Little League Cadets teams (ages 11-14) from the Israel Association of Baseball battled each other at Tel Aviv’s Sportek facility last Friday during the league’s annual Chanukah baseball tourney. Teams from Modiin, Tel Aviv, Kibbutz Gezer, Ra’anana, Lev Hasharon and Misgav (Northern Israel), who boast many new immigrants from the metro NY-NJ region, played in an exciting round-robin event that started early in the morning and stretched into the afternoon hours.

“It was a picture perfect day to play baseball. After months of practices, the youngsters finally received an opportunity to see how they stacked up against teams from across the country, which was also instructive for the coaches who are preparing their squads for the official LL opening day in February,” said Steve Walz, an ex-New Yorker, who coaches the Modiin Miracles, alongside Oren Ben-Ami, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.