(YYL) In their quest to go undefeated, the #1 seeded Camp Shalom Diamondbacks of the YYL junior boys division hosted the #2 seeded Mom’s Angels who had lost only one game this season. With star shortstop Gavriel Yablok starting on the bench with a broken thumb sustained just two days prior, the Angels quickly jumped out to a four run lead. The Diamondbacks retaliated with four runs of their own in the bottom of the first, three coming on a home run blast by Shane Dworkin.

Led by up-and-coming defensive star Donny Adler and gold glove first baseman Yoni Rosen, the Diamondbacks held the Angels scoreless in the top of the second and Camp Shalom then took a lead they would never relinquish. Through rally starting hits from Ezra Herzig and pristine base running by Charlie Sabba, the Diamondbacks continued to tack on runs and pull away. Rafi Kazam, Yablok and Rosen went on to hit three more home runs over the next three innings, and the scoring was capped off by a grand slam from Aryeh Spector in the bottom of the fifth.

Throughout the game, the Zarfati brothers, Shimon and Yaakov, made slick defensive plays up the middle and Ezra Ashkenas and Judah Stokar both added defensive web gems of their own to protect the lead. Despite the fight put up by the Angels, anchored by upperclassmen David Sher, Noam Friedman and Gavi Schnall, Camp Shalom was able to secure a 19-11 victory, followed by league-sponsored ice cream for all. Congratulations to both teams, players and coaches, and the six other teams in the junior boys division for a fun season.