This past Monday evening, the Ma’ayanot Rapids finished their regular season with an 8-0 record. The Rapids started off their season by visiting Hillel in Deal in early May. After a few scoreless innings, the Rapids came out swinging and beat Hillel 7-3, behind strong hitting from senior Mali Antosofsky (after which the team enjoyed dinner together from Dougies).
In their first home-field game, the Rapids took on Frisch, which ended up being a nail biter, as both teams played extremely well. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, and a tie score, junior Hodaya Rimberg hit a double, which set up sophomore Sarah Motechin to pinch hit a single and drive in the winning run.
Two nights later the Rapids hosted a double header against visiting Ilan. With both the Ilan pitcher and Rapids senior captain Ariella Vogel pitching tremendously well in the first game, the score remained close throughout. With Ma’ayanot down 2-1 in the bottom of the last inning, the bats came alive for the Rapids, and they squeezed out a 3-2 victory. In the second game of the double header, the hitting kept coming, and the Rapids defeated Ilan to go to a 4-0 record.
With a rematch against Frisch in Paramus, the game remained close, as both teams hit well. Senior Adira Sklar broke the game open, with a two-run home run, which gave the Rapids the lead. Frisch scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to keep it close, but the Rapids held on for their fifth victory.
After a strong win over visiting Kushner, the Rapids were on the road again to take on Naaleh. Naaleh led most of the game, and played well on defense to limit the Rapids scoring. However, with two outs in the top of the sixth, junior assistant captain Adira Schriber hit a home run to tie the game, which led to a rally for the Rapids. After a close game, Ma’ayanot pulled off the win to improve to 7-0.
This past Monday night the top two teams in the division met in the Rapids regular season finale, as Bruriah came to play against Ma’ayanot. Strong defense by Bruriah, led by solid pitching, kept the Rapids from scoring in the first few innings. Vogel finally broke the scoreless game with an RBI triple that gave the Rapids the lead. With great defensive plays by Antosofsky and another strong pitching performance by Vogel, the team held on for their final victory and closed out the season undefeated.
After the final game caches Yoni Lieber and Adira Levine told the team how proud they were of this accomplishment, and now will be getting the team ready for the playoffs. Throughout the season the team was helped by the incredible defensive playing of freshman shortstop Shifra Prager, as well as strong consistent hitting by senior captain Elisheva Raskas. After not having a season in 2020 due to COVID, the players were extremely excited to be playing again, and remained energetic throughout the entire season. Playoffs for the Rapids will begin next week, as they look to continue their winning streak.
