NMLS#2289
32 | OCTOBER 21 • 2021
sports HIGHlights
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A
walk-off home run
that wasn’t a walk-
off home run helped
Kosher Ribs win the Inter-
Congregational Men’s Club fall
softball league championship.
Here’s what happened.
Like many recreational
softball leagues, the Inter-
Congregational league restricts
the number of over-the-fence
home runs a team can hit
during a game to keep the
game competitive.
In the Inter-Congregational
league’s case, after a team’s
second over-the-fence homer
of a game, the batter hitting an
over-the-fence homer is out.
Kosher Ribs led the defend-
ing fall league champion Jeters
15-14 in the playoff semifinals
Oct. 10 at Keith Sports Park in
West Bloomfield.
The Jeters hit a walk-off
over-the-fence homer that
would have won the game, but
it became the final out of the
game because it was the Jeters’
third over-the-fence homer of
the game.
“That was a huge break for
us, of course, but we hit four
over-the-fence homers in the
game. Only two counted,
” said
Kosher Ribs co-manager Mitch
Kline.
Kosher Ribs went on to
defeat Bad News Jews 20-10
in the playoff championship
game.
Neither Kosher Ribs nor Bad
News Jews earned a first-round
bye in the playoffs because of
where they finished in the reg-
ular-season standings.
Kosher Ribs was third and
Bad News Jews was fourth in
the six-team league.
Kosher Ribs beat the Sandlot
16-4 and Bad News Jews beat
Marble Rye 10-5 in first-round
playoff games. The Sandlot and
Marble Rye were the No. 6 and
No. 5 seeded teams in the play-
offs, respectively.
Bad News Jews surprised
No. 1 seed and regular-season
league champion Lox of Hitting
7-6 in the playoff semifinals.
All the playoff games were
played Oct. 10, a week later
than planned. The playoff
games were originally sched-
uled for Oct. 3 but rained out.
Kosher Ribs and Bad News
Jews each had only nine players
Oct. 10. To help them, Dave
Ettlinger from Lox of Hitting
volunteered to be the catcher
for both teams during the play-
off championship game.
“That’s the story of the game
right there, what Dave did,
”
Kline said.
Another story is Kline,
who missed his first Inter-
Congregational summer or fall
softball game in several years
Oct. 10 because of a prior com-
mitment.
His son Evan Kline, who
plays on the Kosher Ribs team,
kept his father informed on
how the team was doing during
the playoffs through calls and
texts, and propped his phone in
the Kosher Ribs dugout during
the Bad News Jews’ final at-bats
so his father could watch the
proceedings.
Kosher Ribs didn’t have its
two regular third baseman
during the playoff games.
Dave Raminick filled in all day
for Brad Golder and Michael
Kindred.
There were a dozen players
on the Kosher Ribs roster.
They represented four Inter-
Congregational summer league
teams.
Mitch and Evan Kline along
with Golder, Raminick, Jared
Cohen and Dan Krauss were
from Temple Shir Shalom
No. 2.
Co-manager Matt Bassin
and Scott Litt were from
Congregation Shir Tikvah. Jeff
Hollander, Lenny Beigler and
Kindred were from Temple
Beth El. Corey Slutsky was
from Temple Israel No. 1.
“It’s a good thing we weren’t
rained out again Oct. 10,
”
Mitch Kline said. “We would
have been down five guys Oct.
17. I would have been back, but
Matt Bassin and my son Evan
ran in the Detroit Free Press
Marathon that day.
”
Kosher Ribs also won the
Inter-Congregational fall league
championship in 2019. Cohen
and Beigler replaced two play-
ers from the 2019 team.
“This team has great chemis-
try,
” Mitch Kline said. “We root
for each other. We support each
other. Some of us play softball
together outside of the Inter-
Congregational league.
”
Please send sports news to
stevestein502004@yahoo.com.
Inter-Congregational softball league
rule keeps the eventual champion
“Kosher Ribs” alive in fall playof
s.
Walk-Of
Homer?
No, a Walk-Of
Final Out!
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Kosher Ribs celebrates its Inter-Congregational Men’s Club fall softball
league championship. Mitch Kline couldn’t play in the playoffs, but
Evan Kline made sure his father was in the Kosher Ribs team photo,
holding a cellphone showing Mitch Kline on a FaceTime call.
INTER-CONGREGATIONAL MEN’S CLUB SOFTBALL LEAGUE