Month: July 2024

In a rivalry with as much anticipation as the Crosstown Shootout, Michigan vs Ohio State, or Duke vs North Carolina, Team Fogel and Team Kamrass took the field to battle out another instant classic on Wednesday night. Team Fogel jumped ahead in the beginning innings, scoring early and often with a couple of extra base knocks by the usual suspect, Jamey Kurtzer. Fast forward to the middle innings when Team Fogel held a 12-6 lead, and things got really interesting. After plating a few runs to start the comeback with the bottom of the order, Tyler Stansbury came to the plate and blasted a moonshot to right center field, a monstrous grand slam, to capture the lead for Team Kamrass.

Holding the lead in the top of the fifth, Micah decided to take the bat out of the hand of captain Jeremy Fogel to load the bases (a move that was not respected, not cool, absolutely no good). With one out and the bases juiced, Pete Soltesz had one thing on his mind. An infield pop up! And that is just what the slugging left fielder did. The book reflects it as a warning track flyout, and he was credited with a sac fly thanks to great baserunning by Joel Buckley. With two outs and runners on, Scott Friend clubbed a ball down the left field line to drive in a few more, and after some more hitting by the middle of the order, a timely two-out triple by Sam Klinkowitz cleared the bases, giving Team Fogel the lead back.

Not to make the same mistake twice, a consensus decision was made by Team Fogel to walk Stansbury with the bases loaded, forcing in a run. Stepping up to the plate with a few RBI’s under his belt already, Andrew Hart laced one into the gap destined to drive in a few more runs if not for a diving catch by the LCF for Team Fogel to remain nameless. This ended up being the difference in the game, as Team Fogel used good defense and a couple of insurance runs to close out the game, taking the season sweep over Team Kamrass by a score of 20-16.

With a rumble of thunder around 6:05 it looked like we might be dodging some rain all night, but the sun stayed out and it was a picture perfect night for softball. 

Let’s get to the action on the field. 

On Field 1 we had Fogel taking on Kamrass. Jeremy’s team won a tight game. He is travelling to Tampa to cheer on the Reds and Rays so his update will be coming. This will make 30 ballparks visited for Jeremy and 29 for Jeremy and Joel seeing a game together. Very cool. 

On Field 2 it was Team Wagner vs. Team Tenenholtz. Brad for the winners:

Team Wagner took down Team Tenenholtz by the score of 13-6 on Wednesday.  Team Tenenholtz jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but Team Wagner tied it at the bottom of the opening frame and scored five more runs before Tenenholtz cut it to 8-6.  Team Wagner went on to get some much-needed Great American Insurance runs by plating five more runs in the bottom of the 6th before closing it out with a 1-2-3 7th inning. 

After being on vacation, Corey Norris returned to the team by going 3-3 and pitching a great game. The Hiudt duo of Daniel and Zac played flawless defense at catcher and third, respectively. Daniel made a great catch on an infield pop-up late in the game to save a few runs.  The game ball went to Michael Askin, who had key hits and played a tremendous LCF with a few running catches to his left side and another close to the LCF fence.  His father, former JCC Softball player Gary Askin, was in attendance and had too many reporters around him to get a word in. 

Wagner takes on Team Kamrass next week, and Vince Coleman and Vinny Johnson will be on the call.

Tenenholtz takes on Team Solomon next week, and Blaine Edwards and Antoine Merryweather are on the call.

Field 3 had Team Brafman and Team Wolf

In a close back-and-forth game, Team Wolf won in the end to keep Team Brafman winless on the season 17-15. Team Wolf won despite Harry “Hood” Meisner hitting for the cycle (including a grand slam) and the return of Jeff “The Natural” Weisbrot for team Brafman. The big blow for Team Wolf was after an error by Team Brafman that would have ended the inning. Team Wolf then batted around. In the bottom of the 6th, Mike Gray and one of the other Team Wolf players (I can’t remember who)  both hit moon shots to left to drive in 4 runs. Eddie Gallop also had a couple of hits to help Team Wolf win. Shout out to Scott “Dire” Wolf on a nifty stolen base and Steve Zawatsky for throwing out a runner trying to steal.  (it should be noted that on Sunday when I pulled into Camp Livingston to pick up my daughter, Maya, Abby Solomon said, “I heard you haven’t won a game yet.” Man good news travels far and wide in JCC softball world. 

Finally on Field 4 we had Team Grefer vs. Team Harris

Kyle for the winners:

Team Grefer beat Team Harris 7-6 in a close battle. We played consistent defense and our hitting did just enough to get the win. We were fortunate that Team Harris’ 3 home runs were all solo shots, with Griff hitting 2 and JZ hitting one out as well. Zach Mayer anchored our team on defense and offense, and the game ball went to Oren with the go ahead RBI hit in the bottom of the 6^th. This one was another total team effort with nearly everyone contributing.

And roger for Team Harris:

TEAM HARRIS lost a tough one this evening, 7-6, to TEAM GREFER.

Trailing 5-1, they battled back to eventually take a 6-5 lead, only to give up two runs in the bottom of the 6th inning. 

They had chances all over the place, but just couldn’t come up with the BIG hit, once again leaving a bunch of runners on base including the top of the 7th when they had two on and two outs.

This has been a problem all year, not getting that BIG hit and it reared its ugly head again.

KUDOS go to……..GRIFF HARRIS, who hit two solo homeruns and made all the plays in LCF…….JACOB “JZ” ZEIDENSTEIN also blasted a solo dinger……finally, DAN BERNSTEIN collected three hits……

PLEASE NOTE…….The media wasn’t allowed to talk to players/coaches after the game as a closed door meeting went on……rumor has it that heads are ready to roll if things don’t change and it might start at the top and end at the bottom……STAY TUNED!!!!

TEAM HARRIS will try to right the ship next week vs. TEAM BRAFMAN…….

TIDBITS…….

*JZ and ROGER ROSENTHAL exchanged caps before the contest with JZ wearing a XAVIER UNIVERSITY cap and ROSENTHAL wearing a University of Cincinnati cap……

“It was really tough wearing that piece of garbage, but at the end of the day, it was done in fun. I just hope the photo doesn’t go viral,” ROSENTHAL said after the game.

**If anyone wants two tickets to the FC CINCINNATI game on 8/1, please contact me.

League notes:

A lot of alumni birthdays this week

Jacob Stadiem

Joel “The Wrath of Kahn”
Dan Gilbert

This is a pretty cool story: Todd “The Mayor” Wasserman’s cousin is a writer out west and wrote this story about his love of the Dodgers.

When I get the Dodger blues, I remember, baseball is the perfect game (desertsun.com)

The Pete Rose doc on MAX is interesting if for no other reason than you once again get to see what an ass Pete is. As Al Michaels says in the first episode it’s just a sad story that we keep talking about. But you do get to see some great Reds of the 80’s in there: Andy McGaffigan, Dann Bilardello and my man, Gary Redus. 

You guys all know my love of music and in the next couple of months some major league box sets are coming out. First, Bob Dylan and The Band are releasing their ENTIRE 1974 tour on CD. IT’s something like 45 CD’s and over 400 songs. Not to be outdone Neil Young is releasing his third Archives box set which is 17 CD’s and 5 DVD’s plus a 175 page book. My question is, besides me who A) has a CD player and B) that much time to listen to this stuff?

Anyone excited by the Olympics starting this weekend? I’ll tell you what I’m not excited by. Yesterday I wanted to watch a little of the US women’s soccer team and it took me longer to log into the app and figure out what channel they were on than the game itself (Rose LaVelle, by the way, is still the best player on the team in my opinion).  Speaking of women’s soccer, the story about the Canadian team using a drone to fly over the other teams practice is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to cheating at these games, I’m afraid. 

I did catch the 2nd half of the US/Germany men’s basketball game on Tuesday. Its a good thing we have LBJ since he took over down the stretch. 

I’m all about the Reds being sellers at the deadline this week but I don’t think it’s smart to trade India. He is a TERRIBLE second basemen but when/if Matt McClain gets healthy I’d like to see him DH or play 1st. But can we end the nonsense about the Reds making the playoffs please?

I don’t give a hoot about Joe Burrow’s haircut. I do care how his wrist is.  

See everyone next week

Marc

What was that crazy yellow/orange thing in the sky last night? The SUN was actually out on a Wednesday night and that led to some hot action on and off the field, so let’s get right too it.

Let’s start with Team Wolf vs. Team Kamrass on Field 4. Wes for the winners:

Both teams started off the game slowly with no runs scored in the first two innings, when Team Wolf got on the board in the top of the third with a two-run homer by Wes Wolf and an RBI single from Tyler Wolf. 

Team Kamrass scored in the third, but Team Wolf came back quickly with a two-run homer from Eli “lil Z” Zawatsky and contributions from the rest of the team. Mike Gray capped off the game with a fifth inning to remember, striking out the side and leading Team Wolf to a 12-2 run rule after the sixth. 

Now onto the rest of the games:

On Field 1 it was a titanic struggle between Grefer and Team Solomon

Stu for the winners in a marathon game:

It was a real Rumble in the Jungle last night as Team Solomon defeated Team Grefer in a great 11-inning game, 5-4. 

The defense was solid all around. Ken “Anderson” Groh pitched an amazing game keeping Team Grefer off-balance all night. Team Grefer scored 3 runs in the 3rd and didn’t score again for 8 innings. 

The offense was bleak for the first 4 innings of the game as Team Solomon were held hitless until the 4th inning. Ben “Jarvus Green-Ellis” Charlton was a terror on the base pads, scoring our first run off of a walk, steal, and two flyouts. Team Solomon did not score again until the 6th inning when Ryan “Finley” Small had a bunt single stop on the foul line. Two batters later, Brandon “Tate” Lindsey ROPED a triple to bring us within two. The bottom of the 7th was started with Adam “Pacman” Cronstein hitting a triple to RCF. He scored off Stuart Solomon “Wilcox” single to RF. He scored on Ken “Riley” Groh’s triple, taking us to extra innings. 

Three scoreless innings later, Team Solomon walked off in a classic JCC manner. Ben “Utecht” Charlton hit a liner to LF off the glove of Zach “Carter” Mayer. Then, up steps “Sam Adams” Cronstein, who laced a “single” to RF. With the outfielders playing so deep Ben was able to score from first. 

Team Grefer played amazing. Oren had two great catches at second base, Mayer made an amazing diving play in shallow LF and Tim was amazing fielding his position. 

After the game an APB for a Missing Persons was sent out for Howard Goldwasser. He was last seen in the field in the 6th inning of our 11 inning game. If you know anything about his whereabouts, please contact Team Grefer. 

After the game AJ “Green” Goldhoff had this to say. ” This was one of the best games I have ever played in, but I knew our team would pull this one out. Our team is so tight knit and it’s amazing that we have the confidence to play all of our players even in the most critical times.”

Team Solomon will be rolling into the bye on a 4-game winning streak and look forward to continue our winning ways on 7/31.

On Field 2 Team Brafman did their best vs. Team Fogel unfortunately it wasn’t enough. Jeremy for the winners:

In the first game since the Red Sea was parted (seemingly), Team Fogel was able to fight off a pesky comeback from Team Brafman. Falling behind 4-0 in the first inning, captain Jeremy Fogel stepped to the plate and hit a missile down the right field line which was destined to be foul but quickly boomeranged inside of the foul pole for a home run. After loading the bases with nobody out in the second and failing to score, Team Fogel scored 8 runs in the third inning ignited by a leadoff single from Keith Kombrinck, which was the start of the team cycle in the inning. Keith singled, Scott Friend doubled, Jamey Kurtzer tripled, and Matt Miller hit a home run. Here’s to hoping for more sunshine than rain for the rest of the season. 

For Team Brafman Jamey Drennan had a great game going 4-4 with a bunch of RBI’s and also made two very nice plays at 3rd. Jerry Doc Kirzner also made a good catch at first. Team Brafman would like to thank Benji and Rick for their help in subbing. 

And last but not least on Field 3 it was Team Wagner vs. Team Harris

Brad leads off for the winners:

On a hot and humid Wednesday night, Team Wagner defeated Team Harris with a final score of 14-10. Captain Brad Wagner took the mound for Team Wagner in place of Corey Norris, who is currently sailing around Italy. Zac Hiudt played an outstanding third base, while Wagner, Michael “De La” Askin, Matt Leader (game-winning hit), Anton Loon, Zac Hiudt, and Bob Pelberg delivered big hits that contributed to the team’s victory. Daniel Hiudt also had a great game as catcher, calling great pitches which kept Team Harris off-balance for part of the night.

Team Wagner will play Team Tenenholtz next week, with Dan Hoard and Greg Hoard providing commentary. Meanwhile, Team Harris will face Team Grefer, with Mark Gordon and Mark Wolf on the call.

Roger for the losing Harris team:

After two weeks away from the field due to the weather, TEAM HARRIS came up short of a 14-10 score vs. TEAM WAGNER.

“We fought back at the end, but things just didn’t work out for us. I like this team and still feel our better days are ahead of us,” team captain GRIFF HARRIS said afterwards.

It should be noted that the losers left a very high number of runners on base and just couldn’t come up with the BIG hits at the time.

“We had our chances, but just couldn’t get that one big hit. We had the right guys up at the plate, but it just didn’t turn out the way we wanted, ” HARRIS added.

Kudos go out to RYAN MARCUS for parking one over the fence and playing a solid third base. Also, HARRIS made a nice running catch in LCF to turn a double play when one ANTON LOON wasn’t aware how many outs there were and got doubled up.

“I was thinking more about my post-game meal than the game,” LOON said afterwards.

It should also be noted that nephew, MATTHEW LEADER, hit the game winning three-run homerun to propel the victory to save the day for the LEADER/LOON family.

“I hope I see ROGER (ROSENTHAL) at the gym soon so I can get a bit of a dig in on that hit. He’s been badgering me a lot lately about how I’m the second best athlete in the family behind my younger brother, EVAN,” LEADER said.

In attendance were his parents, former player GREG, who couldn’t hold a candle to either son and wife, CARLA and grandfather, MARTIN.

TIDBITS….

*Next week, XAVIER UNIVERSITY fan ROGER ROSENTHAL and UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI fan JZ ZEINDENSTEIN have agreed to change their caps in order to change the team’s luck of late.

“You know it will really hurt my XAVIER pride to be wearing a cap of that other school, but if we can turn our season around, it’d be worth it,” ROSENTHAL said.

**CONGRATS go out to RICK LEFTON and his son NATHAN LEFTON on his recent engagement!

***Here’s a suggestion…..maybe JEFF WEISBROT’s father ALBERT could sing the national anthem at the JCC all-star game……he would do a lot better than what was heard at the MLB Home Run Derby…..

****Finally, ZACH MAYER was seen throwing batting practice to his young son before the game…..he’s almost ready to play in the league!

Until next week….take care and stay safe and GO X!!!!!!!

League notes:

I moved offices since our last game and I can’t find my notes for birthdays from the last couple of weeks. So, for all of you that had a birthday since our last game Happy Birthday and sorry that I missed it.

Roger mentioned it but congratulations to Nathan Lefton for getting engaged. 

It’s everyone’s favorite time of the year again. That’s right, the Oy Vey 5K will once again happen this fall on November 10. Please mark it down come out and run to support the JCC and all of the sports that happen each year, including softball. 

It’s a week late but a fond farewell and good luck to first sister of the league, Brooke Fogel on her new job and life out in Denver. 

I love Paul McCartney, I love the Beatles but unless the new opera he wrote has Beatles songs in it, I would rather hear the singer who sang the National Anthem at the Home Run Derby sing. (Sober please next time) His opera is opening in Cincinnati this week. 

Speaking of music, today the Kennedy Center Honors announced that they are going to honor the Grateful Dead this fall. I’m going to be curious to see what songs they pick performers to sing. My guess is Ripple, Touch of Grey, Sugar Magnolia and Truckin. 

It’s the All-Star Game break in baseball, so for 4 days my blood pressure and David Weil’s has been down. Won’t it be nice if the Reds looked at their team and said F’it we are going all in and went out and got some players and tried to make a run at it. Of course they won’t and I think they should be sellers but it would be nice to dream right? On the flip side, Rece Hinds is hitting homers like he is in our league. 

Finally, Roger is continuing to tell me that he is pricing his Brandon Larson Louisville bobble head at the proper price of 20 bucks or more…I can’t remember. For those that don’t remember, Larson was another in a long LONG line of Reds prospects that was going to be the next big thing when, as it turns out, he couldn’t A) hit or B) field at a major league level. But Roger says that people that collect minor league Reds players are hard to find. Which gets me onto my final topic of the day. Instead of the Reds making another Elly or India bobblehead next year, I want there to be a vote on the most random Reds players of the last 20 years series. Let’s go back to the wonderful 2022 62-100 season. Seriously, who wouldn’t want the following bobbleheads:

Max Schrock, Aramis Garcia, Alejo Lopez, Ryan Hendrix, Joel Kuhnel or my man TJ Zeuch who believe it or not actually started 3 games that season. 

See ya next week. Let’s hope for no more rain!

Marc