Livingston Temple Softball League 07/12/15

The last team to beat Temple Sharey Tefilo Israel was B'nai Jeshurun on 7/7/13. Since then they have 2 championships and back to back undefeated seasons while winning their last 35 games. They defeated B'nai Shalom 20-6 and had a forfeit win over AABJD to cap off another #1 seeded undefeated season in the A division. AABJD (9-5) won their 1st game 22-15 over B'nai Jeshurun and tied for 2nd in the upper division. In the win, Ariel Fournier (HR, 3 RBI’s), Jeff Falkenstein (HR, 3 RBI’s), Jay Gertleman (4 RBI’s), Zach and Rami Abramowitz (3 RBI’s each). They will be the #2 seed by virtue of winning the tiebreaker with Pinebrook (9-5). The two teams split their season series but AABJD’s average runs against was 12.58 while Pinebrook's was 13.58. AABJD was involved in 2 forfeits (1 win - 1 loss) so by virtue of the new rule those games did not count in runs against. Pinebrook's 1st game was a 19-4 win against Temple Sinai (6-8) but they lost their 2nd game 18-17 to Suburban Torah (6-8). In that game the winners took a 1 run lead into the bottom of the 7th and held Pinebrook scoreless. Temple Sinai will be the #4 seed because they swept the season series with Suburban Torah (#5). Temple Sholom of West Essex defeated Suburban Torah in game 1 by a score of 20-8. In the game they had a 14 run 3rd inning which was started by a grand slam off the bat of Jeff Goldberger. Also leading the offense were Scott Suydam, Steve Holinstat, and Dan Natt who each went 3-4. The 2nd game for TSWE was a 9-3 loss to B'nai Shalom. The 1^st round of the playoffs in the A division will match #1 Sharey Tefilo Israel - #8 B’nai Jeshurun; #2 AABJD - #7 B’nai Shalom; #3 Pinebrook - #6 Temple Sholom of West Essex; #4 Temple Sinai - #5 Suburban Torah.

It came down to the final game in the B division and B’nai Brith (12-2) prevailed 9-6 over Chabad to clinch 1^st place. Chabad tied Beth Shalom for 2^nd at 11-3 but will be the #2 seed since they defeated Beth Shalom in the only game they played during the regular season. Beth Shalom swept this week’s double header defeating Temple Emanu-El 11-6 with a very solid defense led by SS Steve Siegal. On offense Doug Netburn was 3-3 with a HR and Mark Konstandt was 3-3. Beth Shalom’s 2^nd game was a 25-10 win against B’nai Israel with an offense led by Jeff Katz (5-5 3 runs), Steve Siegal (3-3, 2B, 4 runs), Neil Grossman (4-4, 3B, 5 RBI’s). Phil Sperling, Dan Bank and Gabe Ollins each had 3 hits and 3 runs scored. B’nai Or secured the 4^th seed with a split of their DH despite having only 9 players for both games, topping Ner Tamid 12-3 in the 1^st game and losing a 12-11 decision to B’nai Abraham in game 2. In game 1 win Adam Forman had 2 doubles, 3 RBI’s, 3 runs and Keith Barbarosh blasted a 3 run triple with 3 hits and 2 runs. Also, Eric Axler (1B, 2B, 3B, 3 runs), and pitcher Bill Schlosser (3 hits). On defense, Ira Forman had 2 putouts at the plate. Against B’nai Abraham, Keith Barbarosh’s 2^nd inning grand slam gave B’nai Or the lead which they held until the 6^th inning at 9-8. They scored 2 more for 11 but B’nai Abraham countered with 4 more for the 12-11 win. Agudath Israel won their two games beating B’nai Abraham 6-2 and AABJD/Ohr Torah 20-5 and will be the #5 seed for the playoffs. Greg Adelsberg led the way in the 1^st game with a HR. In the 2^nd game Robert Field had a homer, Scott Reiser went 4-4 and Charlie Kessler was a homerun shy of the cycle. Temple Emanu-El defeated Ner Tamid 15-9 and will be the #6 seed in the playoffs. In the loss for Ner Tamid, Rob Crum had a homerun. On the day for Ner Tamid, Bob Perris had a long triple and two doubles.

Playoff matchups for the B division as follows:

#1 B’nai Brith-#8 B’nai Abraham;

 #2 Chabad - #7 B’nai Israel; 

#3 Beth Shalom - #6 Temple Emanu-El;

#4 B’nai Or - #5 Agudath Israel.