Published: April 9, 2009

At Jack Coffey Field on Sunday March 29, Jean Claude Ram Van (JCRV) dominated their Lincoln Center campus rivals, the LC Widdlers, 17-3 in Men’s A league Intramural softball.

JCRV’s offense erupted for more than 10 hits and two inside the park homeruns from Mark Nelson and Adam Dexter, both FCLC ’10. The LC Widdlers offense was held scoreless by JCRV until the latter innings of the game. The game was shortened to five innings because of the league’s mercy rule.

“Our team played a great game,” said JCRV co-captain, Joe Lynn, FCLC ’09. “We hit the ball hard a couple of times during the game including those inside the park home runs. Overall, we had a solid lineup from top to bottom that hit efficiently.”

“We had a couple of good hits,” said LC Widdlers captain, Ori Markowitz, FCLC ’11. “The problem for us was that we could not put a string of hits together. Some of us were also chopping down on the ball, which led to easy outs. We needed to put the ball in the air more consistently.”

Defense played a significant part in the outcome of the game. JCRV played solid defense in the infield and outfield. The players made only a few errors during the game that led LC Widdlers scoring opportunities. On the other hand, the LC Widdlers made fielding and throwing errors that led directly to scoring opportunities for JCRV.

“We really played stellar defense during the game,” Lynn said. “When the other team made errors, we made them pay with our hustle on the base paths. We are a veteran team. Everyone pays attention to what is going on during the game.”

“Our defense was alright,” Markowitz said. “But we have to be more alert on the infield. Our team had a difficult time seeing the ball come off their bats. Because the infield is smaller than a usual baseball field, I would like the infielders to move back so they have a better opportunity to react to the play.”

A few members of the LC Widdlers team did not arrive on time for the start of the 6 o’clock game. For the first few innings of the game, the LC Widdlers used replacement players from a Rose Hill team.

“A few of our players missed the Ram Van that would have taken them to the start of the game on time because the vans to Rose Hill were crowded,” Markowitz said. “I was coming from my home in New Jersey in a cab. There was a lot of traffic on the Cross Bronx Expressway, so I did not show up until the third inning. It was unfortunate, but even when we showed up, the outcome of the game was never in doubt.”

With one more victory, JCRV will secure a spot in the Men’s A league Intramural softball playoffs.

“I like our chances to do well in the league going forward,” Lynn said. “We are a fairly consistent team. We do not allow teams score double digit runs while our offense always has the ability to score lot of runs.”

After the game, both captains expressed their mutual respect for their LC rival.

“They have very good players,” Markowitz said. “They are a veteran team who has been in the league a long time. We have to improve our play in order to give them a better game next time.”

“They showed they were a young team during the game,” Lynn said. “I hope they improve in the future, and I wish them the best of luck
going forward.”