Israel Matzav

Mercy rule? American teen throws first no-hitter in Maccabiah history

Ben Feinman, a recent graduate of West Broward High School in Florida, threw the first no-hitter in Maccabiah history on Thursday, shutting down Canada 12-0.

The opener was ended after five innings according to the mercy rule. Robert Scherl of Connecticut, who will be playing college ball at the University of Chicago, had a big game offensively with two hits and four RBIS.

Scherl had to overcome hip surgery to make it this far, USA coach Nate Fish told Haaretz on Saturday. “He had a degenerative hip disease, and doctors told him as a young child he’d never be able to play sports,” said Fish.

On Friday, USA defeated Israel in front of a crowd of some 1,000 spectators. “It was really encouraging,” said Fish. “There were a lot of kids from the Israel Association of Baseball.”

The Americans scored two in the first to provide early support for starting pitcher, Dean Kramer.

“He is actually an Israeli citizen,” said Fish, who noted Kramer’s mother is from Israel. “He’s from California and going to Delta Community College, which has a very good junior college baseball program.”

Justin Diamond, from Las Vegas, closed the game for USA. Jason Schoen had a big hit early.

So are we going to have an Israel Baseball League again? 

Labels: Maccabiah

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:26 AM