone, the double play combo of ERIC GRUEN and COMPTON also made both hard

and routine plays look easy…..GRUEN pointed out afterwards, “Aaron and I have the same amount of

errors playing SS over the last two games.”

And of course, JEREMY “HAMILTON” FOGEL continues to amaze in LCF as he robbed RAFI

GOLDFARB of extra bases with a catch in the gap on a ball that almost took his glove off……..

finally………..

***GREFER 12

HIUDT 2

reported by KYLE GREFER……

MIKE GRAY pitched a three hitter and had a home run and led the offense as the entire team

contributed and the defense was anchored by the strong infield of DAN GREFER, JEFF

FINKELSTEIN and DAVID “DEE” HARRIS…..

ANY QUESTIONS/COMMENTS CAN BE DIRECTED TO ME AT……r.rosenthal1955@yahoo.com

CHAMPION OF FIRST HALF TO BE DETERMINED……COULD BE A FIVE WAY TIE!!!!!…..WEATHER PERMITTING!!!!!

field #1………leader at grefer………..espn
field #2………weisser at brafman…..tbs
field #3………schwartz at hiudt……..tnt
field #4………solomon at groh………espn2

bye……………lefton

FROM THE COMMISH…….

Here are the scenarios for the first half championship……..

*If LEADER beats GREFER, LEADER WINS…..

*If LEADER loses and GROH beats SOLOMON, GROH WINS……

*If LEADER and GROH both lose and BRAFMAN wins, BRAFMAN WINS as they would have the best head to head record among the five tied teams…..

BRAFMAN…….3-1
LEADER………..2-2
SOLOMON…….2-2
GREFER…………2-2
GROH…………….1-3

*If LEADER, GROH and BRAFMAN all lose, GREFER wins by tying LEADER in overall head to head, but wins direct tiebreaker with LEADER………

GREFER………2-1
LEADER………2-1
GROH………….1-2
SOLOMON…..1-2

If you understand this…..YOU are a genius…..if not, oh well………..

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS CAN BE DIRECTED TO ME AT……r.rosenthal1955@yahoo.com

winners/losers in Wednesday night’s action……..

field #1………solomon/weisser
field #2………grefer/hiudt
field #3………groh/lefton
field #4………brafman/leader

bye……………schwartz

GAME REPORTS WILL BE REPORTED AS THEY COME IN…….

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS CAN BE DIRECTED TO ME AT……r.rosenthal1955@yahoo.com