Israel Baseball Cadets Championships. The IAB cadets division split this year into 2 groups, the 8-team Older Cadets division (ages 15-16) and the 10-team Younger Cadets division (ages 13-14).
In the Older Cadets championship game, the 3rd place Tel Aviv Comrades upset the previously undefeated, 1st place Beit Shemesh Bombers 12-3 at Baptist Village. The Comrades ran a playoff gauntlet, playing and winning 3 elimination games during a one-week period, including a 7-4 victory over last year's champs, the Beit Shemesh Comets.
The game started as a pitchers’ duel between Binyamin Mor of Beit Shemesh and Jotham Ben Amram of Tel Aviv, and after 2 innings the game remained scoreless. The Bombers made several excellent plays in the field, including a nice catch by third baseman Shmuel Seidman on a hard line drive. Tel Aviv broke the scoreless tie in the third inning, scoring 4 runs with 3 hits and 2 walks. The key hit was a run scoring double by catcher, Tal Erel. Beit Shemesh responded with 2 runs in the bottom of the inning with Yehuda Joffe and Binyamin Mor scoring on an infield single by Moshe Schwartz. The Bombers comeback was short-lived, as the Comrades extended their lead to 6-3 in the fourth innning when Mor was forced to leave with a sore elbow, and 9-3 in the fifth. Erel relieved Ben Amram and escaped a bases loaded jam to shut down the Bombers final scoring chance, as Tel Aviv recorded its first IAB cadets championship.
The Young Cadets championship was played at Kibbutz Gezer on 17 June between the 1st place Beit Shemesh Bombers, and the 2nd place Beit Shemesh Comets in a re-match of the 2010 cadets championship. The Comets struck 1st, with Shlomo Lipman scoring on a sacrifice fly to right field after leading the game off with a sharp single. The Bombers tied the score in the bottom of the 2nd on a RBI single up the middle by Binyamin Glanz. The game remained knotted at one, as Lipman and Alex Posen engaged in a fantastic pitching duel, until the Comets scored 3 runs in the top of the 6th, including 2 runs that scored on a double by Yonatan Levin. Lipman reached his maximum 95 pitches to close out the bottom of the 6th on a pop-up. He struck out 10 Bombers during the game while yeilding only 3 hits. Elyashiv Segal relieved Lipman in the 7th inning, with the Comets leading 4-2. Despite loading the bases, he managed to record the save, retiring the last Bombers batter on a strike-out that gave the Beit Shemesh Comets a 5th consecutive cadets championship.
For more media coverage, click on the link below:
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/anglo-file/baseball-tel-aviv-comrades-end-bet-shemesh-s-reign-with-blowout-in-championship-1.368160
Last Modified on 22/08/2011 23:50