Assaf Lowengart

Lowengart was born on March 1, 1998,[1] and was raised in Moshav Timorim in central Israel.[2] Before turning to baseball, he primarily played soccer and basketball. He became interested in baseball at about age 11 after watching a Major League Baseball game on television, then joined an under-12 league at Kibbutz Gezer, which a profile described as the site of Israel’s first baseball field.[2]

His path to Israel’s national team began with a discouraging teenage tryout. Lowengart recalled that a coach told his father, “Don’t bring him back. There’s no reason.” He made the team the following year.[2]

Lowengart said that his family celebrated Shabbat and Jewish holidays and kept kosher, and described himself as “culturally Jewish.” He characterized playing for Team Israel as a distinctive responsibility: “You’re representing a bigger thing than yourself.”[2]

Lowengart’s baseball career combined national-team participation with college play in the United States. A 2021 profile listed Delta College, SUNY Sullivan Community College, and Mansfield University among his schools. It reported that he served in the Israel Defense Forces from 2016 to 2019, took part in Israel’s 2019 Olympic-qualifying team, and coached Israel’s under-12 and under-14 national teams as well as the Israel Baseball Academy.[1]

At the time of that profile, Lowengart played shortstop for Mansfield. In 107 at-bats, he had a .290 batting average, a .394 on-base percentage, a .645 slugging percentage, and a 1.039 on-base-plus-slugging figure; he also recorded 22 runs, 11 home runs, and 26 runs batted in.[1] His route through college baseball included a serious injury: while a graduate student at the College of William & Mary, he broke his ankle in the fifth inning of the season’s first game, hit a home run two innings later, and then missed several months. He sat out the 2023 World Baseball Classic while recovering.[2]

Israel qualified for the Tokyo Olympic baseball tournament in September 2019.[7] The team made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games in 2021, which had been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.[8] Lowengart was named to the roster as an outfielder and was its youngest player.[4][9] He appeared in three of Israel’s five games, made several defensive plays, and batted in Olympic competition.[4] He later recalled that learning from veteran players and then taking part in a game was difficult to put into words; watching Israeli pitcher Shlomo Lipetz take the mound was an especially moving moment for him.[4]

At the 2021 European Baseball Championship, Israel went unbeaten in its group, defeating Britain, Russia, and France, then beat the Czech Republic in the quarterfinal and Italy in the semifinal before reaching the final against the Netherlands.[10] Lowengart, a third baseman from Timorim, led tournament hitters with four home runs and 13 RBIs.[5] In the final, his sixth-inning home run—his fourth of the tournament—brought him and Ben Wanger home and put Israel ahead 4–1. The Netherlands rallied to win 9–4, leaving Israel with silver, its first medal in the continental tournament.[10]

Lowengart said that his experience in Tokyo had helped prepare him for the European Championship. He recalled teammate Danny Valencia telling him, “Now it’s your turn to shine.” After the tournament, he returned to his studies at Mansfield in Pennsylvania and prepared for a test.[5]

In February 2024, the New York Boulders signed Lowengart to play in the independent Frontier League.[2] His arrival was delayed by visa and document problems, and he remained in Israel after the league season began in May.[3] In his June 20 home debut at Clover Stadium, he hit a three-run home run in his second at-bat. In his next at-bat, he doubled, stole third, and scored on a passed ball.[3] The Boulders’ manager said Lowengart could play eight positions; the positions specifically listed included third base, second base, shortstop, right field, and left field.[3]

The reported description of Lowengart’s professional milestone is qualified: he was called the first Israeli-born position player to sign a professional baseball contract in the United States. The same account noted that Israeli-born pitcher Shlomo Lipetz had signed with the Atlantic League’s Bridgeport Bluefish in 2007, but had not appeared in a game.[2] Lowengart said he hoped to create a path for other Israeli players: “Hopefully I’ll reach a very high level at some point, but then I hope somebody else will surpass me.”[2]

Lowengart was also named to Israel’s squad for the March 2026 World Baseball Classic and was described as the team’s only Israeli-born player.[6] Against the Dominican Republic, he entered in center field and caught a long fly ball hit by Juan Soto in the final inning of Israel’s 10–1 loss.[6]

Lowengart’s career has made him a visible Israeli-born presence in a national baseball program whose Olympic-era roster included many players born outside Israel. In 2019, a report named him among the Israeli-born players on the team after it qualified for the Tokyo Olympics; it said 21 of the 25 players had been born abroad.[7] His international record includes the Tokyo Olympic tournament and a leading role in Israel’s silver-medal European Championship campaign.[4][5] He later appeared for Israel at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.[6]

His 2024 signing with the New York Boulders was reported as a milestone for an Israeli-born position player entering professional baseball in the United States. Lowengart framed that achievement in terms of opportunity for those who might follow him, saying he wanted to create a path for other players and hoped someone would eventually surpass his accomplishments.[2]

Public discussion has sometimes questioned the Israeli identity of the national baseball team because many roster members were born outside Israel. A 2019 report described those questions and quoted veteran player Shlomo Lipetz defending the team’s Israeli identity; the debate concerned the team as a whole, not Lowengart’s identity specifically.[7]

Descriptions of Lowengart’s professional milestone also require qualification: the reported distinction is specifically that he was the first Israeli-born position player to sign a U.S. professional contract, while Lipetz had signed with a U.S. professional team earlier without appearing in a game.[2]