Bat Sabbath plays Giant Slayers in First-Ever Playoff Win

CLAXTON FIELD, Needham, June 19, 2011 -- Shortstop Eric Spitz is best known for hitting lasers in the Men's Shul Softball League (MSSL), but today it was the laser arm of the league's top hitter that proved essential in a first round Haifa-Eliat playoff battle between Bat Sabbath of Emanuel 3 and the Beth Shalom 2 Bashers that went down to the final out.
 
With the undefeated, top-seeded Bashers rallying in the last inning, Spitz threw a bullet to catcher Saul Wisnia to nab a runner breaking for the plate and momentarily preserve a three-run Bat Sabbath lead. Then, when a rocket to left-center field later in the seventh looked like it would clear the bases and tie the score, Spitz took a strong throw from outfielder Peter Schuller and made an even stronger one to third baseman Ari Zaceptsky --- who tagged the stunned hitter as he attempted to complete a triple. The play capped a 14-13 victory for Emanuel 3, and touched off a wild celebration around Zaceptsky by the victors.
 
Spitz was far from the only hero as Bat Sabbath (6-3) claimed its first-ever playoff win and sixth victory in its last seven games overall. Pitcher Jack Brotman held the high-scoring Bashers (8-1) to just one run through the middle four innings after relieving starter Wisnia, and helped his own cause with a two-run double into the right-field woods as Emanuel 3 took a 9-8 lead in the fifth after trailing 8-1 early on.
 
The big guns in the Bat Sabbah lineup also came through during the comeback. Brian Goldstein went 3-for-4 with four runs scored, and his romp around the bases in the fourth inning on a two-run triple and an overthrow were the highlight of a five-run uprising. Big Dave Altman didn't hit one of his trademark tree-scraping homers, but he did have four RBI and kept team spirits high in the discouraging early innings. Altman's two-run triple gave Emanuel 3 a momentary 14-9 cushion in the sixth and wound up the game-winning hit.
 
Having knocked off the giants of the division -- Beth Shalom's perfect mark entering the contest included a league-leading 99-run differential and the circuit's top team ERA -- Emanuel 3 will now face 5-3 Kehilliath Israel in the second round next Sunday at the Angier School in Newton.
 
NOTES: Several Bat Sabbath hitters were among MSSL leaders in key categories through the first playoff round, including Spitz (first with an .860 average on 19-for-22 hitting), Pete Schuller (first with 8 homers and 22 RBI), Scott Paisner (first with 21 runs scored and 11 doubles), and Altman (second in homers with 5 and tied for second with an .800 average and 20 RBI, despite playing just five of nine games).