Beth Sholom Crushes White Shul 12-1, Stays Undefeated

By Raimundo Ortiz

The White Shul sorely missed their regular starting pitcher Eli Shapiro, doing themselves no favors on the mound in a 12-1 loss against Beth Sholom.

Last week’s offensive star Zezzy Fuld took the bump for The White Shul in Shapiro’s place and began the game well enough, walking Danni Moskovik but surrendering no hits or runs. In the bottom of the first, Beth Sholom starter Yehuda Konig looked impressive as well, giving up a mere two-out single before inducing a groundout by Fuld to end the inning.

The top of the second was scoreless for Beth Sholom as well, with Fuld again walking one and uncorking several pitches way out of the strike zone. His wildness looked effective, however, and he was keeping Beth Sholom off the scoreboard. The bottom of the second was more nerve-wracking for Konig. Sruly Lieber led off the inning with a single and Eric Lohen swatted a two-bagger right after him. Konig buckled down however, getting a swinging strikeout followed by two pop ups to third base and somehow wriggling out of the jam. “That was demoralizing,” said loquacious Beth Sholom third baseman Neil Ostrof.

Beth Sholom starter Yehuda Konig who pitched out of two serious jams en route to a 12-1 victory over The White Shul. Photo by Raimundo Ortiz

In the top of the third, Fuld walked Beth Sholom captain Ed Miller, but induced a double play by Ed “The Bull” Weinberg. Fuld kept Beth Sholom from scoring again, but the walk was his third of the game. The bottom of the third was another adventure for Konig that began with a leadoff double by Avi Katz. Konig then retired Ari Horowitz and Phil Goldfeder before walking Doniel Pearlman and giving up a single to Fuld to load the bases. Lieber stepped up to the dish and drilled a screamer toward third that was snatched out of thin air by Ostrof to end the threat.

After that deflating end to the bottom of the third inning, the wheels came off for Fuld. He loaded the bases with three walks before giving up a three run triple to Greg Telsey that proved to be just the tip of the iceberg. Todd Soifer knocked in Telsey with a single of his own. Fuld then lost all control over where the ball was going. He walked Yitz Roz, prompting his son watching from the bleachers of Lawrence high school’s football field to shout “You always walk because you’re the best!” Fuld walked three more batters before being removed with 10 free passes on his stat line. A sacrifice fly and two walks later, Beth Sholom had plated nine runs in the disastrous fourth inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, Eric Cohen led off with a hit but the seven, eight, and nine hitters went down one, two, three. The top of the fifth offered a welcome respite from the walks and base runners that plagued The White Shul in the fourth. Avi Katz pitched the fifth and retired Beth Sholom in order. In the bottom of the frame, The White Shul scraped across their lone run of the game. Katz kicked it off with his second double of the day. After Konig struck out Horowitz, Goldfeder singled and Fuld brightened his rough day just a tad with an RBI double. Lieber ended the inning with another hard-hit ball right at a defender to end the inning.

In the top of the sixth, The White Shul’s wildness reared its ugly head again, with Katz putting the Bull and Alan Heller on before serving up a triple to Konig who proved himself to be a two-way contributor. Moskovik hit a sacrifice fly to center, pushing Beth Sholom’s lead to 12-1, which was the final.