Israel advances to European A Group

In the second game of the B group playoff series between Lithuania and Israel, the final score didn’t leave any room for doubt as Israel needed only five innings to brush aside Lithuania 15-0.

After three innings, Israel had a 10-0 lead already in the next inning they scored five more runs to end it all prematurely.

Gabe Cramer struck out two in five innings. Not really dominating numbers one would say but Cramer limited Lithuania to only one hit and didn’t issue a walk, so the Baltic state never had a chance.

It all started in the first inning for Israel when a double, a single and a home run, drove in four runs, followed by another double and a home run and an infield fly led to three more.

Of the fifteen runs Israel scored, three were unearned. At bat the team outhit their opponent 11-1.

No surprise that Gabe Cramer, who played his final minor league season in 2017, earned the win with his fine performance. The best hitter for Israel was Simon Rosenbaum, who went 2 for 2 with a double, a home run, five RBI and two runs scored.

Thanks to this win, Israel advances to the A group of the European Championship. After Austria managed to advance last year, when Lituania lost as well, the A group now has an even number of participants.