Rising
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The Raiders of North Farmington beat
some familiar teams in the state
tournament.
MIKE ROSENBAUM SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
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N
orth Farmington High
School redeemed what had
been a disappointing reg-
ular baseball season by
winning a Class A district cham-
pionship and reaching the re-
gional final in state tournament
play.
The Raiders, 18-11 overall, de-
feated league and city rivals
Farmington and Farmington
Harrison to win their second con-
secutive district title on May 31.
In the regular season, the
Raiders finished second to Farm-
ington in the Lakes Division of
the Western Lakes Activities As-
sociation (WLAA), losing to the
Falcons twice. Harrison won the
Western Division and captured
the WLAA playoffs with a victo-
ry over Farmington.
The district victory "was real
exciting" for North Farmington
Coach Iry Horwitz. "It was a
great booster for the kids because
they were so disappointed losing
to Farmington (in the regular
season). It's one of those things
— Farmington definitely beat us
but you always thought in the
back of your head that you could
beat them."
"We knew we could do it," said
junior catcher Andrew Weitz.
"This whole season hasn't been
how we wanted it, really ... At dis-
tricts we played up to our poten-
tial and we just showed everyone
that we can play and we do mean
business. It felt real good to win.
"They say the regular season
doesn't mean anything - until you
get to the playoffs. It really didn't
work out for us in the regular sea-
son and we were happy to beat
both of those teams because
they're both in Farmington. It's
a good accomplishment for
us."
The Raiders opened dis-
trict play with an 8-4 vic-
tory over Farmington. The
game was tied at 1-1 when
senior third baseman Dave
Gosselin came up with the
bases loaded. At first,
Farmington's infielders
were wary of a bunt, but
with two strikes they laid
back.
Coach Horwitz then
crossed the Falcons up by
calling for a suicide squeeze
attempt. Gosselin laid
down a perfect squeeze
bunt, beating it out for a
single, giving the Raiders
a 2-1 edge. That ignited a
five-run inning which put
North Farmington ahead
Shortstop Evan Feldman fires to first.
to stay.
Gosselin, one of seven Jewish
members of the team, had a big
day at the district, with three hits
in six at-bats.
In the regular season Gosselin,
a second-year letterman, and ju-
nior Jonas Schwartz shared the
third base job.
Gosselin hit .293 with a .364
on-base average. Schwartz, who
also saw some action on the
mound, hit .280 with a .531 on-
base percentage.
"They're both excellent play-
ers," Horwitz said. He called Gos-
selin "one of the nicest young men
I've ever coached, as far as his at-
titude." Which is why he made
Gosselin a co-captain this season.
Horwitz, who's also Jewish,
gives Schwartz credit for playing
despite having recent knee
RISING page 114