JUNE 1 • 2023 | 31 SPORTS T he Inter-Congregational Men’s Club Summer Softball League is back for its 28th season with a new look. With the loss of the Temple Shir Shalom No. 1 team giving the weekly league 13 teams, there are now two instead of three divisions. Each team has about 13 or 14 players, including subs. “ A league committee that was put together to examine our division setup met during the winter and came up with a two-division recommendation, ” said Michael Betman, a league founder and co-commissioner this season with Mitch Kline. Gone is the Rosen Division, the bottom of three divisions. The Greenberg and Koufax divisions are back, with six teams in the Greenberg and seven teams in the Koufax. League standings last year and team histories were taken into consideration by the committee in setting up the divisions, Betman said. The schedule was set up so inter-division games would be competitive. “Our goal always is to make games fair and fun, ” Betman said. “These changes made sense. ” The weather hasn’t exactly cooperated so far this season. Games were played April 23, opening day. Then games April 30 and May 7 were rained out and no games were played May 14 because of Mother’s Day, a longtime league tradition. Play finally resumed May 21. There were no games played May 28 during the Memorial Day weekend. “We still plan to play 20 regular-season games, ” Betman said. “We built in two rain dates, and now we’re going to have to use them. The first one is July 2. The second one is July 30. We’re good as long as we don’t get any more rain. ” The double-elimination playoffs will begin Aug. 6 and conclude Aug. 20. Each team will make the playoffs. Games will be played once again at Drake and Keith sports parks in West Bloomfield. Parking lot work at Drake caused a bit of a scheduling nightmare last season because games couldn’t be played there until June. In an era when many recreational softball leagues are rapidly constricting or disappear- ing, the Inter-Congregational league remains strong. The league is down four teams since pre-pandemic, but it has stabilized. How is it hanging in there? “Couple reasons, ” Betman said. “Guys like to play softball with their friends each Sunday during the summer. And this is a league for everyone, no matter how athletic you are. ” Then there are inspirational stories each season like the 2021 Congregation Shaarey Zedek team. Shaarey Zedek won the inaugural league championship in 1996 with six teams in the league, then went 25 years without a title. During the summer of 2021, it finished in third place in the five-team Koufax Division with an 8-11-1 record and lost its first game in the double-elimination playoffs. Then it won five straight games and the division playoff title. Four of the five victories came on one day, a scorching August day. The final two wins were against Temple Israel No. 3, which beat Shaarey Zedek in its playoff opener. Shaarey Zedek didn’t even play the pre- vious season, opting out because of the COVID-19 pandemic. All three playoff champions from last sea- son are back. They are Temple Beth El No. 1 (Greenberg), Temple Israel No. 1 (Koufax) and Congregation Beth Ahm (Rosen). Each went 3-0 in the playoffs. Post-season awards come at season’s end. Last year’s award winners were Richard Elias from Temple Shir Shalom No. 1 (Jeff Fox Sportsmanship), Andy Broder from Temple Beth El No. 1 (Michael Yendick “Pure Heart”) and Bob Tarnow from Temple Shir Shalom No. 1 and Jerry Beigler from Temple Beth El No. 1 (Steve LeVine). The Steve LeVine Award is new, named for a former league player who played several sports despite losing his dominant arm to cancer at age 14. He died in 2021 at age 58. The Jeff Fox Award, presented since 2012, honors a former Temple Shir Shalom player who died in 2011. The Michael Yendick Award was presented originally in the B’nai B’rith Softball League, beginning in 2001. The league folded in 2017 and several B’nai B’rith players moved to the Inter-Congregational league. Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com. INTER-CONGREGATIONAL MEN’S CLUB SUMMER SOFTBALL LEAGUE Inter-Congregational Men’s Club Summer Softball League is back with one less division. Summer Softball STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER Inter-Congregational standings after two weeks of the 2023 season: GREENBERG DIVISION * Temple Israel No. 2 — 3-1. * Temple Israel No. 6 — 3-1. * Temple Shir Shalom No. 2 — 3-1. * Temple Beth El No. 1 — 2-1-1. * Temple Israel No. 1 — 0-3-1. * Temple Israel No. 5 —- 0-4. KOUFAX DIVISION * Congregation Shir Tikvah — 4-0. * Congregation Shaarey Zedek — 3-1. * Adat Shalom Synagogue No. 1 — 2-2. * Congregation Beth Ahm — 2-2. * Temple Shir Shalom No. 3 — 1-3. * Temple Israel No. 3 — 1-3. * Temple Beth El No. 2 — 1-3. Michael Betman (right) with Steve LeVine Award recipient Jerry Beigler.