On a chilly Tuesday evening, the B-Neck 13U Travel Baseball squad hosted a very strong Tenafly in a battle for second place and the right to host the semifinals. Starter Ezra Krohn picked up where he left off last game and mowed down the opponents in the top of the first. After a questionable strikeout to start the home half of the inning, Ryan Teller worked a walk, and then, using his speed to steal second and third, he forced an overthrow to score the game’s first run. Krohn continued his strong three inning performance, and with the help of solid defense, departed with the game tied 1-1.
In the top of the fourth, Teller picked up on the mound right where Krohn left off, setting up the Bombers to launch in their turn at bat. Rafi Karasick continued to raise his OBA with a lead off walk, and used his newfound speed to distract the Tenafly pitcher and steal some bases. Walks to David Kranzler and Eitan “Walkman” Goldwasser loaded the bases, and leadoff hitter Charlie Butler delivered the first blow and a two-run single. After Big Popi Popowitz extended the rally with a two-out walk, the cleanup hitter Jonah “DJ Nay” Nayowitz stepped to the plate. His previous blast off the wall was clearly on the mind of the opponent pitcher, but Nayowitz struck the games biggest blow with a two-run double to take a commanding lead.
Those were all the runs the Bombers needed. Teller continued to mow down Tenalfy, finishing his three innings of no-hit ball with a quick seven-pitch inning, capped off by a nifty bare-hand play up on a slow roller to end his night. Charlie Butler came on for the save, and after an acrobatic sliding catch by Nayowitz while on his back, Butler struck out the #3 hitter to seal the 5-2 victory.
B-Neck continued to have the league’s best outfield defense from Kranzler, Wiederkher and Nayowitz, backing up the gold glove infield of Karasick, Butler, Krohn, Teller and Popowitz. Goldwasser was masterful again behind the dish, setting up B-Neck to host the big rematch against Hasbrouck Heights in the semifinals.
