JCC Softball Cincinnati

IN THE BETTER LATE THAN NEVER DEPT…….

brafman 12
kamrass  7

by marc brafman…….

TEAM BRAFMAN got revenge on TEAM KAMRASS  from a first half loss and it was a two out rally in the second inning that set the tone…….

The rally started with JERRY “DOC” KIRZNER’S single and steal…..that’s right, a steal of second base that got the team going….”I was speaking with SCOTT “DIRE” WOLF before the game and he was sharing his base running tips and when the ball went into the dirt, I knew I could get to second base,” KIRZNER said afterwards…..

With two outs, BRAD “THE HUMAN RAIN DELAY” WAGNER doubled to right, RANDY “TEX” BROYLES singled and AARON “STRAIGHT OUTTA” COMPTON singled setting up the table for PAT “SUNSHINE” FELDMAN, with his cheering section in attendance, and a three run home run….

After a MARC BRAFMAN single that went all of five feet up the third base line, RYAN “THE HEBREW HAMMER” BAUM continued his outstanding hitting with a triple to left….BOB “SUNSET” FELDMAN singled him in as the team batted a round…..

“What a great all around hitting display for our team. We got hits from all up and down the line-up and that was the difference tonight,” BRAFMAN said afterwards……..

No TEAM BRAFMAN game would be complete without some outstanding defense and once again, it was the elder FELDMAN making numerous big plays at 1B to keep TEAM KAMRASS off the bases…..ERIC “THE MOUTH OF THE MIDWEST” GRUEN and HOWARD “HEY I’M BACK” GOLDWASSER also contributed in the field…..

LEAGUE NOTES……..

Congrats to former perennial JCC all-star BILLY KAHN for becoming the new owner of Weil Funeral Home…..

Not sure if you saw this, but former JCC all-star MIKE YOUKILIS has a son who you might have heard of, KEVIN…..since he retired from major league baseball, has opened up a brewery in California and is doing well…..one day when we take a JCC road trip, we can go there……

Also, in the the sure that you guys know this department….TODD WASSERMAN told me post game that he attended Moeller High School with Cincinnati Reds Hall Of Famer Barry Larkin and taught him all he knows about baseball….BIG props for getting him into the Hall Of Fame!!!!!

How many times have we all yelled “heads up” at the field only for the ball to land ten feet from the nearest person?…..that message did not reach ERIC “THE MOUTH OF THE MIDWEST” GRUEN who took a line drive shot off his arm from ADAM CRONSTEIN in batting practice…..he said postgame while icing his arm, “I never knew he was batting.”

Speaking of CRONSTEIN, a shoutout to him for hitting a three run home run off the foul pole…..that might be a first as it rivaled CARLTON FISK in the 1975 World Series…….

If you happen to go to the Silver Spring House post game and see STEVE “EPPY” EPPSTEIN buying platefuls of wing, don’t order the broccoli around my son, JACOB…..EPPY who was nice as always to order wings for everyone had his broccoli stolen from his plate by my son who couldn’t have cared less for the wings sitting in front of him…..is mother is very proud!

And finally,  ROGER “X-MAN” ROSENTHAL was very disappointed that he couldn’t trade two MATT LATOS’s, three WINNIE THE POOH’s and his very own game used “Friends o Clyde” jersey to his supplier for one JERRY SEINFELD bobblehead, the New York Mets gave out over the weekend….”You know I was on the field the day that George ran over BETTE MIDDLER and you would think that my jersey from that day would have won over my guy BOB SACKAMONO in New York, but BOB said he already to KENNY BANIA’s jersey from the same game and it was GOLD so he told me no. I hope to get the DAVID PUDDY DEVILS one later this year,” a dejected ROSENTHAL said…….

EDITORS NOTE…..I hope you understand this last part as I never watched Seinfeld, but was told by Mr. Roll Tide Roll, that if you watched the show, you know what all this means…………

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

winners/losers…….

field #1……brafman/kamrass
field #2……groh/solomon
field #3……leader/schwartz, t.
field #4……schwartz, h./grefer

bye…………lefton

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

RECAPS OF GAMES………….

brafman 12
kamrass   5

by micah kamrass……

Three important notes to report from this game……

1. ADAM “VOTTOMATIC” CRONSTEIN hit a home run off the foul pole in right field……his first ever in his star studded JCC career……

2. DAVID “DANCING WITH THE STARS” SOLOMON caught a pop up bunt with his bare hand….

3. While playing first base, BOB FELDMAN for the opposing TEAM BRAFMAN, reported to the umpire that a runner he called out was indeed safe, causing the man in blue to reverse the call…..consider this TEAM KAMRASS’ nomination for the sportsmanship award……..

groh      10
solomon 5

by ken groh…………..

TEAM GROH started off hot as the first five hitters singled and a sac fly wrapped up a three run opening inning…..

GRIFF HARRIS and SCOTT BERGE collected their second hits to start the third inning and they scored on a triple by GROH who later scored on a hit by RYAN SMALL…….

In the fourth inning, TODD WASSERMAN singled and scored on a MARC SIMONS rbi grounder to make it 7-0 heading to the bottom of the inning…..TYLER WOLF hit a two run home run driving in DAN GILBERT to cut the lead to 7-3……

In the fifth inning, the victors answered with a two out rally as DAVID WERTHEIM hit a home run followed by a GROH single, a SMALL triple and a JIM BECKETT single that extended the lead to 10-3 which held up until the bottom of the seventh frame…..

BRANDON WOLF, who had two hits and GIG FRANKLIN, who had three hits and threw out a potential base stealer, started the rally and made things interesting as they loaded the bases after scoring two runs to make it 10-5, but held on for the victory…..

Great defensive plays by STU SOLOMON and his over the shoulder catch with the bases loaded and as always slick fielding WES WOLF at SS…..

HARRIS gunned a runner out at third base and BERGE and WASSERMAN made great plays at their respective positions….and DAVID WEIL called a great game behind the plate as TEAM GROH won their third straight game…….

leader          5
schwartz, t. 3

by greg leader

TEAM LEADER won its’ fifth game in a row in a game that saw brilliant pitching by both STEVE EPPSTEIN, walking only one batter and JAMEY KURTZER, not walking anyone…..

QUESITONS/COMMENTS CAN BE SENT TO ME AT…….r.rosenthal1955@yahoo.com…..

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE……weather permitting……

home team listed first…….

field #1…..brafman/kamrass………tnt
field #2…..solomon/groh…………..espn
field #3…..leader/schwartz, t……..tbs
field #4…..schwartz, h./grefer…….espn2

bye………..lefton

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

GAME RECAPS FROM LAST WEEK…..sorry this is late, but yours truly was in Minneapolis for a Days Of Our Lives fan event (you read correctly!)………

groh 11
kamrass 10

by ken groh……

In this back and forth affair, both teams battled to the last out……

TEAM KAMRASS started the scoring early by plating two runs in the opening frame….after DAVID WERTHEIM scored from second base on a deep fly ball off the bat of ‘GRIFF” HARRIS, sub BRIAN LAWHON pulled his hamstring rounding first base and couldn’t continue, leaving TEAM GROH with only nine players…..they would draw even in the first inning…..

“Thoughts and prayers go to my good friend (LAWHON),” GROH said later…….

TEAM KAMRASS took the lead 5-2 before TEAM GROH scored two runs off the bat of “rookie” JIM BECKETT (not the price guide guy) and TODD WASSERMAN…..

TEAM KAMRASS kept the pressure on with three more runs to lead 7-4 heading to the bottom of the fifth inning……after the first batter making an out, captain KEN GROH and BECKETT got hit by pitches, WASSERMAN delivered a single and a after a couple of walks, JACK COHEN fell behind 0-2 with two outs and the bases loaded before crushing a grand slam to cap off the six run frame……

TEAM GROH led 10-7 going to the last inning and then TEAM KAMRASS chipped away and tied the game at 10-10….. with the bases loaded, ALAN LESSURE, who played both SS and 2B fielded a ground ball and threw to first base where WASSERMAN picked it out of the dirt, JOEY VOTTO style to keep the contest tied……

In the bottom of the frame, DAVID WEIL got a one out single and COHEN had a two out single before HARRIS was intentionally walked to load the bases before DAVID “DEE” HARRIS drove in the winning run…..

All the players on the winning side scored a run with WEIL scoring his second to win the game….

COHEN, DEE HARRIS, GROH, BECKETT and WASSERMAN all had two hits each……

On the losing end, MICAH KAMRASS and JASON FAUST had four and three hits respectively………

brafman 21
schwartz, t. 3

by marc brafman……..

Three times was the charm  as TEAM BRAFMAN and TEAM T. SCHWARTZ finally avoided the thunder, lightening and rain and their game in…..a 21-3 rout the featured timely hitting and fielding by the victors……

When you look at the score, you’d think the play of the game was a big hit or hits, but really it was in the bottom of the opening frame……

Captain MARC BRAFMAN stated afterwards, “Kudos to RANDY “TEX” BROYLES, ZACH “ZZ TOP”ZACKUM and BOB “SUNSET” FELDMAN who turned a fantastic 1-4-3 double play to end the inning. This kept the top of the SCHWARTZ line-up out of the batters box in the bottom of the second inning and let us increase our lead. Just a great play overall and a big momentum boost for us.”…….

Also contributing on defense were ERIC “THE MOUTH OF THE MIDWEST” GRUEN in LF and AARON “STRAIGHT OUTTA” COMPTON at SS…….

There was plenty of offense led by RAYN “THE HEBREW HAMMER” BAUM who had two hits including a triple….

“I’m the anti-JOSE PERAZA,” BAUM said later, “Not only am I good at playing more than one position on the field, but I can hit in the clutch.”…..

PAT “SUNSHINE” FELDMAN, JERRY “DOC” KIRZNER, BRAD “THE HUMAN RAIN DELAY” WAGNER, and BRAFMAN, all contributed at the plate…..

Next game up for TEAM BRAFMAN is a rematch of the loss to TEAM KAMRASS in which BRAFMAN is really looking forward so he can make amends for his boneheaded throw that cost his team…..

“I’ve had to live with that play all season,” he said….”I go to sleep at night with pictures of RAFI GOLDFARB dancing off third base in my head and let me tell you, that is not a pretty picture.”

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