On a rainy Sunday afternoon at Overpeck Park, the lowest seeded Frisch Cougars continued their unlikely run in the MYHSAL baseball playoffs. Following up their stunning upset of the undefeated MTA lions in the quarterfinals, Frisch continued with an equally impressive victory over the TABC Storm, 5-1, in a game that was much closer than the final score indicates. The semi-final victory sets up a rematch of last year’s championship game against Kushner, who defeated HAFTR earlier on Sunday.
The highly anticipated pitching dual between TABC junior ace Yechiel Keiser and Frisch captain, junior Ari Rosenberg did not disappoint. Keiser started off on fire, striking out the side in the top of the first and not allowing a base runner for the first eight batters he faced, striking out six of them. Rosenberg was up to the task, allowing just one walk and a single through the first four frames. Frisch finally broke through in top of a third. With two outs, center fielder Adam Bromberg hit a sharp line that the 3B couldn’t handle. Spark plug catcher Noah Altman followed with a clean single to center and soon stole second base. Keiser appeared to escape damage after a long battle with Danny Weinberger yielded a sharp ground ball up the middle fielded cleanly by the shortstop. But in a break for Frisch that often decides pitcher duels, the throw to first bounced and got away from the first baseman, allowing two crucial runs to score.
TABC cut the lead to 2-1 in the fifth inning when the usually solid Frisch defense made two errors, allowing an unearned run to score with two outs. Frisch threatened to increase their lead in the sixth, when they loaded the bases with a single by Weinberger and walks for Rosenberg and Eitan Dukas. Keiser once again foiled the rally when Jacob Hershenov lined out to left for the final out of the inning. In the bottom of the sixth, TABC took advantage of two walks to get the tying run to third with two outs. TABC appeared on the verge of tying the game after a wild pitch by Rosenberg, but catcher Noah Altman made the play of the game by running after the ball and making a perfect flip to Rosenberg covering home plate to make the tag just in time for the final out.
Keiser recorded two outs and a walk in the top of the seventh, before he was removed when he hit his pitch limit. When Keiser walked off the mound to a big ovation from both crowds, he had allowed just four hits, three walks, while striking out 11 batters and accounting for TABC’s only hit of the game. Frisch immediately took advantage of the change with the top of their lineup due up. Altman walked, bringing Weinberger to the plate who doubled to deep right bringing in two crucial insurance runs. Rosenberg followed and helped his own cause with a double, making the score 5-1. With a four-run cushion, Rosenberg set TABC down in order, giving the upstart Frisch Cougars a potential shot at a championship this Sunday evening at Yogi Berra Stadium at 7:15 p.m. Rosenberg’s final pitching line of seven innings pitched, one hit, four walks and 10 strikeouts combined with Frisch coaches David Ruditzky and Ari Rubin continuing to hit all the right managerial buttons is certain to give this eighth seeded team confidence heading into the big game.
