To Life!
II
• II •
SPORTS
•
II
May the coming year be filled
with health, happiness and prosperity
for all our family and friends.
Diamond Dreaming
Baseball standout isn't ready
to end his career at age 18.
Claire & Mary Tamaroff
Steve Stein
Special to The Jewish News
F
The Board of Directors and Staff of
Yad Ezra
wish to thank
our Jewish community for its
generous support in assisting us
alleviate hunger.
Your help makes a tremendous difference in
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the lives of those most vulnerable.
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Happy New Year!
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May the blessings of family and friends
strenghten our resolve to strive for
peace and security in the New Year.
Judge Susan Moiseev
NrawW. „ 15 00614411M
96
September 13 • 2007
4to
or the first time in more than
a decade, baseball isn't in
Zack Ehrmann's future.
Ehrmann is a freshman at the
University of Michigan and he plans to
try out for the U-M baseball team as
a walk-on, but he knows the odds are
stacked against him. The Wolverines
are a powerhouse. They've played in
three consecutive NCAA tournaments
and won two straight Big Ten titles.
"I'm realistic about my chances:'
Ehrmann said. "But you have to at
least give it a shot."
Ehrmann was in the West
Bloomfield High School baseball pro-
gram for four years, the last two as
a standout on the varsity team. He's
been in the North Farmington West
Bloomfield summer baseball program
most of his life, playing travel ball
since 2000.
"I might play baseball next summer
because I'd still be young enough to
be on an 18-and-under travel team,"
Ehrmann said. "Then again, I might
work or try something different. I love
playing baseball. You have to love it at
this stage of your life. You can't play
because somebody wants you to play.
I'm not a morning person at all, but I'll
get up early to play baseball."
Ehrmann was on the NFWB Cobras
18-and-under team that went 23-18
this summer in league and tourna-
ment play, winning the Triple Crown
Capital City Classic in Lansing and
the AABC districts in Adrian. While
playing his familiar first base position,
Ehrmann hit .410 and had a .500 on-
base percentage.
There were four Jewish play-
ers on the Cobras' roster. Besides
Ehrmann, the others were pitcher
Ben Schroeder, leftfielder Eugene
Vinogradov and catcher Max
Weberman.
Schroeder, a 2006 Livonia Stevenson
High School grad, had a 6-2 record.
The Kalamazoo College sophomore
is a two-sport athlete in school, play-
ing baseball (pitcher) and soccer
(goalie). He was named to the 2006-
07 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic
Association Honor Roll for maintain-
ing a minimum 3.5 grade point aver-
age for the academic year.
Vinogradov, a Michigan State
University freshman, was Ehrmann's
teammate at West Bloomfield and with
the Cobras. He hit .342 this summer
and drew 20 walks from his leadoff
spot in the lineup. Weberman, a senior
at Walled Lake Western High School,
batted .385 for the Cobras.
Last spring, Ehrmann and
Vinogradov were key members
of the West Bloomfield team that
scuffled during the regular season
but advanced to the Division 1 state
quarterfinals before losing a 3-2 heart-
breaker to eventual state champion
Lake Orion.
West Bloomfield scored twice in top
of the fifth inning in that game on RBI
singles by Vinogradov and Ehrmann,
but Lake Orion came back with three
runs with two out in the bottom of the
fifth and held on for the victory. West
Bloomfield finished 25-15.
"It was tough to lose that way, espe-
cially because Lake Orion had beaten
us badly twice in league games,"
Ehrmann said. "But I'm sure when we
reflect on the season years from now,
we'll realize we did something special.
A lot of teams would have done any-
thing to be in our situation."
Ehrmann also was a hit in the class-
room at West Bloomfield, graduating
with a 4.0 grade point average and in
the top 8 percent of his class.
Table Tennis Titan
Table tennis whiz Lloyd Strausz
of West Bloomfield won his fourth
Michigan Senior Olympics Summer
Games gold medal in the sport,
dominating the 85-89 age bracket last
month in Rochester.
Strauss, 89, plays table tennis 2-3
times a week on the three new tables
at the Jewish Community Center in
West Bloomfield.
"There are seven or eight other
fellows who play regularly. Most are
younger than me by a decade or more,"
Strauss said. "My reflexes are still pret-
ty good. I don't have an explanation
for that, but I'm happy about it." Fl
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