By Shel Wallman
(Note: Originally published on 6/16/2023, this article has been updated three times. On 6/27/2023, we added IF Hank Zeisler of the U. of Missouri and C Will King of Eastern Kentucky U. to our All-America team. On 7/12/2023, we added P Ben Simon of Elon U. to the team. On 7/16/2023, we removed P Lucas Braun, whom we incorrectly had identified as Jewish, and we also finalized Jake Gelof’s season statistics.)
Jewish Baseball News is unveiling its list of this season’s top Division 1 baseball players. Our All-America team includes 11 position players and 10 pitchers, representing 21 colleges and universities.
Please note that the player stats and team won-loss records shown below reflect both regular-season games and College World Series games.
A key to our statistical abbreviations is shown near the bottom of the page.
And now, without further ado: the top Jewish collegians.
POSITION PLAYERS
IF – Jake Gelof (Jr) – Virginia (50-13) – from Rehoboth Beach, DE
IF – Noah Granet (Sr) – Princeton (24-23) – from Scranton, PA
IF – Jordan Jaffe (Fr) – Richmond (27-28) – from Thousand Oaks, CA
IF – Michael Snyder (Jr) – Washington (35-20) – from Woodland Hills, CA
IF – Hank Zeisler (Grad) – Missouri (30-24) – from Kentfield, CA
OF – Zach Levenson (Jr) – Miami (42-21) – from Oviedo, FL
OF – RJ Schreck (Grad) – Vanderbilt (42-20) – from Los Angeles, CA
OF – Jonathan Strauss (Grad) – Winthrop (28-28) – from Parkland, FL
C – Will King (Jr) – Eastern Kentucky (29-30) – from New York, NY
C – Jack Rubenstein (Sr) – Georgia Tech (30-27) – from Atlanta, GA
DH – Sam Kaplan (Sr) – Cornell (9-26) – from Las Vegas, NV
PITCHERS
RHP – Aaron Barokas (Sr) – Butler (12-43) – from Redmond, WA
RHP – Charlie Beilenson (Grad) – Duke (39-24) – from Los Angeles, CA
RHP – Jack Ben-Shoshan (Soph) – Rice (21-37) – from Houston, TX
RHP – Josh Blum (Soph) – USC (34-23-1) – from Bellaire, TX
LHP – Charlie Goldstein (Jr) – Georgia (29-27) – from Alpharetta, GA
LHP – Eric Orloff (Soph) – Arizona (33-26) – from Northbrook, IL
RHP – Sam Portnoy (Soph) – Rutgers (33-23) – from Voorhees, NJ
RHP – Ben Simon (Jr) – Elon (33-22) – from East Windsor, NJ
RHP – Aaron Suval (Jr) – Purdue (24-29) – from Agoura Hills, CA
RHP – Brian Zeldin (Sr) – Pennsylvania (34-16) – from Atlanta, GA
Detailed player statistics
POSITION PLAYERS
The brightest star on our All-America team undoubtedly is IF Jake Gelof (U. of Virginia), who hit .321 for the Cavaliers (#6 among teammates) on 81h/252ab, smoked 23 home runs (#1), drove in 90 runs (#1 on team, and tied for #4 among all D-1 players), laced 23 doubles (#3), defended 3B at .919 (39po/108a/13e), and started all 65 of Virginia’s games. Gelof — Virginia’s all-time leader in both single-season and career HRs and RBIs — was named All-ACC first team, and Collegiate Baseball All-America second team.
IF Noah Granet (Princeton U.) hit .337 (#2 on team) for the Tigers on 31h/92ab, crushed 3 four-baggers, delivered 17 baserunners, fielded at .975 (51po/67a/3e), and started 24 of Princeton’s 47 games, having missed 23 with a wrist injury. Noah was named All-Ivy League honorable mention.
IF Jordan Jaffe (U. of Richmond) batted .314 (#3 on team) for the Spiders on 64h/304ab, unloaded 12 dingers (#2 tie), was #1 in RBIs with 59, cracked 20 doubles (#2), and defended 3B at .945 (27po/76a/6e ) while starting 51 of Richmond’s 55 games. He was named All-Atlantic 10 first team, earned the league’s Rookie of the Year honor, and was named Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American.
While hitting a rather modest .254 for the Huskies on 49h/193ab, IF Michael Snyder (U. of Washington) also delivered 11 round-trippers (#3 on team), knocked in 49 runs (#3), fielded at .935 (39po/104a/10e), and started 53 of Washington’s 55 games.
IF Hank Zeisler (U. of Missouri), a sixth-year grad student who previously attended UNLV, posted a .291 batting average for the Tigers on 51h/176ab, uncorked 15 dingers (#2 on team), chased home 57 RBIs (#1), purloined 6/8 bases, and defended 1B at .983 (393po/18a/7e) while starting all 54 of Missouri’s games.
OF Zach Levenson (U. of Miami) recorded a .292 batting average (#5 on team) for the Hurricanes on 68h/233ab, went yard 14 times (#3), punched in 45 runs (#4), smoked 17 doubles (#1), made off with 4/6 SBs, and fielded a perfect 1.000 (124po/0a/0e) while starting all 63 of Miami’s games.
OF RJ Schreck (Vanderbilt U.) posted a .306 batting average for the Commodores on 66h/216ab, clouted 14 homers (#1 on team), delivered 59 RBIs (#1), swiped 6/8 bases, and covered the outfield competently at .993 (134po/3a/1e) while starting all 62 of Vanderbilt’s games. He was named College Sports Communicators Academic All-America first team.
OF Jonathan Strauss (Winthrop U.) batted .305 (#3 on team) for the Eagles on 53h/174ab, clubbed 7 home runs (#1), delivered 43 runs (#1), and protected the outfield at .985 (62po/2a/1e) while starting 45 of Winthrop’s 56 games.
Behind home plate is C Will King (Eastern Kentucky U.), who led the Colonels in batting with a .346 average (#1 on team) on 63h/182ab, blasted 12 homers (#3), drove in 47 runs (#2), ripped 13 Ds (#1 tie), defended the plate at .983 (198po/37a/4e), and threw out 14/34 runners (41.2%) trying to steal while starting 45 of the school’s 59 games. He was named All-ASUN Conference second team, and All-Midwest Region second team.
Behind the plate, we have Emory transfer C Jack Rubinstein (George Institute of Technology), who hit .281 for the Yellow Jackets on 48h/171ab, launched 5 home runs, drove in 27 runs, protected home plate at .991 (313po/26a/3e), and threw out 7/36 attempting to steal while starting 44 of Georgia Tech’s 57 games.
Our designated hitter is Sam Kaplan (Cornell U.), who hit .277 (#3 on team) for the Big Red on 39h/141ab, unleashed 6 homers (#2), drove in 24 runners (#1), and defended his patch of outfield at .963 (76po/3a/3e) while starting all 35 of Cornell’s games. Sam was named All-Ivy League second team.
PITCHERS
RHP Aaron Barokas (Butler U.), a Bulldogs senior, closed at 2-2 with 2 saves and a 4.15 ERA in 26.0 innings (28h/14bb/24k). He started 4 games and entered seven as a reliever.
RHP Charlie Beilenson (Duke U.), a graduate student with the Blue Devils, enjoyed a 6-3 season with a 3.86 ERA in 60.2 innings (56h/21bb/78k) spread across 37 appearances, all in relief.
RHP Jack Ben-Shoshan (Rice U.), an Owls soph, went 2-3 with a tidy 3.20 ERA (#1 on team) in 25.1 innings (21h/10bb/21k), all 21 of his appearances coming in relief. He was named Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
RHP Josh Blum (U. of Southern California), a soph with the Trojans, finished at 3-0 with a 3.34 ERA (#5 on team) in 32.1 innings (24h/12bb/40k) and 30 appearances, alll in relief.
LHP Charlie Goldstein (U. of Georgia), a junior with the Bulldogs, portsider who went 3-2 with a 5.03 ERA in 48.1 innings (47h/28b/47k) and made 10 starts in 14 total appearances.
LHP Eric Orloff (U. of Arizona), a Wildcats soph, wound up the season at 2-0 with a 4.37 ERA (#2 on team) and one save in 22.2 innings (21h/11bb/26k). All 25 appearances came in relief.
RHP Sam Portnoy (Rutgers U.), a soph with the Scarlet Knights, closed out the season at 3-0 with one save and a 3.69 ERA (#4 on team) in 31.2 innings (23h/14bb/28k) across 20 games, all in relief.
RHP Ben Simon (Elon U.), a junior with the Phoenix, is our closer after going 1-3 with a solid 3.20 ERA in 25.1 innings (27h/8bb/32k) and taking the mound in 21 relief appearances with 7 saves (#1 on team).
RHP Aaron Suval (Purdue U.), a junior with the Boilermakers, completed his season at 3-1 with a 4.23 ERA (#2 on team) and 5 saves (#1) in 44.2 innings (30h/40bb/43k). He had one start and 21 relief appearances.
RHP Brian Zeldin (U. of Pennsylvania), a senior with the Quakers, worked a 2-1 season with a 3.74 ERA in 21.2 innings (16h/12bb/21k), including one start and nine relief appearances.
Abbreviation key:
- AB = At Bats
- H = Hits
- SB = Stolen Bases
- PO = Putouts
- A = Assists
- E = Errors
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