Cyprus 2000 Baseball Tournament, Larnaca
Israel's National Cadet Baseball Team
(ages 13-16) came home with the gold this past weekend from the Cyprus 2000 Baseball
Tournament, held in Larnaca.
The tournament, the first held in Cyprus, was in direct response to"The 1st
Israel Friendship Tournament" organized by theIsrael Association of Baseball
and held in the Baptist Village in Petah Tiqva last July.
Game one saw Israel convincingly besting the host side 19-4, followed by an even
more impressive 13-4 win over an older and physically stronger squad from Greece.
The first game was marked by an especially impressive all-roundperformance by
shortstop Amit Megiddo, with three hits and stellar defensive plays. Back-to-back
home runs by Megiddo and Arishai Leichman,both from kibbutz Gezer, three hits
each by Tel-Aviv's Ofir Katzand Herzlia's Roni Barquet, and 6 solid innings by
a trio of pitchers from the Sharon and Jerusalem sealed the win.
In the second game, pitcher Tom Merlin, anchored by his long-time battery-mate
from the perennially powerful
Ra'anana Yankees, Noam Kaplan, dominated the Greek side, allowing only three hits
in five innings, while striking out 11 batters. Katz again led the way at the
plate with three hits, totaling a team-high 6 RBI's for the two games. In the
consolation game, Greece beat Cyprus 12-2.
The Israel Association of Baseball supplied the umpires, Leon Klarfeld and Craig
Dunning, for the tournament as well as technical support.
Coach Bruce Maddy-Weitzman, " I am very pleased with the outcome. The kids
came from every region, Bet Shaan, The Sharon, Tel-Aviv, TheShfela and Jerusalem
and gave an outstanding performance. The tournament was well run and provided
an excellent opportunity for cultural exchange."