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Baseball is a most amazing sport: Anybody can beat anyone
at any time. And sometimes, because of how tournaments are
set up, losing can create an advantage later on.
In order to find out how miracles sometimes happen, we must
go to the beginning.
Six teams were entered in the 2006 Dr. Ami Cohen Memorial
Chanukah tournament: Jerusalem, Ra'anana, Tzofit, Tel Aviv,
a combined Hashmonaim/Gezer team, and newcomer and underdog
Kfar Bilu..
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On Monday, December 18, 4 RBI by Ziv Keren and some strong pitching
by Micha Brief gave the combined Hashmonaim/Gezer team a 12-8 victory
over Tzofit. Gal Slomowitz and Yedidya Sommer did their best at
pitching, but were unable to fully contain a strong offense. Meanwhile,
the Ra'anana Roosters handily defeated Kfar Bilu 20-6, behind the
fine pitching of Josh Frohlinger and some heavy hitting by the Lesser
twins, Aron and Gabe, and by the durable catcher Bentzie Saroka.
The Roosters' crowing was quickly brought to a halt however, as
Jerusalem's Boaz Fraiman pitched a gem, leading his team to an 8-1
victory over the hometown Ra'anana squad. Meanwhile, Tzofit rebounded
against Kfar Bilu's the erratic pitching to win their afternoon
contest, 13-5, while Jerusalem got just enough walks and timely
hits to beat Hashmonaim/Gezer by a score of 7-5.
Two days later came the final round. The Tzofit and Ra'anana squads
were unavailable, making room for Tel Aviv and a chastised Kfar
Bilu team. Hashmonaim/Gezer came out with their hitting shoes on
against Tel Aviv, scoring 6 in two separate innings and 5 in another,
each player had at least 1 hit, and the final score was 19-2. Tel
Aviv's Yair Felig pitched well, keeping the walk total down, but
the offense facing him took advantage of a short-handed defense,
smashing 16 hits, including 3 triples and 1 home run. David Tover
pitched 3 scoreless innings, and Dov Gerson closed matters out.
Meanwhile, the 0-2 Kfar Bilu took on heavily favored and defending
tournament champions Jerusalem in a classic David and Goaliath matchup.
No one even considered the possibility of a Hanukah miracle. But
lo and behold, it happened, in an exciting back-and forth contest.
Kfar Bilu scored 3 in the top of the first, but Jerusalem tied it
in the bottom of the inning. Neither team scored in the 2nd; then
both teams struck for 5 runs in the third. In the top of the 4th,
Dror Bachar's RBI double put Kfar Bilu ahead 9-8, an RBI groundout
by Shlomo Tannor increased the lead to 10-8. Avishai Gross had pitched
for 3 innings, now it was up to Doron Reich to finish the game.
Micha Price and Boaz Fraiman hit doubles to cut the lead to 10-9
but Reich struck out the last batter with the tying runner on 3rd
to end the game. Every player on the Kfar Bilu team had at least
1 hit, and it was on to the finals against Hashmonaim/Gezer
With momentum on its side, Kfar Bilu's first 4 hitters reached base,
including a double and 2 singles, and they still had bases loaded
and 2 outs, already up 3-0, when pitcher Micha Brief bore down and
got the strikeout he needed to prevent further damage. Hashmonaim/Gezer
came back in the bottom of the 1st to score 2 runs on some singles
and shaky defense. In the third inning, a long triple by Kfar Bilu's
1B Calanit Dym sparked a three-run inning, widening the lead to
6-2.
However,. Hashmonaim's Ziv Keren belted a long homerun, highlighting
a six run inning, and his team picked up four more runs in the fourth,
making the score 12-6. Yet, Kfar Bilu still believed in miracles,
coming right back to tie the score, only to give up the lead again
in the next inning. With Hashmonaim/Gezer leading by 2, the coach
decided to bring in the starter and winner from their semifinal
game – David Tover, who earned the save after some tense moments,
leaving Kfar Bilu just shy of another miracle. Final score: Hashmonaim/Gezer
14, Kfar Bilu 12.
Kfar Bilu stars were Avishai Gross, who went 3 for 4, 2 doubles,
scored twice, drove in 3 runs; Oren Bloch, who was 2 for 4, including
a double, and scored twice, and Doron Reich was 3-4 with 3 singles,
scored once, and drove in 2 runs.
Hashmonaim/Gezer hitters were led by Ziv Keren went 3-3 including
the home run, scored 3 times, drove in 5 runs; and Boaz Jaffe went
2-3 with 2 RBI. Keren was the hitting star of the whole tournament,
going 10 for 11 with 2 HR (1 inside the park) and 13 RBI.
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