The Mighty Ducks swept the Sha’are Gaters for the championship title of the CBY Softball B League in two games. The Ducks and Gaters both entered the championships after strong seasons and powerful wins in the semi-finals. The Ducks, seeded second, beat the Country Clubbers by a score of 14-8 while the Gaters, fourth seed, squashed the first seed Killer Bs by a score of 13-4.
The first championship game was on a hot and humid Labor Day morning at Votee Field. With the mosquitoes biting, the Gaters took the lead early, up 2-0 after the first. The Ducks came back with strong hitting from Joe Miller, Dave Gross, Dovid Weinstein and Brett Peven to tie the game up. Gaters shot back with a few hits and went up 5-3 going into the bottom of the sixth. With Ducks on the pond, veteran Captain Allen Pfeiffer and longtime Duck pitcher Dave Miller came through in the clutch with big hits to tie the game at 5-5. Gaters went down in order in the top of the seventh and Ducks had momentum on their side. Brian Jacobs got the inning started with a line drive single to right field. With one runner on and two outs, new Duck Mordy Cohen blasted a rocket to deep center scoring Jacobs for a thrilling walk off win 6-5 by the Ducks.
The second game was played last Sunday on Ben Franklin School field. The game started out in a similar fashion with the Gaters scoring one run in the first and a few more in the second. The Gaters were up 4-0 when Yoni Pfeiffer got the third inning going and then Jacobs hit a monster shot over the right fielder to put the Ducks on the board. The Duckswere down 5-1 in the top of the fifth inning, when solid hitting from league veterans Chaim Herman and Kenny Schiff got them going. With Ducks again on the pond, legendary Duck Elliott Rothschild hit a squealer over the center fielder to drive in two runs to tie the game. Stellar pitching by veteran Cy Young runner-up Dave Miller held the Gaters off with terrific ball movement across the plate. With a man on in the top of the fifth inning, Avi Blumenfeld hit a monster shot over the high left field fence that slightly resembles the green monster to take the lead for the Ducks. The Ducks scored another four runs in the sixth inning to put the lead out of reach, with the Ducks winning 11-5. The Ducks’ win set a new CBYMCSL record for most grandfathers on a championship team.
By Moshe Pupkin
