TOKYO -- Yale baseball will be a big part of Team Israel's historic first appearance in Olympic baseball competition. Two Bulldog alums -- catcher Ryan Lavarnway '09 and right-handed pitcher Ben Wanger '19 -- are on the active roster as Israel gets set to face Korea in its first game Thursday. A third, right-handed pitcher Eric Brodkowitz '18, was named an alternate. 
 
While they have Yale backgrounds in common, the three Bulldogs took various routes to earn their spots with Team Israel. Lavarnway was the first to establish the connection. He had already finished his Yale career and played five seasons at the Major League level by the time he helped Israel turn heads at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, beating No. 3 South Korea and No. 4 Taiwan. 
 
A former sixth-round draft pick by the Red Sox, Lavarnway has played for Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Oakland and Pittsburgh in a career that now spans 10 MLB seasons. He provides an all-important veteran presence on the Team Israel roster -- especially for the pitching staff.
 
"He's taken me under his wing," said Wanger. "It's great knowing another Yale guy on the team, especially an older guy. I heard alot about him while I was at Yale. Just being able to put a face to a name, get to know what he's like, has been awesome. He's a great guy, and is going to be a huge part of our team in the Olympics. He's a leader behind the plate."      
 
Cleveland was the most recent addition to Lavarnway's list of MLB teams played for, as he earned a callup to the Indians in mid-June. Combined with his eventually earning a spot in the Olympics when Israel's roster was announced in early July, it wound up being an eventful stretch of less than three weeks for the Woodland Hills, Calif., native.
 
"It was exciting to get called up to the Major Leagues," Lavarnway said. "Playing in the Olympics was something that I never thought was even possible. It's an awesome opportunity." 
 
Brodkowitz and Wanger's ties to Team Israel date back to game two of the 2018 Ivy League Championship Series between Columbia and Yale. Team Israel manager Eric Holtz, whose son played for Columbia, was at the game. He watched Brodkowitz throw seven innings, allowing just one run, before Wanger pitched five scoreless innings in relief. 
 
Though Yale lost that game, the two Bulldog hurlers had shown enough to catch Holtz' attention. They soon began their international baseball careers. That included helping Israel win the Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier Tournament in September of 2019, clinching a spot in the Tokyo games.
 
By that point, Brodkowitz had graduated from Yale and was working for Goldman Sachs. His time playing for Israel would involve a unique set of logistical challenges as he kept his day job. That included a recent stretch in which he worked remotely for Goldman while pitching for the Idaho Falls Chukars in the Pioneer League (an MLB Professional Partner League) to keep his arm in shape. 
 
Combined with his other various travels to play for Israel -- journeying to places such as Bulgaria and Lithuania while still working for Goldman -- Brodkowitz' time with the team became a tale of perseverance and commitment. He was recently featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal in an article entitled "A Goldman Sachs Analyst by Day, He Helped Pitch Israeli Baseball Into the Olympics".
 
The Potomac, Md., native has appreciated his moment in the sun.
 
"The response [to the article] has been crazy, from all over the financial world and people from my past," said Brodkowitz. "It's been overwhelming to see the outpouring of support, and people saying how inspiring it was. That helps solidify that everything I did was for a purpose."
 
Wanger, a native of Newton, Mass., still had some college eligibility left after he graduated from Yale in 2019. Versatility had been the hallmark of his Bulldog career -- he was an All-Ivy League selection both as a hitter (first team in 2017, second team in 2018) and as a pitcher (first team in 2018). He enrolled in graduate school at the University of Southern California and was leading the Trojans in batting average (.410) while sporting a 0.00 ERA through 6.1 innings when COVID forced an early end to the 2020 season. Wanger then spent the 2021 college season playing for Miami, where he was limited to seven innings by injury. Like Brodkowitz, earlier this summer he headed to a team in an MLB Professional Partner League to keep pitching. A stint with the Lancaster Barnstormers in the Atlantic League helped him continue his comeback and earn a spot on Israel's roster.
 
Lavarnway has caught Wanger multiple times now, and notes that confidence is a big part of his game -- an important attribute for any athlete competing at such a high level.
 
"Ben is an absolute gamer at the plate and on the mound," Lavarnway said. "He's a competitor and you trust that he's going to pitch aggressively. The situation's not going to get too big for him."
 
Lavarnway and Wanger both headed to Tokyo with Team Israel last week. There, they have been enjoying the atmosphere while also preparing for competition.
 
"I hadn't spoken to anyone who had been to any Olympics before so I didn't really know much coming into it, which was honestly nice," said Wanger. "It's really cool seeing all the athletes walking around and everybody's wearing their colors. It feels a little bit like a summer camp. There's a lot of country and national spirit going around, which is awesome to see."  
 
Even for an MLB veteran like Lavarnway, the Olympics are clearly a unique experience.
 
"This is one of those things in life that you have amazing, incredibly high expectations for -- but it still exceeds your expectations," he said.
 
The six baseball teams at the Olympics are divided into two groups. Ranked No. 24 in the world, Israel is in Group B with No. 3 Korea and No. 4 USA. Group A includes No. 7 the Dominican Republic, No. 1 Japan and No. 5 Mexico. In the group stage teams play the other teams in their group once to determine seeding; the two teams that finish third play an elimination game Sunday Aug. 1. The double-elimination knockout stage runs through Aug. 7, with the bronze- and gold-medal games taking place that day.
 
As Team Israel embraces an underdog role, the Bulldogs are confident -- and they know a thing or two about winning. Brodkowitz and Wanger helped Yale win Ivy League titles in 2017 and 2018. The 2017 team set the school record for wins with 34, including a pair in the NCAA Corvallis Regional. Lavarnway's four seasons with the Red Sox included a stint in 2013 while they were en route to winning the World Series.
 
Experiences like that will prove critical as Israel faces Olympic competition for the first time.
 
"I'm grateful to Yale, and all the people I've ever played with," said Brodkowitz. "The Israeli National Team has a lot of similarities. It's 'One Team, One Dream.' Everyone is committed to winning. That's reminiscent of what the culture was like at Yale, and it makes playing a lot more fun."



Team Israel
Olympic Baseball Schedule
 
Thursday, July 29 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time/7:00 p.m. Japan Time: 
Israel vs. Korea
 
Friday, July 30 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time/7:00 p.m. Japan Time:
Israel vs. USA
 
Sunday, Aug. 1-Thursday, Aug. 5:
Knockout Stage: Round 1, Round 2, Round 1 (repechage), Round 2 (repechage) and semifinals
 
Saturday, Aug. 7:
Bronze Medal Game, Gold Medal Game