It wasn’t a particularly large crowd, but as Team Israel walked off the field at MCU Park, the small group of fans behind the dugout cheered with everything they had.
Israel defeated Great Britain 9–1 in the World Baseball Class qualifier finals on Sept. 25, earning its first-ever berth to the 16-team, international tournament next March.
The audience may have been small — a few hundred fans sporting blue and white and flying Israel’s flag — the players couldn’t wipe the smiles off their collective faces after the win.
“It was just great to represent Israel,” said catcher Ryan Lavarnway. “And being proud to be Jewish. I thought it was cool to see all the kids out there wearing yarmulkes and cheering for Jewish athletes.”
The fans had plenty to cheer for as Israel — undefeated throughout the event in Brooklyn — cruised to a victory by controlling the game from every angle.
Starting pitcher Jason Marquis set the tone from the get-go, tossing four perfect innings and racking up five strikeouts.
Israel’s bats stayed quiet early — shut down by Great Britain starter Spencer Kreisberg — but the squad took advantage of a fifth-inning pitching change to put runs on the board.
Blake Gailen welcomed Great Britain reliever Ali Knowles with a two-run homer over the right field wall, giving Israel a lead it would never surrender.
“We were all waiting for the score to break loose,” Lavarnway said. “We know that we can really hit the ball.”
Knowles was pulled after just two batters — he walked Zach Borenstein after giving up the home run — but things didn’t get any easier for Great Britain’s bullpen. Rei Martinez barely finished warming up before Ryan Lavernway connected on his own two-run blast into left field.
Israel padded its lead throughout the game, scoring in each of the final four innings and racking up 11 hits. Three of those hits were home runs, including Cody Decker’s solo shot in the seventh.
“Today was a real emotional day for a lot of us,” said Decker, who first bought Team Israel’s dugout mensch on a bench plush-toy, which earned national headlines. “It was special. It was perfect.”
As the game went on, however, Israel’s pitching — not its bats — took center stage.
Josh Zeid entered in the fifth and tossed three innings of shutout work, while the Israel’s final three pitchers gave up just one unearned run down the stretch.
“We had some fresh arms in the bullpen,” Marquis said. “I think you could see, we had a lot of depth pitching.”
Israel won’t return to the diamond until pool play begins next year in Seoul, but after a dominant showing on the Boardwalk, the squad is confident it can make a splash on the international scene — possibly with a pit stop in Israel.
“If we can do that and help promote baseball in Israel, I think all of us would be willing to do that,” coach Jerry Weinstein said.
