In the fourth and fifth grade division semifinals, teams Cool Kippahs and EJ’s Pizza both dazzled the crowd in an exciting playoff contest. EJ’s Pizza took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with outstanding base running by Jack Abrahamson, who stole three bases in the inning, while Jesse Reinhart pitched two scoreless innings to start the game. Cool Kippahs responded with two runs in the top of the third inning as the speedy Cal Rose made a daring steal of home plate, and Jonah Nayowitz hit a single to score Jacob Langer. EJ’s Pizza quickly responded with three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 5-2 lead. Cool Kippahs then scored two runs in the fourth inning, which was followed by a two run RBI hit by Eli Hochberg in the fifth inning that gave Cool Kippahs a 6-5 lead. Cool Kippahs added two insurance runs in the top of the sixth when Avinoam Eiselt hit a single that scored Langer and Nayowitz. Cool Kippahs’ catcher Ari Goffstein threw out two baserunners on stealing attempts. Eli Hochberg pitched three scoreless innings, while facing the minimum nine batters, to close out the game for Cool Kippahs’ 8-5 victory.
In the other divisional semifinal game, Clifton Pediatric Dental Care defeated RCCS 11-3 to advance to the championship game. CPDC benefited from three solid innings of pitching each by Yamin Levitt and Daniel Eckman. Joshua London opened the scoring with a two RBI single in the first inning, followed by an RBI single by Ilan Sugarman and multiple extra base hits by Daniel Eckman. Eitan Goldwasser also had two hits and Yonatan Faber got an RBI with a well-executed sacrifice fly.
On Fathers Day, Sunday June 16, Family First Funding defeated Richards Manufacturing in a thrilling championship game to take home the sixth/seventh grade TBO/BBO championship. Family First jumped out to an early lead behind big hits from Bentzion Keiser, Ryan Buchsbayew, Ari Herman and Noam Weintraub. With Family First throwing dual aces Buchsbayew and Herman, the game was thought to be out of hand. However, Richards Manufacturing had other ideas and slowly chipped away at the lead. When play began in the bottom of the sixth, Family First had an 11-5 lead. Richards got big hit after big hit and with two outs closed the lead to one at 11-10. The tension was palpable as Richards Manufacturing got the tying run to third and the winning run to first with two outs. Under intense pressure, Herman came up big and struck out the final batter to secure the championship for Family First Funding. The team credited catcher Aron Major for guiding the pitchers through the game and third baseman Josh Rothenberg for keeping the team loose and confident. Coach Ross Rothenberg highlighted the stellar outfield play of Yakir Hirsch, David Berg and Aiden Frohlich as crucial to winning the championship game. The players thanked their coaches Ross Rothenberg, Jason Berg and Josh Buchsbayew for all of their hard work and for guiding them to the championship. Congratulations to both teams on an amazing game and an amazing season.
In a hotly contested playoff game in the senior girls softball division, future champs Chopstix came out with their bats blazing, and jumped out to an early lead that they never relinquished, winning the game 17-3. While Team Stefanie Diamond Photography was disappointed in their loss, they are extremely proud of the way the team developed over the course of the season. Hailey Diamond started the game for SDP before handing it off to Sophia Esses and Atara Forman to close out their season. With Hannah Vogel, Tali Pfeiffer and Dassi Schiff bringing the gloves on defense, and Becky Montag, Batsheva Rubenstein and cousins Yakira and Ally Smilow swinging the bat, Team SDP won five of their last seven regular season games to claim second place in the regular season.
The championship game was between Team Chopstix and Team Grand & Essex. After a hard fought battle, Chopstix was crowned 2019’s TBO champions with a come-from-behind 12-8 victory. Down 7-4 in the fifth inning after G&E’s Mia Kaplan smashed a two-run double, Chopstix started a two-out rally highlighted by Avigail Vinar’s bases loaded triple to center field. Tied 8-8 going into the sixth inning, Chopstix scored on consecutive hits from Leila Goldstein, Meital Rimberg and Kayla Antosofsky who all scored when Abigail Warhaftig and Atara Siesser (combining for seven RBIs) knocked them home.
G&E threatened to take the lead back in both the fifth and sixth innings, with strong hits from Dalia Hoffer and Eliana Kieffer. But the gold gloves came out for Choptix when outfielders Sarah Mogul and Lana Schmutter tracked down deep fly balls, and an improbable leaping line-drive catch by Goldstein at second base to rob Galil Neuer, diffused the threats. Antosofsky brought the pitching heat to close the game after Emma Kinches delivered a strong start and made the final out with a forced play at third.
The coaches and parents were key in working together to reignite the senior girls division with a talented group of 12- and 13- year old young women whose competitiveness and drive excited the crowd for their return next season.
By JLNJ Sportsdesk
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