Sunday evening at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, New Jersey, featured a rematch of last year’s MYHSAL baseball championship game between the Frisch Cougars and the Kushner Cobras. The Cougars’ road to the home of the New Jersey Jackals was one that was improbable and, some thought, even impossible. After knocking off the undefeated, #1 seeded MTA Lions in a nail-biting, quarterfinal playoff game by a final score of 4-3, aided by junior Captain Ari Rosenberg’s pitching, the #8 seeded Cougars looked forward to playing crosstown rivals, the #4 seeded TABC Storm.

Once again, the Cougars were sharp both defensively and offensively, and beat TABC 5-1, with Rosenberg’s second complete game in a row, allowing no earned runs through seven innings. The Cougars were ready for anything when they arrived on Sunday afternoon, and took the same approach as the other two playoff games, with an identical lineup and pitching. The entire Frisch team helped the Cougars battle the #3 seeded Kushner Cobras in the final game of the 2018 season. The first inning looked like the game would be a pitching battle, with no baserunners for either side including a combined total of three first-inning strikeouts. The top of the second inning had both the first base-runner and first base hit for Frisch, with Benny Matheson reaching on a ground ball to second base which couldn’t be handled. After a broken bat double play, Jacob Hershenov got a base hit between the third baseman and the shortstop, but Frisch was unable to drive him in and the score stayed at 0-0. The bottom half of the inning showed Rosenberg’s continued dominance as he set down the fourth, fifth and sixth batters in order with help from left fielder Eitan Dukas on a high fly ball to shallow left field.

In the top of the third, the Cougars’ offense showed how they scored nine runs in the previous two games combined. Frisch right fielder, freshman starter David Markovitz started the inning with a line drive base hit to center field. The nine hitter, center fielder Adam Bromberg, gave Frisch some extra fire, hitting a hard grounder down the third baseline for a double, bringing Markovitz home and giving Frisch a 1-0 lead. After a conference by the umpires, Bromberg’s hit was determined a ground rule double as it got stuck in the bullpen, sending Markovitz back to third and resetting the score to 0-0. The next batter, catching sensation Noah Altman’s at bat was a pivotal point in the game. With a 3-0 count, Kushner pitcher Josh Shapiro attempted to pickoff Markovitz at third base, but was called for a balk, giving Frisch the 1-0 lead again and bringing Bromberg to third. After a called strike, Shapiro threw a wild pitch, and allowed Bromberg to score from third, as well as walk Altman. Altman stole second and Weinberger walked, bringing up Rosenberg. Rosenberg showed that he is a threat on both sides of the game, knocking an RBI double up the middle, bringing Weinberger to third. Kushner then intentionally walked Benny Matheson, loading the bases with no outs in the inning. Hershenov showed his power with a hard line drive to left field which was caught by the left fielder on an amazing catch, but Hershenov received an RBI on the sacrifice fly as Weinberger was able to score. The inning put Frisch up 4-0, and Frisch was looking hot. After a strikeout, Rosenberg allowed the first hit for Kushner on a long fly ball over Dukas’ head, for a double. A wild pitch advanced the runner to third, and Rosenberg struck out the nine hitter for the second out of the inning. Markovitz kept the inning scoreless with an outstanding diving catch for the final out. Frisch went down 1, 2, 3 in the top of the fourth.

Kushner began their half of the inning with a double and a groundout to second baseman Evan Caplan allowed the Cobras advanced their runner to third. It looked like Rosenberg got Frisch out of a jam when with two outs he made a great throw from the ground to first base, but the play was called a foul ball, and Kushner scored their first run of the game on a wild pitch. The Cougars were once again retired 1, 2, 3 in the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the inning, Rosenberg put the first two batters down, but walked the inning’s third batter. The next batter looked like he had himself a base hit, but Markovitz made a phenomenal throw from right field to get him out at first base and end the inning. Kushner showed their defensive skills were on par, with an amazing backhand scoop and throw from third base to get Hershenov out and finish their third consecutive 1, 2, 3 inning. Rosenberg showed off his arm, fanning three in the bottom of the sixth, an inning that could have been pivotal as Kushner had a runner on third. In the top of the seventh, Frisch sophomore, pitcher Sammy Chasen was warming up in the bullpen with freshman catcher Sammy Markowitz in case Rosenberg, who was 15 pitches away from the maximum allowed pitches, needed to exit the game. Although Chasen didn’t enter the game, his pitching throughout the season was important to the team, as well as contributions by Sammy Markowitz and Mitch Wolf, who kept the bench loud and excited throughout the games. After Caplan started the inning with a walk, sophomore Caleb Chapman came in to pinch run for Caplan. After Chapman stole second, Kushner pulled off a hidden ball trick, tricking Chapman into thinking the ball was thrown to the outfield, when the ball was in the pitcher’s possession the whole time. The pitcher tagged Chapman out for the second out of the inning.

The inning was scoreless, and it was time to see if the Cougars could pull off the full upset and win the championships as the #8 seed. A pop up to Benny Matheson was the first out of the bottom of the seventh. A ground ball up the middle was bobbled by Hershenov, allowing Kushner a runner on first. The next batter was struck out by Rosenberg for an incredible 12th and final time in the game. With two outs, the Cougars were excited. A hard ground ball to Caplan was handled and thrown to Matheson who made an amazing scoop to end the game, taking down the Kushner Cobras 4-1. Thanks to the Cougar coaches, led by David Ruditzky and Ari Rubin, and assistant coach Benji Berg, for leading the team to their improbable, hard-earned and well-deserved victory.