Seniors

Jerusalem 14 - Tel Aviv 10

Jerusalem moved into sole possession of first place in Israel Senior Baseball action this past week with a 14-10 win over Tel Aviv. The Capital Gang jumped out to an early 10-run lead, thanks to three hits by Shaun Friedlander and an RBI triple by Naftali Schwartz. The boys from the Big Orange fought back, and centerfielder George Chityet provided the defensive gem of the game with a superb diving catch. However, crafty lefty reliever Moishe Lewis shut down the last six Tel Aviv batsmen, preserving the win for fellow lefty and last summer's Junior National Team teammate Rafi Stern.

Shfela 13 Tel Aviv 9

PTC Raanana 6 - Jerusalem 0

While the continuing steroid controversy overshadowed baseball preparations in the United States, in Israel it was pure baseball in the opening week of play. Ra'anana "PTC Parametric Tec" started off Israeli Baseball's Senior League season in fine style, shutting out Jerusalem 6-0.

Veteran hurler Yonatan Vowell dominated the Jerusalem batters, giving up only two hits over five innings, and striking out the dangerous Noam Markose with the bases loaded. He was assisted by the fine defensive efforts of battery mate Eyal Yemini and third baseman Matan Kaufman. The Ra'anana offense was also in fine form, scoring runs in all but one inning, paced by Daniel Schwarzman's double and Gilad Lazar's triple. Lazar also executed some neat base running to escape what looked like a sure out at home plate. The overall team effort served notice that Ra'anana's below-par showing in last year's Spring and Fall Leagues may be history.

Tel Aviv 12 - PTC Raanana 9

Craig Dunning's Tel Aviv squad opened its season by spotting the Ra'anana Parametric Technologies PTC Wildfire eight first-inning runs, but showed true grit by climbing back into the game and outlasting Yonatan Vowell's disappointed club, 12-9.

Juniors

Tel Aviv A's - 13 Sharon Redwings 12

TheSharon Red Wings dropped two straight nail biters, one to the Tel Aviv "A's", 13-12, and the second to Efrat, 17-16, knocking them from the unbeaten ranks and leaving the 3-0 Hashmonaim squad firmly ensconced at the top of the standings.

In the first game, Tzvi Pollard's 3 RBIS helped the Red Wings jump out to an early lead, but Tel Aviv squeezed home the tying and winning runs in the last two innings, while national team hurler Nadav Efrat found his control just in time to shut down the Sharon batsman.

Efrat 17 Sharon Redwings 16

The weather then shifted from chill to hamsin, but the Red Wings again dropped a one-run decision to Efrat, 17-16. With the game knotted at 12, Efrat's Jeremy Singer came on to pitch some excellent relief ball, assisted by the stellar defense of Yair Adler and Dovi Leibowitz.

Yoni Schwartz' bases-loaded triple and solid hitting by Eitan Gordon and Asher Schwartz paced the attack. For Sharon, Dotan Bergman pitched well in relief, and Noam Goodman's single drove in two runs to spark a late comeback, but it just wasn't enough.

Hashmonaim 9 - Jerusalem 8

In the opening of Junior League action, Hashmonaim carried over its unbeaten streak from the fall season to nip Jerusalem in a thrilling 9-8 contest. Pitchers Avinoam Bernstein and Naftali Schwartz outdueled Yehoshua Zlotogorski and Rafi Stern, who was tagged out at home for the last out of the game while trying to score the tying run on a passed ball.

Hashmonaim maintained the lead throughout the game. At the end of two innings, Hashmonaim was ahead 8-2. But in a big third inning, Jerusalem closed the gap to 8-7. Hashmonaim's Avinoam Bernstein (3 innings) and Naftali Schwartz (2 innings) struck out 13 out of 34 batters. Rafi Stern of Jerusalem, relieving pitcher Yehoshua Zlotogorski in the second inning, struck out 8 of the 17 Hashmonaim batters he faced, giving up 2 of the 9 runs Hashmonaim put on the board. Levi Weiss sparked the Jerusalem effort both defensively and offensively.

Sharon 13- Tel Aviv Juniors 6

Also in Junior League action, Sharon easily handled Tel Aviv, 13-6, behind Roni Barequet's nine strikeouts and Ronen Kornberg's two-run triple into left field. Late in the game, Tel Aviv's Ophir Katz socked a long double to center-field, but the Tel Aviv rally was too little and too late, as lefty reliever Tzvi Pollard closed the game with two strikeouts.