Otsma Eilat came away with two big wins this week to climb to fourth place in the Israel Softball Association Babe Gillett Fast-pitch Fall Tournament. Otsma, which travels up North for a Thursday night/Friday morning doubleheader four times during the tournament (and eight times during the regular season), defeated 9-6 over Elmhurst Dairy and Triple T 20-6 to improve to 3-3. The Tigers from Tel Aviv remain in first place with three wins from three games. A three-run, tie-breaking sixth inning gave Eilat its win over the Dairy Farmers of Beit Shemesh. With one out, Ron Blumenthal tripled to right and scored on brother Yaniv's single to left. Dr. Greg Elliott followed with a double and Boris Yegudayev singled in the two insurance runs. Eilat pitcher Yonatan Weiss struck out eight, walked eight and scattered five hits for the victory. Adam Fishman's RBI double was the bright spot for Elmhurst as it put together three consecutive hits in a two-run fifth. The next day the Red Sea men completed a successful trip with a convincing win over a sloppy Triple T team. Eilat only outhit the northerners 9-8, but 15 walks, eight wild pitches and six errors allowed Eilat to circle the bases freely. The star of the game was 17-year-old pitcher Boris Yegudayev, who allowed six runs on eight hits with five walks, while striking out three in five innings. In the first inning, Yaniv Rosenfeld's double put TTT on top 1-0, but Eilat's Yoni Weiss answered with a two-run triple and then scampered home when pitcher Yosi Ajzenwaser turned his back before reaching the pitching rubber. That was a sign of things to come as Eilat broke it open in the third with seven runs the killer blow coming on Yaniv Blumenthal's bunt single that scored two. Triple T came back with four in the fourth capped by Tomer Molovinsky's RBI double. However, Eilat immediately pushed eight more across the plate in the bottom half spurred by Weiss's double and Blumenthal's RBI single. Blumenthal also had three nice catches in left field. Moshe Hyde went 3-3 and Tim Cummings was stellar at third base for TTT. Tigers 12, Magic Gezer 3 Ilan Spira pitched a effectively and Amir Gal hit a three-run inside-the-park homer to break open a close 4-3 game. Amir and his brother Gal, who have recently returned from the USA, have added punch to the Tiger lineup, which has lost several top players. Amit Megiddo, returning from a one-year absence due to his army service, banged out two hits and two RBIs for Magic Gezer.

Otsma Eilat takes two in Gillett softball tourney

Games We Play: The Tigers from Tel Aviv remain in first place with three wins from three games.