Dawgs Softball in Israel | ñåôèáåì éùøàì - äãåâæ

Dawggie cheer after a game, which just goes to show that we play for fun (heck, that's the only thing we do get out of this . . . ) Clockwise from right: Natan Mandel, Shmuel Goldstein, Yossi Glickman (holding the hand of hidden Yosef Gitler), Yigal Rozval, Avi Davilla (hiding behind Yossi Glickman), Lowell Blackman, Danny Epstein, and David Sommer. Photographer Dani Machlis, poor boy, is not in the shot.

Welcome to New Players: Ari Cohen , now living in Tel Aviv joins us. Ari found out about us from this website (pat yourself on the back, Mr.Webmaster). Ari has been in the country for about 4 years, originally from the US. He's got a great arm, and moves like a cat. Let's see if he meows, or roars. Avi Davilla , from Raanana, joins us, being recruited by David Sommer. Avi coaches youth baseball, where both David and Shmuel have met him. He's got a great bat, and hustles at first base. Watch out, Lowell. We wish him success. Yosef Gitler , also from Raanana, is joining us. Also recruited by David Sommer, he is known to both David and Shmuel (will wonders never cease?) from the Raanana pick-up game. New to fastpitch pitching, but not so new to fielding, Yosef should be a valuable addition to the Dawgs. Yoav Eliahu , from Rehovot, joins us as an "Active Athlete" in the IDF. This is a status that the IDF grants young athletes who are taking part in national, officially sanctioned sports leagues. This means that Yoav has no excuse for not coming to games, dude. Ya hear that? Yoav is a graduate of the Rehovot Softball League. Farewell to those departing us: Alon Kaminer , from Rehovot Jon Dym , from Rehovot Robert Even , from Givat Shmuel

Our final, "dress rehearsal" practice was a busy busy busy night. We had the batting cage going full blast, and that took more work than you would think. We needed two guys there all the time, and that took out some manpower from our field. But that was some good news: We had terrific manpower. Of our regular team members, we had a total of 13 players. In addition, we had two Jeremy's as guests: Former Dawg Jeremy Shai (now an enemy agent that plays for Eilat), and a new prospect by the name of Jeremy Hirsch. BTW, we have learned that Robert Even will not be playing with us this spring. Mr. Shai provided much-needed batting practice pitching for our long and tiring field work, managed by slave-driver David Sommer. David, where's your whip? Attendance report:

Veterans: Danny Epstein, Yossi Glickman, Albert Sarkovitch, Yigal Rozval, Natan Mandel, Yoav Eliahu, Shmuel Goldstein, Yosef Gitler, Michael Moronov, David Sommer, Lowell Blackman, Newbies: Ari Cohen, Avi Davilla, Jeremy Hirsch Enemy Agents: Jeremy Shai Absentees Yechezkel Gantz, Dani Machlis, Yaniv Gohary,

Great practice, guys. In the end, we had 13 guys, and it was like this: David Sommer led the practice, as usual, and this time it felt really great getting back out on a real field. We had some infield work and some situational work, like last time, but this time we worked on bunting, something that is a very good thing to do. Some of us batted against Lowell's lobs, but later Shmuel came in and warmed up nicely, giving us some good quality pitching. Attendance report:

Veterans: Danny Epstein, Albert Sarkovitch, Yigal Rozval, Natan Mandel, Yechezkel Gantz, Yoav Eliahu, Shmuel Goldstein, David Sommer, Lowell Blackman, Dani Machlis Newbies: Ari Cohen, David Cohen, Avi Davilla, Absentees Yossi Glickman, Yaniv Gohary, Yosef Gitler, Robert Even, Michael Moronov

Danny, Natan, Yoav, and Lowell

The schedule is final, and that game on April 21 was moved to June 1st. First game: March 13, Sun, 9:00 PM at Baptist Village against Penticon. Be at the field by 8:15 PM for warm-up.