Sox beat OI, take 1-0 series lead in finals

Philip Stein’s Sox upset Optical International 14- 10 to win Game 1 of the Jerusalem Softball League finals.

By JERUSALEM POST SPORTS STAFF
Mens softball 370 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Mens softball 370
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Philip Stein’s Sox upset Optical International 14- 10 to win Game 1 of the Jerusalem Softball League finals.
The Sox jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Ariel Gilor and David Tover singled and after both runners moved up a base , Gilor scored on a sacrifice fly by Chaim Jacobson .
Alan Tover then followed with a two run blast over the leftfield fence and catcher Avinoam Bernstein drove in two more runs with a clutch single After the Sox scored two more runs in the second inning .
In the bottom of the second , the OI bats woke up and scored five runs to trail only 7-6 after two innings.
Both teams traded a pair of runs in the fourth inning but the Sox added three runs in the fifth and following two runs by OI in the bottom of the sixth inning .
The Sox answered with two runs in the top of the seventh to lead 14-10 and held OI scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to win game 1 of the best-ofthree series.
For the Sox Ariel Gilor and Alan Tover each had four hits, David Tover had three hits, RF Oren Wener had two RBI’s and Josh Blacher had three hits and three runs batted in.
Ron Gorodetzer pitched brilliantly keeping the potent OI bats in check most of the game and he was helped by solid defensive plays by shortstop Chaim Jacobson.
The absence of timely hitting and poor defensive play helped to contribute to the OI loss. Aaron Katsman led a quiet offensive effort with two hits and three RBI’s.
“We are going to have to play a lot better on Thursday night if we want to extend the finals to the full three games” said Captain Josh Wajcman.
“It’s all hands on deck right now and we are going to have to come out and play aggressively if we want to get back in this series. This is a good hitting and defensive team they have and we are going to have to be at our best.”
Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday at Kibbutz Gezer.