JEDDAH, 29 February 2008 — Last weekend at Saudia City the sandstorm didn’t stop the action on the baseball diamond. In Tee Ball Division (ages 5-8), the Red Sox won their third consecutive game beating the Pirates 12-3.
The Red Sox were led by Sam Westwood who blasted 3 homeruns and 9 runs batted in. Safiyya Smith, Neijat Alireza, Roman Koval, Ali Heizel and Saleh Zouman scored the Red Sox runs. The Red Sox Henry Voight, defensive wizardry shut down the Pirates with 3 exciting tags on the runners going to first base. Albatool Al Shoura, although she is one of the youngest and smallest players in the league, played very big by getting three hits. Pirate runs were scored by Zaid Kaikish, Adam Alabaster, and Yazzan Ezzedine.
In Coach Pitch (ages 8-11), the Mariners squared off against the Dodgers. The game finished in a dead-heat with plenty of action packed in. The Dodgers bolted out of the starting blocks by establishing a 1-0 lead with an RBI-triple from Marcus Lawrence who brought in Adam ‘Eesa Martin to finish the first inning. The second ended with the addition of five more runs from Yusuf Khan, Waleed Kurdi, Zach Abdul-Aziz, Abdullah Khan and Omar Mhaimeed, as a result of some costly fielding errors by the Mariners who managed to chalk up their first run via an RBI-triple from Nadia Al-Magrabi bringing in Omar Ghandour. The third inning saw only one run on an inside-the-park homerun from Hudhayfah Tariq bringing the score to 6-2. The Mariners seemed to come alive in the fourth as another inside-the-park homerun from Ishaq Ja’far Smith brought in Nadia Al-Maghrabi and Sultan Sukkar. Hudhayfah Tariq brought in Junayd Tariq on an RBI-single to even the score 6-6. There were no runs recorded in the fifth inning as both teams tightened up on defense and couldn’t break the tie from the batter’s box.
In the second Coach Pitch Division game, the Giants took on the Cubs. The Cubs came away with a hard fought 8 -7 victory. The score was 3-1 at the bottom of the first inning. Younus Khan’s RBI-double brought in Ilyas Abdus-Saboor, Harris Rehman and Suleiman Al-Jerby to give the Cubs an early edge. The Giants’ Ivan Brewer posted a run in the first via an RBI-double from teammate Tariq Hamzah. They saw three more in the second from Jude Fityani, Danny Adhami and Essam La Boone who crossed the plate after a RBI-triple courtesy of Gus Cope. An inside-the-park homerun by Aseel Halwani was the only run recorded in the third inning for a 5-3 score.
The Giants were cold in the fourth inning as the Cubs scored three runs from Al-Jerby and Khan on an inside-the-park homerun from Mohammed Najeeb. The top of the fifth would be the decisive moment for the victors as the Giant sluggers couldn’t seem to get a lead-building rally going. An RBI-triple from Abdulaziz Abdulmajeed scored Hamzah Fityani and Hashim Fityani for the only two Giants runs in the fifth; three of their next four hitters in the batting order were caught at the plate “looking” with two go ahead runners in scoring position.
The Cubs had the last say on that day, though. At the bottom of the fifth the score was 7-6, in favor of the Giants. However, an RBI-single from Ali Baig Mirza brought Rayan Nowailati and Ihsan Abdus-Saboor in for the 1-run edge to end the game at 7-8.
In Majors Division (ages 11-13), the Braves pulled out a 12-8 victory over the Angels. In the first inning, the Angels Zayed Alireza’s three base hit resulted in 3 RBIs sending Elie Nsair, Ahmed Barghouty and Omar Alireza home. Angels pitcher Raad Barnawi’s fast ball pitch left the Braves Ramsey Haram, Danielle Taylor and Wataru Yamauchi stranded giving the Angles a 4-0 lead.
In the second inning, Haya El Marsi and Rami Howell added 2 runs to the Braves. Raad, Ahmed and Omar gave the Angels 3 runs leaving Amin Abdulhasan and Kareem Bagsair on base in the inning. Good pitching by Brave’s Seung Jong Park held the Angels. The Brave’s Danielle Taylor, Amin Alireza, Reem Kano, Haya El Marsi and Rami Howell scored runs leaving the score 7-7.
In the third inning, a solid hit from the Angels’ Elie Nsair sent Ibrahim Alireza and Faisal Fitiany home. An excellent plays by Braves short stop Ahmed Barghouty, third baseman Brett Beckly, and Raad Barnawi allowed only one run to the Braves courtesy of Ben Gonzales. A super hit from Elie Nsair sent Brett Beckly, Ibrahim Alireza and Amin Abdulhasan home and widened the Angels lead.
In Juniors Division (ages 13-16), the Red Sox won a 15-14 shootout against the Yankees. Red Sox took an early 10-3 lead after two innings. The Red Sox were led by Racan Barnawi who batted in three runs. Throughout the weekend games, Mc Donald’s and Exxon Mobil were recognized and commended for their support of JYBL. While thanking the corporate sponsors, JYBL President Majadi Abdullah said that Mc Donald’s and Exxon Mobil’s support allowed children of all genders, nationalities, and religions to have an opportunity to be involved in a healthy and organized activity.
