(livingstontemplesoftball.blogspot.com) What seemed like the longest season we’ve ever had finally came to an end Sunday with perfect softball weather. In the A Division #1-#5 semi-final, AABJD was down 6-3 in the fifth inning in a game that looked like it could go either way. But as they usually do, Sharey Tefilo Israel found a way and scored 3 in the fifth and 9 in the sixth to win it 18-3. In the win, Mark Licht and Jason Grebin had four hits each while Steve Weissman and Dave Pressel had three apiece. The other semi-final was #2 Pine Brook vs. # 3 B’nai Brith, and it was B’nai Brith jumping out early to a 9-0 lead. But Pine Brook closed the gap and made it close until a late surge in the visiting sixth put BB up by 9 again as they held on for the 22-16 win. For BB, shortstop Alex Lee was 5-5 and seven players on the team scored at least two runs. On defense, Paul Velelis made a lot of plays in the outfield to help hold off Pine Brook. In the A Division final, STI jumped out to a 5-0 lead over BB and never looked back, winning it 19-4. Ken Gorman led the attack with four hits. There were three hits each from Eric Rothfeld, Matt Katz, and Mark Licht. Jeff Becker had a homer in the win. On defense, Eric Rothfeld threw out a runner at home from deep right field to end the fourth inning. Jeff Gaier tagged out two runners at the plate.

In both B Division semifinals the visiting teams were giving away runs early. #3 B’nai Or fell behind #2 B’nai Jeshurun 10-1 after one inning and chased TBJ the whole game, but slowly got it to a very tight 15-14 deficit while leaving the tying run at third in a six-run sixth inning. Final score: TBJ 18, B’nai Or 16. Pitcher Scott Dodek had four hits for the winners. In the loss, Keith Barbarosh was 5-5 with a two-run single, a run scoring triple, a three-run homer and a grand slam (10 RBIs). Jason Cohen had three hits and four runs. The other B Division semifinal was #5 B’nai Israel vs. #8 AABJD/Ohr Torah, and B’nai Israel had an early seven-run lead, never looking back in a 16-9 win. In a very high-scoring B Division final, TBJ was ahead of B’nai Israel 20-15 in the bottom of the sixth. They then proceeded to score 10 runs without recording an out. The final blow was a two-run homer by Jason Miller to end the game. Also in the win, Dave Stecklowe scored five times and knocked a tape measure homerun that plated three. Final score: TBJ 30, B’nai Israel 15.