A Division Champions 2017:  
Chabad of West Orange

B Division Champions 2017 B'nai Or

Bottom row: left to right

Dennis Bellovin, Todd Gutkin, Mike Eisner, Keith Barbarosh, Jordan Byk 

Middle row: Jason Cohen, Ira Forman, Gary Lilienfeld

Back row: Hal Bellovin, Eric Axler, Paul Delson, Rick Simon, Fred Kain, Scott Charles, Adam Lazer

Bill Schlosser was on vacation.

Livingston Temple Softball League 07/30/17

In a 2 hour back and forth grueling game, Chabad ended Sharey Tefilo Israel's 4 year championship run with a walk off hit in the bottom of the 7th inning giving them a 21-20 win. Chabad entered the bottom of the seventh down 2 runs and Joe Boettenger led off the 7th with his second home run of the game. David Levine followed with a single and with 1 out, Jon Tishlas hit a single. With a man on first and second and one out, Micha Mandel hit a shot to left field. Jon ran all the way from first and scored on a close play at the plate for the walk off. For the winners: Joe Boettenger was 5/5 with 2 HRs, a triple and 2 doubles and scored 4 times. David Levine got intentionally walked 3 times but when they finally pitched to him he got 2 base hits and he also scored 4 times. Micha Mandel had 3 hits which included the game winning walk off hit. Keith Bader hit a 2RBI triple plus 2 hits and scored twice. #2 seeded B'nai Brith was having a tough time with Temple Sinai early on in their semi-final but they scored 7 runs in the 4^th and 6 runs in the 5^th eventually holding on for the 15-10 victory setting up the A1-A2 matchup. In the win Wayne Neumann made several nice defensive plays on the mound, and offensively, B'nai B'rith was led by Steve Miller with a 3 run homer, Jared Resnick (3-4) and Andrew Kasdan who was 4-5. 2 years ago Chabad and B’nai Brith met in the B division final with Chabad winning the title. And this year behind a great pitching performance by Peter Gelman, Chabad ou‎t dueled BB again 16-14 taking the A Division Championship Trophy! For the ‎champs, future hall of famer, Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz led off the bottom of the 1st with a home run to right field. Then he led off the 2nd with a triple to left. He added a single and double hitting for the cycle. He also ended the game and the season with a tag of the runner at second base. Jeff Steil had 3 hits. Jon Tishlas scored 3 times‎. David Levine had 2 doubles and 2 runs scored. Chabad scored 6 in the first inning, 7 in the second and didn't look back. Bnai Brith chipped away but Chabad tightened up their defense and held on for the win. B’nai Brith in the loss was led by Andrew Kasdan and Don Newell who were both 4-5, and Howie Weinrib who was 3-4.  

In the B division, top seeded B'nai Or's first game matchup was with AABJD / Ohr Torah. Both defenses were solid as the game went scoreless through 3 innings. Ohr Torah scored 2 in the 4th but B'nai Or came back with 3 in the bottom of the inning. The game stayed close at 7-5 into the bottom of the 6th but 5 more runs from B'nai Or finally gave them a comfortable lead and they won it 12-5. Jordan Byk pitched great giving up no walks and getting 3 assists. On offense, Scott Charles had  2 hits, 2 runs and 4 rbi's. Keith Barbarosh had 2 hits and scored twice. Hal Belovin had 2 hits and 2 rbi's. Eric Axler had 3 hits, Gary Lillienfield, Todd Gutkin and Jordan Byk each had 2 hits. With Suburban Torah defeating B'nai Abraham 25-10 in their 1^st game there was also a B1-B2 matchup for the finals. It was the 2nd time in the last 3 years that the top seeds met in the finals of both divisions. Suburban Torah got off to a quick start when a failed attempt at a shoestring catch turned into a 2 run homer. But B'nai or scored 2 in the bottom of the inning and then batted around for 9 in the bottom of the 2nd. It was 13-6 going into the 5th and a long 3 run homer for ST closed the gap to 13-9. But B'nai Or answered that with 6 and added 4 more in the sixth leaving the possible game ending run on second. The final was 23-11. Jason Cohen played great shortstop, turned a double play and was 4-4 with a walk, double, 2 homers, scored 5 and had 6 rbi's. Scott Charles had 3 hits with a homer, scored 3 and had 4 rbi's. Todd Gutkin was 3-5 with 2 triples and 3 rbi's and also turned in a highlight 5-5-4 DP from 3rd base. Jordan Byk again pitched great with no walks had 3 hits and scored 3. Many others contributed, too numerous to mention. It was B’nai Or’s first trip to the championship round in over 10 years. It was also their best season ever earning their first title, scoring the most runs, and giving up the least of any season. B’nai Or’s 10 game winning streak to end the season was the longest in their history and longer than any other team’s this year. It was the first time in 5 years that both division’s top seeds won the championship.

	Livingston Temple Softball
	Playoff Results				7/30/2017
	A Division				B Division
		Semi's
#4	Sharey Tefilo Israel	20		#5	AABJD / Ohr Torah	5
#1	Chabad	21		#1	B'nai Or	12
#3	Temple Sinai	10		#3	B'nai Abraham	10
#2	B'nai Brith	15		#2	Suburban Torah	25
		Finals
#2	B'nai Brith	14		#2	Suburban Torah	11
#1	Chabad	16		#1	B'nai Or	23

LIVINGSTON TEMPLE SOFTBALL LEAGUE
		7/30/17
Playoffs 2nd round				Finals
All games at 9:00 AM				Approximately 10:30
Okner				A Division
Sharey Tefilo Israel	A4			Mt Pleasant Baseball
Chabad	A1
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx				Winner at Okner vs.
				Winner at MP Baseball
Mt Pleasant Baseball				Higher seed is home team
Temple Sinai	A6			xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
B'nai Brith	A2
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Mt Pleasant Distant Corner				B Division
AABJD / Ohr Torah	B5			Mt Pleasant Closest to School
B'nai Or	B1
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx				Winner at MP Distant Corner vs.
				Winner at MP Closest to School
Mt Pleasant Closest to School				Higher seed is home team
B'nai Abraham	B3			xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Suburban Torah	B2
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

	7/23/17
Games canceled -  DH next Sunday 7/30 Playoffs 2nd round
All games at 9:30 AM
Okner
Sharey Tefilo Israel	A4
Chabad	A1
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mt Pleasant Baseball
Temple Sinai	A6
B'nai Brith	A2
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mt Pleasant distant corner
AABJD / Ohr Torah	B5
B'nai Or	B1
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mt Pleasant closest to school
B'nai Abraham	B3
Suburban Torah	B2
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Livingston Temple Softball League 07/16/17

In the A division, #1 seed Chabad defeated AABJD by 24-13 highlighted by great defensive plays for the winners. The game started with Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz robbing the lead off batter of an extra base hit with a back to the plate over the shoulder catch at the left field warning track. Neil Gross made two sliding catches and shortstop Scott Bader made some great plays in the field also throwing out a runner from his knees. David Levine was 5 for 5 and half the offense with 2 grand slams and 11 RBI’s - just a double short of the cycle. Mendy was 3-3 with 4 runs; Jeff Stiel was 3-4, Evan Bell was on base 4 times and scored 4 runs; Neil Gross was 4-4. #2 seed B’nai Brith, behind a strong defense led by Andrew Kasdan and the solid pitching of Wayne Neumann, were 17-2 winners over Agudath Israel . The entire lineup hit well, led by Paul Velelis and Gregg Weinberger who both homered in the win. In the A Division’s #4 vs #5 game, #5 Pine Brook scored 3 runs in the first inning against Sharey Tefilo Israel and opened up a 6-1 lead in the third inning. TSTI cut the lead to 6-4 with 2 runs in the bottom of the third and a run in the fourth. TSTI took the lead and eventually broke the game open in the fifth inning, scoring 12 runs on 13 hits, including 8 consecutive hits to start the inning. Pine Brook tried to come back, scoring 3 runs in the sixth and 2 in the seventh, but TSTI pitcher Ken Gorman slammed the door, and TSTI held on for a 17-11 win. For TSTI, Matt Katz went 4-4, David Denenberg, Michael Somekh and Mark Berger each had 3 hits and Jared Goldberg hit a 3-run HR. In the #3-#6 matchup #6 Temple Sinai was the 22-8 winner over B’nai Jeshurun. Chabad now faces Sharey Tefilo Israel whom they split with during the regular season. B'nai Brith is matched up with Temple Sinai and they also split during the regular season.

In the B division, #1 seed B'nai Or received a bye last week and will now square off with AABJD / Ohr Torah after they knocked off #4 Beth Shalom 30-12. Two spectacular plays by Beth Shalom left fielder Jeremy Kross kept them in the game early. But shortstop Asher Malech for Ohr Torah also made great plays stopping the home team's rallies in almost every inning. Beth Shalom was down 12-6 in the bottom of the 4th with the bases loaded and 2 outs, when 2nd baseman Mike Diamond made the biggest play of his season stopping a rocket ( 2 runs for sure) up the middle off the bat of Jeremy Kross for a 4-6 inning ender. After that AABJD / Ohr Torah threw in a 15 run 6th inning with 5 players scoring twice. For the winners, Jerry Blugrind had 5 hits; Alex Malech had 5 hits and 4 runs; Moshe Berkowitz had 6 hits including 2 doubles and scored 5 times; Shalom Berkowitz had 5 hits with a 3 run homer and 3 runs scored; Donny Sohnen had 5 hits, 5 runs and hit for the cycle. #2 Suburban Torah knocked off Ner Tamid 15-4 and will meet #3 B'nai Abraham who defeated B'nai Israel 19-3.