After an up-and-down tournament in Rotterdam, the Israel Baseball National Team finished in seventh place at the European Championship, capping off the trip with an 11-5 victory over Croatia on Saturday.
The blue-and-white was riding high after advancing to the quarterfinals last week with victories over France and Switzerland (sandwiching losses to Great Britain and the Netherlands).
In the quarterfinals, the Israelis almost mounted a ninth-inning comeback against the Czech Republic that came up just short in a 4-3 defeat to miss out on the medal round.
Gut-wrenching loss against Germany
On Friday, against Germany, Israel jumped out to a 7-2 victory before stumbling in the late innings and recording four errors to drop to a gut-wrenching 10-9 loss.
In the 7-8 placement match, Assaf Lowengart and Chase Englehard hit home runs while Jake Arnow and Jason Agresti each had three RBIs as the blue-and-white bats came alive.
Meanwhile, 46-year-old Shlomo Lipetz kept the Croatian hitters at bay, pitching 62/3 innings to get the victory, with relievers DJ Sharabi, Jake Fishman and “Bubby” Rossman closing things out as Israel finished on a high note.