This week’s softball scores:
Monday:
Tesla 4 Rolls Royce 0
Corvette 5 Bentley 3
Mazarati 12 Pagini 0
Audi 5 Ferrari 5
Wednesday:
Ferrari 6 Paganini 5
Tesla 9 Maserati 4
Audi 14 Corvette 2
Rolls Royce 6 Bentley 3
Thursday:
Paganini 8 Corvette 7
Ferrari 7 Rolls Royce 5
Maserati 8 Audi 0
Bentley 8 Tesla 2
POWER RANKINGS:
Power rankings are different from the surface standings and are based off hot and cold streaks, as well as efficiency in gameplay. The higher you are, the better. So let’s get into it.
FERRARI (6-2-3)(This week 2-0-1)
After going winless in their first two games, coaches Eli Jajti and “Bamba” have their team rolling with a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 ballgames. Their resilience was on full display in each of their games this week, and saw campers rise to the occasion, seizing the moment and earning MVP of the day honors. Monday saw the most controversial game of the season play out, requiring three video reviews in the span of an inning. Ferrari was facing an Audi team that although weren’t having the best season, knew how to win big games and if not, would give teams a fight. Looking to erase their bad taste from last weeks 14-9 loss after being an out away from victory up 9-2, they put on a defensive clinic and stymied their opponents bats. But trailing 4-1, Ferrari strung hits together and inched closer. It set up last licks dramatics, as down 5-3 with the heart of the order up, Solly Kafif, Morris Cohen and Eli Halabi help stir a rally that forced a 5-5 tie. Although they thought they’d won it when David Jemani hit a grounder, a great defensive play by Audi saw both teams draw.
Wednesday’s contest brought more of the same, as Ferrari was unable to shake free of a Pagini team near the bottom of the standings, but eked out a 6-5 win anyways. It set the storyline for Thursday’s blockbuster confrontation against top-seeded Rolls Royce, where a seasaw battle on shade grass saw Ferrari down 5-3 in the late frames. Once again, led by two way star Morris Cohen and slugger Solly Khafif, they put together a four run 6th and blew away Rolls in the 7th to polish off a crucial victory, surging into a tie for first place with Bentley. Moses Abed, Raymond Cohen and Eli Halabi have provided depth in a well-rounded lineup as well. Ferrari tops our list this week.
BENTLEY(7-3-1) (This week, 1-2)
It’s been a rough go of things for Bentley recently as their offense went into a funk in losses to last place Corvette and championship contender Rolls Royce, but Elliot Dwcek, Toby Dabah, Ezra Bailey, and Mark Souliemen were the leaders of an offensive onslaught per the stats on Thursday that saw Bentley rout Tesla 8-2 to keep pace with surging Ferrari atop the standings.
TESLA 6-3-2(This week, 2-1)
The 8-2 loss to Bentley aside, this was an encouraging week for Ralph Jammal, Leon Jajati and team Tesla. We talked about in last weeks newsletter how the key to Rolls Royce success was their MVP in Jack Shrem and CY Young candidate in Victor Antebi. Well on Monday, Tesla overrode both narratives with a 4-0 beatdown of Rolls Royce displaying immaculate defense and timely hitting. League MVP candidate Teddy Serure and last weeks silver slugger award winner Danny Erani as well as Judah Haydrie helped offensively get Tesla a cushion in the middle innings which would be enough that day for a win. On Wednesday, the bats were out in full power, as Tesla cruised to a 9-4 win over Maserati, setting up that battle-tested bout with Bentley on Thursday. Although things did go awry, Tesla is just a game out of first as of their writing so I wouldn’t count them out if I were you.
MASERATI 6-4-1(This week, 2-1)
Coach Moshe Sultan lauded his triple threat in last weeks newsletter and David Tawil Abe Hadad, and Mikey Cohen didn’t disappoint this week as Maserati manhandled Paganini 12-0 and had an offensive dip against Tesla, before closing out the week with an 8-0 shutdown of Audi. Simon Leviov, Elliot Alhabi Jojo Erani and Victor Guindi showed improvements on both sides of the ball this week, as the foursome were instrumental parts of their teams success. Maserati also made history as well becoming the first team in “Car league” history at JDSA to record two shutouts in one week. Congratulations guys!
ROLLS ROYCE 7-3-1 (1-2 this week)
What happened here? Rolls Royce entered the week in prime position for the top spot before almost everything went wrong. The offense sputtered in a shutout loss to Tesla, and although they did win the big game against Bentley, the late defeat to Ferrari drops Rolls to fifth in this weeks power rankings. On the bright side, Jack Shrem continues to rake and draw great praise from opposing coaches, with one saying to me “He can do it all, it’s crazy” Victor Antebi has also continued to be consistent as well at the plate, with his hitting extending potential rallies. It’s possible losing two of three was due to the heat and the fact coach Nehoriai Avikasis missed Thursdays game. We now must see if it’s just a bump in the road or telling of some issues that are in need of correcting if Rolls Royce wants to supplant their place atop the league.
AUDI 3-6-2 (1-1-1 this week)
Victor Tawil and his team have shown the ability to hang with the big boys as they did against Ferrari on Monday, but the consistency of their defense is concerning and has led to them coming out of the gates slowly. But if you want a positive, the offense erupted for an astonishing 14 runs against Corvette on Wednesday, breezing to an easy 14-2 win. Max Levy continues to lead the team in hitting and has impressed coach Vic with his composure in big spots.
PAGINI 3-7-1(1-2)
After gushing over their comeback of the summer last week against Audi, Pagini entered this week hoping to turn it into something that will change the trajectory of their season. It didn’t go to well in what was essentially a mercy loss to Maserati, but they hung tough in their contest against Ferrari and eked out an 8-7 win over Corvette for their third win on the year. “We’re right there” said coach Jack Abed “We showed against Ferrari we have what it takes when we’re at our best, and have the ability to win even when we’re not at our best like we did against Corvette. It’s a work in progress, I know we can be something special.”
CORVETTE 2-8-1(1-2 this week)
Perhaps the best part of being the worst team in softball is that you can sneak up on teams when they underestimate you and that’s precisely what Corvette did on Monday in their stunning 5-3 win over Bentley on Sunday grass field. The defensive alignment and small field allowed for a faster game where anything could happen and Corvette were able to take advantage of it winning “JDSA underdog of the week” honors. “We’re trending in the right direction and guys are getting more engaged now” said coach Steven Shemula. “We’re in more close games than before and are getting better both defensively and offensively. I hope this upcoming week will be one that will lead to us climbing up in the power rankings.”
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