Six Israeli players honing their skills in South Florida Collegiate Baseball League

For most players in the South Florida Collegiate Baseball League, it's a time to sharpen their game, meet some new friends and get ready for the college season.

For Aviad Schechter, it's "the opportunity of a lifetime."

Playing in the Palm Beach County-based summer league has special meaning for Schechter and five other players from Israel. While their country is at war, they are more than 6,000 miles away, playing the sport they love in hopes of making it to the college or professional ranks.

Schechter is an infielder with the Delray Beach Wave. Catcher Tomer Erel, outfielder Shaked Baruch and pitcher Ido Peled play for the Coconut Creek Diamond Ducks, and outfielder Uri Shani and infielder Nadav Machlin play for the Boca Raton Beach Boys.

All have finished high school and served their mandatory time in the Israel Defense Force. Now they are staying with host families, enjoying the beach, learning to fish ... and playing lots of baseball. There are games nearly every day, sometimes doubleheaders.

"Baseball is way more available over here," Peled said. "If you want to go play catch with someone, you don't need to drive 40 minutes and beg someone to come catch you, or hope the field is open and then figure out it's not. ... Just being part of a team and having that day-to-day competition, it's awesome."

Peled has a slightly different perspective than most of the others. He is not new to the United States, having lived in North Carolina the past seven months while working his way back from an arm injury and preparing for his freshman season at Southwestern Community College in Iowa. He has felt welcome in both North Carolina and Florida.

"People are really welcoming and supportive here, especially when they hear you're from Israel," he said. "I feel like most of the stuff you see on the news is kind of misleading. The first reaction is always like, 'Oh, you're from Israel, that's awesome.' And then you get to talking and they get to know you and they understand the situation."

Establishing the Israeli connection was the brainchild of Justin Alintoff, the league's director of scouting. Alintoff, 25, a former Dwyer High player, obtained dual citizenship in early 2023 and pitched for the Israeli national team in the European Championships. He made a number of contacts while overseas and met some young Israelis who wanted to play baseball in the United States.

Alintoff made a pitch to the league president: Since we're expanding by four teams, why don't we bring a few of these guys over? The SFCBL president – his father, Larry Alintoff – readily agreed.

"It's definitely been a success," Larry Alintoff said. "We were able to raise some funds for them to help cut down on the costs. The kids have fit right in. The feedback we've gotten has been amazing."

Baruch, Peled's teammate on the Diamond Ducks, is the only one of the six players with college experience. He recently completed his freshman season at Cypress College in California, playing in 10 games and going 4-for-10.

"It was a crazy experience coming from Israel to play college baseball," he said. "Making this change with your life, everybody's new to you, all the culture is new, college baseball is new, everything is different.

"I came here (to the summer league) to get more at-bats and get better for next year. College baseball is very serious and intense; here it's a little more laid-back and fun."

Of the others, Erel, Machlin and Schechter are hoping to catch the eye of college scouts this summer. (Erel's brother Tal, a former Palm Beach State and Lynn University catcher, played for Team Israel at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.) Shani hopes to bypass college and play professionally in Europe "or somewhere else abroad."

Former major league pitcher Brad Pennington, who owns the Diamond Ducks, is sure no one in the 14-team SFCBL will outwork the Israeli players.

"The thing that I appreciate most about them -- and I don't mean this as a knock on the American players -- I own a baseball facility (BPB Training in Coconut Creek) that my team gets full access to 24 hours a day. They're in there more than the Americans are. If they're not on the field, I look in on the cameras and they're in there at 1 o'clock in the morning, trying to find their game," Pennington said.

Pennington fully supports the league's effort to reach out to the Israelis. Tal Erel was the Diamond Ducks' manager last summer. Three of the six Israeli players are on his team, and he says he almost had a fourth.

"I would always want at least two Israeli nationals on my team, just for what they do to help the team's camaraderie," he said.

Asked what the players gain from the experience, Pennington said, "I think they get several things. They get an opportunity to get their foot in the door, get some exposure, step up their games. It gives them the experience of playing against competition that they don't normally see.

"More important than all that, though, with everything that's going on in the world today and especially in their home country, it gives them a chance to step away and clear their mind a little bit."

When the summer is over, all six players will be teammates on Israel's U23 team, playing in the European Championships in Switzerland. For now, though, they'll enjoy the wonders of their home away from home ("Seeing boats on a daily basis is kind of crazy," Peled says) and the memories they'll take back to Israel.

"People have been super generous," Shani said. "Very helpful and very caring. They really want to see us succeed. It's been terrific and we're super grateful."