The Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association used a strong pitching performance from former Judge Eugene Schwartzwald and hot hitting to beat an under-performing Community Board 15 by a score of 20–9 in the two group’s annual charity softball game on May 6.
Schwartzwald, 73, found the strike zone early and often with his trademark range of off-speed pitches, stifling CB15’s hitters before a polite crowd of nearly 50 spectators at Kingsborough Community College’s baseball field on Oriental Boulevard.
The neighborhood association’s offense surged behind power-hitting third basemen Steve Gindi, who went 4–5 with four home runs and six runs batted in. Center-fielder Edmond Dweck, the team’s captain, contributed two hits and one RBI.
“We were on our game,” Dweck said. “But don’t think that giving up nine runs didn’t bother us.”
But most of CB15’s runs came late in the game, after the outcome was no longer in doubt.
“We were anxious to win,” said Alan Ditchek, who chose to play second base and pitch for the community board, though he also serves as the president of the neighborhood association. “We just couldn’t complete the comeback.”
Gindi, a competitive softball player, credited Schwartzwald for the win.
“The judge kept throwing strikes,” Gindi said. “In softball, that’s all that counts.”
The win was the neighborhood association’s second in a row. Last year, the group beat CB15 by a score of 15–12.
Sunday’s game raised more than $1,200 for the Bay Academy on Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay.
Reach reporter Daniel Bush at dbush@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-8310. Follow him at twitter.com/dan_bush.
