It was a late night for Team Wolf after they beat a stubborn Team Grefer. Here’s Wes for the victors:
Team Wolf improves to 10-0 this season in a 11-8 battle against team Grefer. Somehow these two teams always play a close game and this was no different.
After jumping out to their trademark early lead, it was 6-1 by the end of the second inning. Team Grefer just wouldn’t go away, trading scores with team Wolf until it was 11-6 going into the bottom of the sixth. Both shortstops, David Wertheim and Wes Wolf, seemed to be exchanging highlight reel plays throughout the game.
With two outs in the sixth, Team Grefer’s top of the order came through for two runs. After a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, the window was cracked open, but Mike Gray and the Team Wolf defense came through in the bottom of the seventh to slam it shut. This team keeps on fighting, through injuries and close games, and shows no signs of slowing up.
After lousy weather Sunday, Ryan called in another favor and…voila!…another perfect night for softball.
Before we get to the recaps, I know most of you know this but a sad week here at JCC softball central as friend to the league and friendly face to all who knew him, Jeff Elkus passed away over the weekend. While Jeff never played in the league, a bigger sports fan you could never find. He was a fixture at the J and events around the JCC for many years. I hope the Reds keep winning in his honor this year.
Now onto the recaps:
On field 1, we had Team Lefton vs. Team Kamrass
Micah for the winners:
Playing with just 9 because Jordan Skinner took a ball off the face in warm ups (but stayed to cheer us on and watch with the use of just one eye), Team Kamrass came from behind to avenge its first half loss against Team Lefton by a score of 11-6. Other than a ball over the fence by super sub Josh Kotzin, Jamie silenced us through the first 5. Pedro Cerrano woke up our bats in the 6th, where we put up a 9 spot. Kamrass and Raskin started the rally, and the biggest hit was a blast from David Solomon that bounced to the fence. Ben Margolis also had a beautiful bunt hit. Fink came out with the lead in the bottom of the 6th and struck out two, and then was lights out in the 7th to put the game away. The defense was sharp across the board tonight, especially with just 9 guys. We had lefties at short and third, and they both availed themselves well. “This was step one of two on our revenge tour,” said Captain Kamrass. “We can’t wait to get Wolf in a few weeks.”
On Field 2 it was Team Zawatsky vs. Team Brafman
For the second time this year without their captain, Team Brafman run ruled a team winning 18-3 for their 3rd win in a row. A 13-run first inning highlighted by a grand slam by Jamey “The Rookie” Drennan was the big hit. Joel “Hallelujah” Buckley, Eric “the Mouth of the Midwest” Gruen and todd “the Mayor” Wasserman also contributed with multiple hits each. “Everyone on the team got hits and Eppy pitched a great game,” Dee Harris said post game. “Our defense continues to play great behind Eppy. I think it would be better for Captain Brafman to continue to stay away from our team moving forward.”
Next week Team Brafman tries their hand vs. the Big Wolf Machine
On Field 3 it was Team Grefer vs. Team Wolf
Team Wolf won 11-8 to remain undefeated.
Finally on Field 4 it was Team Solomon vs. Team Wagner
Brad for the winners:
Team Wagner took down Team Solomon 9-6 on Wednesday night in front of a crowd of four mothers, five babies, and two dogs. Team Solomon jumped ahead with two runs in the top of the 1st, but Team Wagner tied it in the bottom of the 2nd and never looked back. As our good friend Dan Hoard would say, the coffin nails for the victors came in the top of the 7th when Captain Wagner (who can’t make a good throw if his life depended on it) and Chris Kunkel hit back-to-back homers. Wagner’s was more of a triple (his 2nd of the day) with an error. Kunkel cleared the left-field fence. Other big hits came from John Spears, Jerry Kirzner, and Matt Grindle. Grindle executed a great bunt for a hit late in the game. Defensively, Josh Rosen made an early case for the catch of the year off the bat of Harry Meisner. Meisner crushed a Howie Schwartz pitch to the deepest part of Field 4, and Josh Rosen got to the fence in time to reach over and take the homer away from Harry.
Wagner takes on Team Lefton next Wednesday. That game will be televised on PBS with Van Earl Wright and John McEnroe on the call.
Solomon takes on Team Zawatsky next Wednesday. The networks are still bidding on that game, but Max Kellerman and Gene Okurland will be in the booth.
League notes
As Ryan mentioned earlier, good luck to Scott “Dire” Wolf on recovery from surgery on his broken finger. Get better soon, Scott.
Former league batting champ and all round good guy Taylor “May the” Schwartz Be with you got engaged over the weekend in Chicago. He reports that the Lincoln Park Softball league doesn’t hold a matzah ball to our league.
Is there a more random fan/team than AJ Goldhoff rooting for the Denver Nuggets? After they won the NBA title he posted numerous pictures of him in his old Alex English, K-Mart and Kiki Vandeweghe jersey’s. Congrats on the title, AJ.
Last night at the Silver Spring House, Brad “The Human Rain Delay” Wagner surprised and impressed Jacob and me with his knowledge of random Reds who have worn the number #43 (which is Jacob’s number). This was off the top of his head, not looking it up. Our favorite was Tim “We all live in a Layana Submarine.” I honestly couldn’t tell you the numbers of most of the current Reds.
I bumped into the “Minister of Fun” Dave Cohen at the Dead and Company show at Riverbend on Tuesday night. It was great catching up. Not so great, he had just bought the new tour shirt and put it on. Note to you kids out there. Don’t be that GUY!! (Name the movie, win fab prizes)
Once again it’s Wing Night on June 21 at the Spring House. Please plan on coming
Apparently the Reds are now calling themselves “America’s Team.” I love what they are doing and how they play the game, but really…America’s Team? For beating the Cards and Royals who Team Wolf could beat? Let’s see how they do vs. Houston, Atlanta, Baltimore and San Diego the rest of the month. One more note on the Reds: I don’t think Votto coming back will hurt them at all. Move Steer to LF keep Votto hitting 6-8 in the order and also have him DH from time to time. Senzel can become the new Newman and play a few spots, send Jose “Punisher Jr.” Barrero back to Louisville and flat out release Wil Myers. I don’t want to see Wil Myers ever playing again, and I can’t stress that enough. No way should he take away at bats from Benson, or any of the young guys. Votto gets the benefit of the doubt. Last point on the Reds. Jason Williams from the Enquirer wrote that Votto is the reason the Reds should never give out big contracts. That is wrong. The Reds can and should give out big contracts, then build a team around that big contract. They didn’t learn that lesson with Jr. and for the most part didn’t learn with Votto. I 100% blame ownership and place zero blame on the players.
Roger will be selling Las Vegas Golden Knight’s posters at the game on Wednesday. Make sure to get there early to get one.
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.
Can you believe that we played 9 straight weeks including a Sunday without a single rain drop? Have I just jinxed us for the second half? I hope not. Big shout out to rookie captain, Wes Wolf, on leading his team to an 8-0 record and the first half champs. Dixie cups and orange slices for his team.
Last night was the final night of the first half so let’s get to the action
Micah for Team Kamrass:
Team Kamrass capped off an outstanding first half with a 6-5 walk-off win against Team Wagner. Fink was lights out and helped himself with some great fielding. Bryce De La Anslinger continued his season of mashing from behind the plate with a three run homer. When it mattered most, Eric Goldstein and Michael Margolis got back to back singles in the bottom of the 7th, and then Adam Heldman supplied the walk-off hit scoring Goldstein from second.
6-2 is an outstanding first half. In many seasons, that’s good enough to win the championship. Team Kamrass extends a tip of the cap to Team Wolf for the first half title. We’re coming for them in the second half.
Kyle for Team Grefer:
We beat Team Fogel 25-15 in 6 innings. We were our typical slow starters with a bunch of errors in the first couple innings, but we were able to right the ship defensively as the game progressed. In the top of the 4th our offense opened up scoring 7 runs, and then we really exploded in the 6th with an 11-run inning.
Everyone contributed offensively with notable performances from David Wertheim going 2 for 3 with 2 walks scoring 3 times, Jack Cohen with 4 hits and 3 runs, Adam Cronstein with 2 hits and scoring 3 times, Landon Krantz with 4 hits and 5 runs scored, Joey Huidt with 3 hits including a three run homer, and the Grefer trio going a combined 10-12.
Hopefully with this win we gain some momentum heading into the second half.
On Field 2, Team Zawatsky played Team Lefton. Team Z provides the recap:
Team Zawatsky was able to put together a 26-14 win against Team (sans) Lefton this Wednesday. The game began as a back and forth affair through the first 5 innings, with both teams scoring in each inning, 3 lead changes, and a score of 15-14. The turning point came in the fifth when Ryan Marcus hit an absolute bullet at Scott Wolf, subbing for Lefton, who had to leave the game with a broken finger. “As league historian, I can confidently crown Scott the all time “digit breaker” with four(!) broken fingers” said league historian Steve Zawatsky. Scott is scheduled to have surgery next week. Let’s hope for a speedy recovery. After this, team Zawatsky’s bats came alive, with 3 homeruns in the top of the 6th and another in the 7th. This included a bomb by Ryan Marcus over the right center field fence, a liner down the line by super sub Pete Soltesz, a liner up the middle by Eli Zawatsky, and a ball crushed to right by Mike Rothstein. Game ball goes to Eric Zied, who had 2 diving catches in right field and pitched 3 near-shutout innings. Both Michael Rothstein and Pete Soltesz went 6 for 6 at the plate! Team Zawatsky will hope to take this momentum into the second half!
And finally Team Brafman won their second game 6-5 over Team Stu. While I wasn’t at the game I was told that the big knock came from The Mayor, Todd Wasserman, who cleared the bases with a big double in the bottom of the 6th. Eppy as usual pitched a good game. Team Brafman would like to thank captain Marc for not playing and yelling at us tonight. They would also like to thank Jon “Rubes” Ruben for help in getting a sub last night
League Notes
Please allow me to congratulate my daughter, Maya, on her bat mitzvah last weekend. It was an amazing weekend and thanks to Jeff Weisbrot, Pat Feldman and Eric Gruen for sharing it with us.
Remember Big Gig Franklin’s wing night extravaganza is June 21 at the Silver Spring House. This is open to everyone in the league so please make an effort to come out and support Gig who is the title sponsor of the league.
A huge shout out to Rick Lefton and the entire JCC staff on the always amazing work they do for the J Classic. This event started years ago in Scott “Shorty” Adams’ dad’s name, and has morphed into a huge fundraiser for the J. Well done, Ricky
In this week’s edition of the mensa awards for smarts: A big JCC cheer to former captain and father of rookie, Matt Leader, Greg who is currently on the DL for pitching batting practice to his son’s team without pitching in front of an L screen. This resulted in him getting a line drive off his arm.
While I am currently off the #selltheteambob team (for now), that will change if TJ Friedl and Nick “Mr. Tin” Senzel are not in the starting lineup every day when they’re healthy and guys like Wil Myers and Kevin “Hello” Newman are getting significant playing time. I don’t care if the Reds lose every game, I want to see Benson, Friedl, Hopkins and of course the rookies on the infield, not guys that have no future with this team. Now you are asking, well wait what about Votto. If/when he is healthy, he gets a little more rope than those guys provided he is hitting 7th in the lineup. Which, according to the great Reds web site Blogredmachine, is where he would be hitting on the all-time Reds lineup if you go by WAR.
Pete Rose LF
Joe Morgan 2B
Johnny Bench C
Frank Robinson RF
Tony Perez DH
Barry Larkin SS
Joey Votto 1B
Pinson CF
Heine (Don’t call me Ken) Groh 3B
Also did you all see Joe Burrow hit two homers out of GAPB the other day in batting practice? That guy can do it all.
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.
