Series of close games leaves Jeffrey Jewelers with a slim league lead
By GEOFF ROETHER
B’nai B’rith Softball returned to action after a weeklong holiday hiatus.
Jeffrey Jewelers took a game lead atop the standings with a come-from-behind win over a shorthanded P&J Promotions, highlighted by the successful batting of Andy Schectman, Charlie Herseth and Steve Feinberg. Standing out on defense were pitcher Drew Lightowler and third baseman Harlan Rossman.
Great fielding and a triple play started by Matt Reich wasn’t enough to slow down the Jewelers who won 20-13. P&J saw defeat again in Game 2, losing to shorthanded but effective SuperClean by 17 runs.
Continental Diamond scored what could be a turning point in their season as they defeated SuperClean. Down seven runs coming into the top of the seventh, they were able to string together a series of well-placed hits against SuperClean.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Geoff Rothstein knocked a three-run double to put Continental ahead, immediately followed by Howie Hoffman’s double that drove in Rothstein. Continental Diamond walked away with a dramatic 21-17 victory. They easily defeated Alliance Steel with a score of 13-2.
The Clippers won 16-9 over Materials Processing behind the hot bats of Alex Fisher and David Itman, and the slick fielding of second baseman Michael Zis. HMB won 19-6 over The Clippers in their early game.
Sox Construction was able to hold off MPC 13-8 behind the strong pitching of Ron Silver. In the most dramatic game of the day, HMB and Sox went back and forth for seven innings until the Sox pulled off the 12-11 victory on a walk-off grand slam by Eric Heim.
With P&J suffering a double setback, and both Sox Construction and Continental Diamond sweeping their games, the middle of the standings has become completely muddled. With just two games separating third and seventh place, almost every game for the final three weeks of the regular season will have playoff implications.
Games on July 18 will be split between Dakota Park in St Louis Park and Schaeper Park in Golden Valley, before returning to Aquila Park for the B’nai B’rith Community Softball Celebration and Homerun Derby.
Here are the updated standings:
- Jeffrey Jewelers, 11-3.
- SuperClean, 11-4.
- P & J Promotions, 8-6.
- HMB, 8-7.
- Continental Diamond, 8-7.
- Sox Construction, 7-7.
- Materials Processing, 6-8.
- Clippers, 5-11.
- Alliance Steel, 2-13.
The top four teams in the final standings get a playoff bye for the first round, which begins on Aug. 8. The top two teams get the early morning game off on Championship Sunday, Aug. 15.
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Geoff Roether is commissioner of the B’nai B’rith Softball League.
