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STEVE ACHTMAN
Team’s 25-Year Championship Drought Ends Congregation Shaarey Zedek wins 4 playoff games in one day, earns Koufax Division softball title. STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
STEVE ACHTMAN
Congregation Shir Tikvah celebrates its Rosen Division championship.
STEVE ACHTMAN
Congregation Shaarey Zedek celebrates its Koufax Division championship.
Temple Israel No. 2 celebrates its Greenberg Division championship.
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ongregation Shaarey Zedek won the InterCongregational Men’s Club Summer Softball League championship in the league’s inaugural year in 1996. There were six teams in the league, and no divisional setup like there is now. Times were different. Shaarey Zedek didn’t win another title until this year. The 25-year dry spell ended last month in a most unlikely and spectacular way. After finishing in third place in the five-team Koufax Division in the regular season with an 8-11-1 record and losing its first game in the double-elimination playoffs, Shaarey Zedek won five straight games and the division playoff title. Four of the playoff wins came on one day, a very hot Aug. 22 at Keith Sports Park in West Bloomfield. Shaarey Zedek beat Temple Israel No. 1 19-7, Temple Beth El 21-5, and Temple Israel No. 3 10-5 and 11-10. Temple Israel No. 3 defeated Shaarey Zedek 22-8 in a division playoff opener Aug. 15, leaving Shaarey Zedek a loss away from elimination. Richard Jacobs, who has been Shaarey Zedek’s manager since 1996 and is the only
current Shaarey Zedek player who also was on the 1996 championship team, didn’t play Aug. 22. He was out of town in Washington, D.C., visiting family. “The league season was supposed to end Aug. 15, but that got pushed back a week because of rainouts,” he said. “I had to keep up with what was going on [Aug. 22] through text messages.” Jacobs said he wasn’t surprised by his team’s amazing run through the playoffs. “We underperformed during the regular season. We were a better team,” he said. “We started playing well at the right time. Crazy things happen in recreation softball.” Shaarey Zedek didn’t play in the league last year. It was the only team that opted out. Jacobs said several players decided not to play because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A few did play and joined other teams. Besides Jacobs, the Shaarey Zedek roster this summer included Tom Berry, Vadim Brayman, Gary Fealk, David Kozlowski, Lance Lis, Stephen Maiseloff, Lonnue Pukoff, Steve Rosenblatt, Matt Weingarden, and Gabe, Gary, Joey and Sam Yashinsky. continued on page 38
SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021
