Mean Judeans Win National Softball Title

For the second time in three seasons, Dimona’s Mean Judeans captured the national championship of  Israel’s Softball Association with a stirring 9-5 win over rival Penticon. Before a rousing crowd at Baptist Village, the Judeans left no doubt that their first-place finish in the regular season was well earned with timely pitching by star pitcher, Yaron Ben Israel, clutch hitting and strong fielding.

The victory was made all the more sweet, the Juedans said, because Penticon was designated the pre-season favorite to win the title as the team featured several players from Israel’s national team, including pitcher, Ami Baran. But the night and the season belonged to the squad from Dimona.

The teams had split the opening games of the best-of-three final series with the Dimona winning the opener 12-11 in extra innings and Penticon taking game 2, by a score of 5-2. The teams had also split their four regular season meetings adding even greater suspense to the deciding game.

When Penticon opened up a 2-0 lead in the second frame, some in the crown thought it might be a repeat of game 2 when early inning errors proved costly to the Judeans. But in the bottom half of the 2^nd inning, the Dimona hitters solved the riddle of Baran’s pitching and batted around. Once on base, the team speed wreaked havoc on the Penticon defense with two double steals. By the time the inning was over, the Judeans led 7-2, and they never looked back.

Each time Penticon would get runners on base and seem to be mounting a threat, Yaron would deliver s strike out (he had six in the game), or one of the fielders would make a play that would deflate the hopes of Penticon fans. The offense for the Judeans was provided, like all season long, by Akaziah, who went 3-4. Ben Kai and Ben Koliyah also had three hits each. Defensive gems were provided by young-gun, Elyaheed, who made two jaw-dropping plays at shortstop – one a shoe-string catch of a line drive he turned into a double play, and the other when he came from nowhere to stab a throw from catcher Akaziah to thwart an attempted theft of second base.

 

When the last out was made, the two bus load of lively energetic fans from Dimona flooded the field to share the moment where their team. The trophies were going back to the South this night and coach Shariel would lead his team in the 2am celebration which greeted them upon arrival back in the Village of Peace.

 

In closing out his congratulatory remarks to the victorious squad at the celebration, Anointed Spiritual Leader of the community, Ben Ammi, said proudly and simply, “Mission Accomplished,” and he proceeded to hug all of the team members. This is the moment we have been playing for,” Shariel said. “This hug means more to us than the trophies!”