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Located just a few miles from Monsey, the New York Boulders have added shortstop Assaf Lowengart to the team, who will make his professional debut tonight (Tuesday) when the Frontier League’s East Division leaders open a three-game series against the New Jersey Jackals at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey.

Lowengart already has the honor of being the first Israeli-born outfielder to ever sign a professional contract with an American baseball team. He was a member of Team Israel for the 2023 World Baseball Classic and previously competed for his home country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Manager TJ Stanton announced this afternoon that Lowengart will be the Boulders’ starting shortstop tonight, wearing jersey number 10.

Its first home game is scheduled to be Thursday at Clover Stadium in Pomona when the Boulders host the Jackals for a second-night doubleheader.

Lowengart, who signed earlier this year, has been playing at the highest international baseball level for many years.

“Baseball has taken me all over the world and one of my stops was training with Team Israel and playing a friendly against the Boulders at Clover Stadium before the 2021 Olympics,” Lowengart said in February. “I’m very excited to now be able to return and start my professional career in New York.”

Lowengart, a versatile power hitter, led Israel to the silver medal in Italy in 2021, where he led the week-long WBC tournament with 13 RBI and four home runs. In 2019, Lowengart helped Israel make history by winning three tournament games to secure a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“I am thrilled to have Assaf join the Boulders this season,” said team president Shawn Reilly when he was signed. “He is an exceptional young man and an exciting player. He embodies exactly the type of player we want at the Boulders. We have a special bond with our local Jewish community and Assaf will give them an additional reason to cheer on the Boulders this season,” Reilly said.

A native of Timorim on Israel’s coastal plain, Lowengart emerged as a star on his junior teams in his teens. He played one season each of college baseball at San Joaquin Delta College and SUNY Sullivan Community College, as well as two seasons at Mansfield College of Pennsylvania.

“I am very happy for Assaf, the Boulders and their fans, and for all of Israeli baseball,” said Jordy Alter, president of the Israel Association of Baseball. “To see Assaf fulfill his dream and play baseball professionally with the Boulders, who have long been friends of Israeli baseball, and for young players in Israel to see that hard work can pay off, as it did with Assaf, is a great situation for everyone.”