NOVEMBER 21 • 2024 | 41

The team with the most cre-
ative and unusual name in the 
Inter-Congregational Men’s Club 
Summer Softball League’s fall 
season took a most unusual 
route to the championship this 
fall.
The Homeruntaschens won the 
league title, their first since 2017. 
The playoffs were held Oct. 6. 
All six league teams competed in 
the post-season, with the top two 
finishers during the regular sea-
son earning a first-round bye.
The Homeruntaschens came 
into the playoffs on a downer. 
They lost their last two regular 
season games to the Mensches 
and Marble Rye and fell into a 
three-way tie for first place.
Their funk continued into the 
first game of the playoffs. They 
needed a comeback to win by 
one run over the Donkey Kong 
Jewniors, the last-place team 
during the regular season.
“We lose a lot in the first 
round of the playoffs. But we 
got past that game this time 
and took off from there,” said 
Homeruntaschens manager and 
team name creator Ben Watson. 
After the scare against the 
Donkey Kong Jewniors, the 
Homeruntaschens beat the 
Jeters and Kosher Ribs to win the 
league championship.
In addition to Watson, 
here are the players on the 
Homeruntaschens’ roster: Greg 
Schultz, Garrett Segal, Brook 
Morris, Matt Blackman, Scott 
Kappeler, Grant Kravitz, Richard 
Elias, Paul Gedrich, Mitch 

Blackman, Gary Bruer, Josh 
Bruer, Mike Feld and David Feld.
Watson said Josh Bruer was 
the surprise star of the playoffs, 
with four triples in the three 
games.
The Menches, Jeters and 
Homeruntaschens tied for first 
place in the regular season 
standings. The tie-breaker to 
determine playoff seeds was runs 
allowed. The Menches allowed 
62 runs, the Jeters allowed 63 
runs, and the Homeruntaschens 
allowed 86 runs. 
Here are the league’s final reg-
ular-season standings:
• 1 (tie). Menches 7-3.
• 1 (tie). Jeters 7-3.
• 1 (tie). Homeruntaschans 7-3. 
• 4. Marble Rye 4-6.
• 5. Kosher Ribs 3-7.
• 6. Donkey Kong Jewniors 2-8.
Here are the playoff results:
• Kosher Ribs 16, Marble Rye 1.
• Homeruntaschens 12, Donkey 
Kong Jewniors 11.
• Kosher Ribs 4, Menches 2.
• Homeruntaschens 11, Jeters 3.
• Homeruntaschens 10, Kosher 

Ribs 5. 
Unlike the summer league, fall 
league teams are made up of 
players from different congrega-
tions. Fall league organizer Matt 
Bassin said he tries to make the 
teams as competitive as possible.
“It wasn’t perfect this season. 
It never is,” he said. “But I think 
everyone had fun.”
One thing that was perfect this 
season was the weather. There 
were no rainouts during the five-
week regular season or the one-
day playoffs. 
Another thing that was perfect 
was the sportsmanship. Despite 
having many players miss 
games, Bassin said, there were 
no forfeits, with players from the 
opposing team and other teams 
filling in.
Here are the fall season 
champions through the years: 
2014: Jeters. 2015: Jeters. 
2016: Homeruntaschans. 2017: 
Homeruntaschans. 2018: Marble 
Rye. 2019: Kosher Ribs. 2020: 
Jeters. 2021: Kosher Ribs. 2022: 
Jeters. 2023: Kosher Ribs.

Homeruntaschens Win Fall Softball League 
Championship for the First Time Since 2017

Western Michigan University women’s 
cross country runner Brooke Soper from 
Okemos continued her strong senior 
season earlier this month, finishing 
in 38th place at the Mid-American 
Conference meet Nov. 2 in Muncie, Ind.
Soper is in her fifth cross country 

season at Western Michigan while also 
completing the requirements for her 
bachelor’s degree in digital media and 
journalism. The multiple-time Academic 
All-MAC Team honoree has an extra 
year of athletic eligibility because of the 
COVID-19 pandemic.

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

Brooke Soper

Brooke Soper Racing Toward the End of Her 
Western Michigan Cross Country Career

Meet the Homeruntaschens.

INTER-CONGREGATIONAL MEN’S CLUB SUMMER SOFTBALL LEAGUE

MAZEL TOV!

Ryland Kaplan (Rafael 
Shalom) of Bloomfield 
Hills will become a bar 
mitzvah on Saturday, 
Nov. 23, 2024, at 
Franklin Hills Country 
Club. He is the son of Julie and 
Randy Kaplan. Proud 
grandparents are Liz and Alan 
May, Judi and Marvin Milich, and 
Steve Kaplan.
Ryland is a student at Detroit 
Country Day School in Beverly 
Hills.

Maya Eve Rosen, 
daughter of Yael and 
Andrew Rosen, will be 
called to the Torah as 
a bat mitzvah at 
Temple Beth El in 
Bloomfield Township on 
Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. Maya is 
the sister of Naomi and the 
granddaughter of Fran and the 
late George Friedman, Rita and 
Bob England, and Norm Rosen. 
She is a student at Birmingham 
Covington School in Bloomfield 
Hills. For her mitzvah project, 
Maya is volunteering at the 
Friendship Circle in West 
Bloomfield.

Sadie Bess Rosen, 
daughter of Lisa 
Zeskind and Mitchell 
Rosen, was called to 
the Torah as a bat 
mitzvah at Temple 
Israel in West Bloomfield on 
Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. She was 
joined in celebration by her 
brother Aaron. Sadie is the 
loving grandchild of Sandy and 
Jay Zeskind, and Sheri and Jay 
Abramson. 
She is a student at Hillel Day 
School of Metropolitan Detroit 
in Farmington Hills. Observing 
the effects of memory loss in 
her loved ones, Sadie chose as 
her most meaningful mitzvah 
project raising money for the 
Alzheimer’s Association.

