In the Fall PBI Baseball League Tournament, the 10U Teaneck travel baseball (TBO) team finished in fifth place out of 10 teams. TBO proved they could hold their own in a highly skilled and competitive All-Star league division outscoring opponents 59 to 55 in total runs and defeating two of the top-four ranked teams.
The season started out looking very promising with three wins in a row. The first win, over the Bergen County Yankees, came down to the final out in a 4-3 nail biter. The second game, against Fort Lee, was an easy victory for TBO, followed by a 5-4 walk-off victory against Piermont PAL. But then Teaneck’s good fortune turned with three consecutive losses beginning with the Stony Point Patriots, followed by the North Jersey Riptide, and ending with the Hit and Run Outlaws. A 7-6 triumph over the Woodcliff Lake Lakers and 5-4 defeat by the Grizzlies left TBO with a four-win-four-loss record.
Notwithstanding the players’ commitment to the team, weekly practice was generally limited to a session right before games due to the Jewish holidays and school schedules. However, since the majority of the Teaneck kids have played together for several seasons—including past summer and fall tournaments—the players already had a strong chemistry and good baseball IQ. This combination allowed them to remain competitive in a challenging tournament.
The team’s players: Akiva Boyarsky, Netanel Eckman, Aaron Epstein, Yis Kaminetzky, Abie Schwartz, Natan Solomon,Yehuda Teitelman, David Uretsky, Yair Wall, Caleb Wolin, Eli Zaretsky and Joey Zelig were managed by head coach Chaim Schwartz, along with assistant coaches Joseph Zaretsky, Ari Eckman, Moshie Solomon and Howard Teitelman. Benny Zelig and Noam Eckman were the team bat boys.
By Howard and Yehuda Teitelman
