June 18 was championship Sunday for Yavneh Youth League (YYL) with junior and senior division teams competing through the early drizzle and sunshine in front of family and friends. The games were the culmination of the season for over 300 players across 24 junior and senior divisions teams The morning ended, as it should, with the league treating everyone to ice cream.
Following their upset win in the junior girls semi-finals, the Sharsheret Phillies took the field against the number one seeded MindySchultzDesign.com Marlins. It was a close game early on, as the score was 4-3 going into the fourth inning. The Phillies added four runs in the top of the fourth and, with some great defense, held the Marlins to one run after having runners on second and third with no outs. The Phillies saved their best offensive inning of the season for the top of the sixth where they scored nine runs and batted around the lineup to take a 21-4 lead. The final score was 21-5 which capped off a great defensive post season by allowing only eight runs in the playoffs. The girls from both teams had a lot of fun, made new friends and demonstrated great sportsmanship throughout the game and entire season.
The junior boys championship game was set to be an epic battle for the ages as the Zadies Bake Shop Brewers (who had just toppled the number three seed in the quarter finals, and the number one seed in the semi-finals) took on the number two seeded BeLeadDo.com Nationals, who had just come from behind to win in extra innings in the semi-finals. To the delight of all spectators, both teams showed a lot of fireworks on offense, crushing balls into the outfield, and incredible grit on defense. The score inched up and remained nearly tied throughout the entire game, and by the end of the fifth inning, the Nats led 13-12, but the scrappy Zadies team came back in the top of the sixth to take the lead 14-13. In the bottom of the sixth, Yosef Moshe Bannett, Akiva Fried, Benny Holczer and Ronya Arussy all had base hits or key sacrifices to advance runners and tie up the game. With two outs and the go-ahead runner on third, Reuben Kaminetzky stepped up to the plate. Celebrating his birthday in fine fashion, he legged out a walk-off RBI single. By all accounts it was a close and hard-fought game, with incredible displays of sportsmanship throughout.
The number three seeded Goldman Orthodontics White Sox faced off against the number one seeded Camp Regesh Padres for the senior girls championship game. The White Sox took an early 5-2 lead after one inning and both teams battled through some rain through the next few innings, with the Padres getting home runs from Adira Scheiber (2), Adira Sklar, Joelle Kuperman and Rachel Weisberg and the White Sox getting home runs from Tali Finkelstein and Kayla Blecherman. Down 11-10 going into the fifth inning, the Padres held the White Sox scoreless in the top of the fifth and the tied the game at 11 with an RBI single by Adira Sklar. Sarah Motechin saved a few runs with a great catch on a deep fly ball, only allowing a runner tagup to give the Padres a 12-11 lead. In the sixth inning, the Sox got back-to-back RBI singles from Kayla Blecherman and Ayala Frolich to take a 13-12 lead, only to see the Padres’ Rachel Weisberg hit her second home run of the game to tie it, in the bottom of the sixth. After a triple put the potential winning run at third base, Tali Finkelstein notched two clutch strikeouts to send the game into extra innings. Neither team scored in the seventh inning but in the eighth, Ruti Frohlich and Kayla Blecherman had back-to-back RBI singles to give the White Sox a 15-13 lead. Joelle Kuperman’s double helped the Padres get one back in the bottom of the eighth but with two outs and the potential tying run on third base, Sox shortstop Kayla Blecherman made a backhanded grab on a hard liner just before it hit the ground, picking it to preserve a 15-14 victory and the championship for the Goldman Orthodontics.
After a dramatic semifinal week in which the Sharsheret Braves needed extra innings to beat the Rothenberg Law Firm Reds and the Noodle.com Mets won a nail-biter 1-0 over the Cubs, the stage was set for the championship game, which would feature a rematch of a game that the Mets had won in walk-off fashion only a few weeks earlier. The Braves got off to a fast start, scoring four runs in the second inning and another three in the third to take a commanding 7-0 lead. Offensively, the Braves were led by eighth grader Lior Aharon who hit a double and triple. However, the Mets fought back with two runs in the fourth and another two in the fifth to make it 7-4. The Braves tight defense buckled down with key plays by Mordechai and Akiva Gelernter. Ezra Landa’s outstanding pitching ensured the Braves victory 7-4. Congratulations to both teams for an outstanding season.
By YYL Coaches
