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62
May 14 • 2015
he InterCongregational Men's
Club Summer Softball League
will be celebrating a sweet 16
this season.
No, the league isn't 16 years old.
Founded in 1996, this is its 20th season.
Sixteen is the number of teams in the
league, the most in league history. Four
new teams have joined since last year.
B'nai Israel Synagogue will be playing
in the league for the first time. Young
Israel of Southfield is returning after an
absence of a few years. Congregation
B'nai Moshe has its own team. Its play-
ers formerly were on the Temple Kol
Ami team. Congregation Shir Tikvah
now has a second team.
Adat Shalom Synagogue has two
teams and Temple Israel has three
teams. The other teams are Bais Chabad
Torah Center, Congregations Beth Ahm
and Shaarey Zedek and Temples Beth
El and Shir Shalom.
Chuck Freedman, who runs the
league along with Commissioner
Michael Betman and Steve Achtman,
thinks he knows the league's secret for
success.
He's personally seen the league dou-
ble in size from eight to 16 teams since
he first played in 2007.
"We're a league of friendliness and
camaraderie," he said. "We're competi-
tive, of course, but we walk on the field
as friends and we leave the field as
friends. And sometimes we go out for
breakfast afterwards:'
Besides spanning the breadth of the
Detroit-area Jewish community with
teams made up of Reform, Conservative
and Orthodox Jews, the league is a place
for players of all ages.
Players must be at least age 18. There
are players in their 20s through 70s.
Freedman pegs the median age as early
50s.
The league has expanded to a second
venue this season because there will
be more games. Games will be played
Sunday mornings starting May 17 on all
three diamonds at Community Sports
Park as usual and diamond No. 2 at
Drake Sports Park also will be used.
Both parks are in West Bloomfield.
Each team will play 15 regular-season
games including four double-headers
and everyone will make the single-
elimination playoffs.
Aug. 9 is the final Sunday of the reg-
ular-season. Two rounds of the playoffs
will be held Aug. 16, knocking the field
down to a Final Four.
Semifinals, championship and third-
place games will be played Aug. 23 at
Community Sports Park.
In addition to determining a league
champion, the postseason always fea-
tures a brunch where players and fami-
lies from all the teams eat and shmooze
and watch the annual presentation of
the Jeff Fox Sportsmanship Award,
named in memory of a beloved Shir
Shalom player who died in 2011.
Another annual highlight of the
league season is a fundraiser for West
Bloomfield Relay for Life. This year it
will be July 5, when no league games
will be played because of the holiday
weekend.
For a minimum $5 donation to Relay
for Life, league players can compete in
a pickup softball game at Community
Sports Park.
Temple Israel No. 2 is the defending
league champion. Temple Israel No. 1
was the champion in 2013. For both
teams, it was their first league title.
An 11-3-1 regular-season record in
2014 gave Temple Israel No. 2 the No. 3
seed in the playoffs.
Temple Israel No. 2 beat surprising
Shaarey Zedek 19-9 in the playoff semi-
finals and equally-as-surprising Adat
Shalom No. 2 7-1 in the title game.
Adat Shalom No. 2 stunned 10-time
league champion Shir Shalom 7-4 in
the semifinals. Shir Shalom rebounded
from the loss to beat Shaarey Zedek
12-8 in the third-place game.
Seeds didn't matter in last year's
playoffs. Adat Shalom No. 2 was the No.
8 seed after a 6-9 regular season and
Shaarey Zedek was the No. 10 seed after
going 3-12 during the regular season.
Temple Israel No. 1 didn't success-
fully defend its championship last year,
but its 12-3 record was the best in the
league during the regular season.
❑
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