Same game, different continents

Ziontours Cadets play Boston teens in baseball exhibition game.

By MARCIA KATZ
baseball 88 (photo credit: )
baseball 88
(photo credit: )
Last week, Jerusalem's teenage baseball players from the Israel Association of Baseball hosted a visiting team from Boston at Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem. The visitors, here in Israel participating in an annual 8th grade class trip from the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston (located in Newton, MA) trounced the Ziontours Cadets in a short, 4-inning game with a score of 4-0. Strong, consistent pitching by Boston's Sam Forman mainly accounted for the shutout, as he is credited with 12 strikeouts. Ziontours couldn't muster any offense against their opponent's overpowering pitching, resulting in this no-hitter. Only 2 walks granted by Forman allowed Boaz Fraiman and Aaron Dov Goldhar to reach base. Two field errors by Boston also allowed Elisha Silberklang and Tzvi Render to reach first. Render managed to get within scoring position by stealing second, only to be left on base after further strikeouts. Boston's ability to get on base against Ziontours' pitcher, Fraiman, allowed them to chalk up 4 runs. Singles by Joel Neuberger, Sam Levenfeld, and Sam Doernberg, and a ground-rule double by Brad Baskir demonstrated Boston's hitting ability. Josh Podrid and Baskir also managed to get to first on walks. RBI's by Jeremy Grinberg, Forman, and Neuberger put Boston solidly on the scoreboard, with Levenfeld's scoring from his single accounting for the other run for Boston. The game was organized by IAB's Jerusalem Regional Director, Ellie Render, after meeting Schechter's Head of School, Arnold Zar-Kessler, who is in Israel this year on sabbatical. Render commented, "We were looking for an opportunity for one of our local IAB teams to face an American teen team in the same age bracket. I also thought, as did their school principal, that the Boston kids would love to pack their gloves and have a chance to play some baseball while here in Israel. The IAB hopes that these kids will act as goodwill ambassadors for us back in the US." Boston squad co-captain Baskir added, "They [the Israeli team] really know the mechanics and play the game well. It was a moving experience to be able to participate in America's pastime and to represent our country halfway across the globe." After the game, Ziontours player Elisha Silberklang noted, "In spite of Boston's pitcher, who had a hot fastball and a mean slider, the teams were evenly matched, which made me proud of my team." Silberklang said that he enjoyed being part of the game and would welcome more opportunities to play similar American school teams who are visiting Israel. Ellie Render's reasons for selecting the Ziontours Cadets to be the local IAB competitor was based on both talent and geography: Ziontours head coach Yedidya Fraiman is a former Bostonian.