Suns top Optica to take softball championship
On a sunny morning last week in Hashmonaim, the Bet Shemesh Suns captured the Jerusalem Softball League slowpitch title with a 28-17 victory over Optica International in the rubber-match of the best-ofthree final series.
Over the past 16 seasons, pitchers Andre Isaacson and Danny Gerwitz faced each other many times, but this game was the highlight of two long and successful careers. The pitching dominated early and halfway through the fourth inning, the game was tied 3-3.
OI scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth and it looked like the momentum had shifted in its favor. However, the Suns scored 10 runs in the fifth and twelve runs in the sixth to take a commanding 25-11 lead and they never looked back.
Moshe Schwartz went 6-for-6 with a home run for the Suns and made several great plays both in the outfield and on the base paths. Yosef Green and Mordechai Knapel both played well in the outfield and contributed with home runs of their own.
Josh Alter, who was named playoffs MVP, led the Suns with four home runs and 10 RBIs, while also making a number of excellent plays in the infield.
For Optica International, it was a disappointing loss as Gewirtz announced it was his last game after a storied 29-year career. OI would have loved to send its grizzled veteran into the sunset on a winning note, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
Aaron Katsman, Ami Bogot and Daniel Zacks all went yard for OI as their seventh-inning comeback bid fell 11 runs short.