Games We Play: Rehovot All-Stars win junior title

Dudu Zozin's big two-run double in the fifth gives Rehovot two crucial runs it needed to defeat defending champion Eilat.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
softball 88 (photo credit: )
softball 88
(photo credit: )
Rehovot A defeated defending champion Eilat 14-12 in the Israel Softball Association's Junior Men's Fast Pitch Softball Championship at the Baptist Village's Yarkon Sport Center last week. After a double round-robin tournament, Eilat finished with a record of 5-0-1, Rehovot A 5-1, Bika'at Beit She'an 2-4 and Rehovot B 0-5-1. In the semifinals, Rehovot A defeated Rehovot B and Eilat downed Bika'at Beit She'an to set the stage for the final. Rehovot jumped out to an 11-0 lead after two innings off of Eilat pitcher Boris Yegudayev, but Eilat answered with 12 runs over the following four innings, off of Rehovot hurler Kobi Daya. However, Dudu Zozin's big two-run double in the fifth gave Rehovot two crucial runs it needed. With two outs, the score 14-12, and a runner on first, Daya struck out big man Ittamar Elgazzi for a thrilling finish. Rehovot A's Eyal Moses had three hits and played great defense at catcher. Etai Mayerfeld and Roy Even each contributed four hits, including three triples for Mayerfeld. Eilat's Yegudayev struck out five and walked three, but was outdone by Daya, who whiffed six and only walked one. In the third place game, BBS's soft-tossing pitcher Yotam David kept the Rehovot B hitters off balance, scattering three hits and four walks while striking out two in a 14-2 victory. BBS exploded for eight runs in the first and cruised the rest of the way. David helped his own cause with a perfect 3-for-3 day and four RBIs, and Adir Shami fell a home run short of the cycle and drove in three runs. Doron Reich was excellent in centerfield, snagging everything hit his way, and 10-year-old Ben Milgram ended the game by catching a line drive at second base and doubling off the runner at first. Gidon Sherman starred for Rehovot B, tripling and making two nice catches in right field. Each team named a top pitcher, hitter and fielder for the tournament: Rehovot A (Kobi Daya, Dudu Zozin, Eyal Moses); Eilat (Boris Yegudayev, Diego Janovski, David Bleicher); BBS (Yotam David, Avishai Gross, Adir Shami); and Rehovot B (Alon Tslil, Sagi Bracha, Yuval Amir).