I The Sports Page Emma Brown Birmingham Groves High School graduate Emma Brown is a freshman diver on the University of Ken- tucky women's swimming and diving team. Brown earned All-American hon- ors in her senior season at Groves after winning Oakland Activities Association and Oakland County meet championships and placing third in the Division 2 state meet. Brad Levin Frankel Jewish Academy/ West Bloomfield freshman tennis player Brad Levin reached the regional finals this month at No. 3 singles before losing in three sets. It was only his third loss of the season. Coach Robert Walker said Levin will continue to be a great asset to the team because he's a hard worker and driven competitor. See your family's athletic accomplishments HERE on the NEW, MONTHLY JN SPORTS PAGE. ONLY PER SPOT CALL NOW! 248-351-5107 Please provide a photo. Word count is 65 words per listing. The word count does not include the athlete's name. SEE SAMPLE LISTINGS ABOVE. Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation Updates HANK GREENBERG INVITATIONAL • For 2011 information, contact David Blatt, MJSF executive director, at 248.592.9323 or dblatt@michiganjewishsports.org . HALL OF FAME INDUCTION DINNER GALA • 2010 Hall of Fame Induction Dinner Monday, Oct. 25, at 6 p.m. Congregation Shaarey Zedek, Southfield 62 November 18 • 2010 Long Home Run Softball player wins personal "game." Steve Stein Special to the Jewish News D ave Ettlinger has hit dozens of home runs during his slow-pitch softball career. But none meant more than the one he crushed over the rightfield fence at Drake Park/West Bloomfield Diamond No. 3 in August for the Pisgah-Zeiger team in the B'nai B'rith Softball League. It didn't win the game. But it did make a statement. Ettlinger clubbed the homer only two months after undergoing seven hours of cancer surgery at the University of Michigan Medical Center. "There was no doubt about it when Dave hit it. It was gone. We rushed the field like he had just won the World Series for us:' said teammate and friend Rick Sherline. "We were in tears. We were shocked. We never thought we'd see him do that again." Ettlinger, 35, has made a remarkable recovery from the June 10 surgery. He lost about one-third of his tongue because of a form of skin can- cer that normally afflicts people twice his age. A nerve was removed from his left shoulder (he throws and bats left- handed) and transplanted into his jaw. Doctors had to cut into his jaw to do a neck dissection and check for cancer in his lymph nodes. Besides being able to play softball and golf a few months after the sur- gery, Ettlinger was speaking again in about three weeks. Listening to him now, it's nearly impossible to tell he's talking with a major portion of his tongue missing. "We were told by the doctors that it would be a long process of speech therapy before I could speak well again:' the Waterford resident said. Less than a month after his surgery, wearing a halo to stabilize his neck and with trachetomy and feeding tubes allowing him to breathe and get nourishment, Ettlinger came to Drake Park to see his Pisgah-Zeiger softball teammates play a game. His appearance didn't shock Sherline. After all, Ettlinger had sent Sherline a text message saying, "See you in Toronto" while he was in the hospital. That was a reference to the International Jewish Men's Slo-Pitch Dave Ettlinger Softball Tournament, held over Labor Day weekend. Ettlinger played in the tournament. And played well. He and Sherline helped the Motor City Hitmen win their third consecutive tournament championship. They've also been on Pisgah-Zeiger teams that have won league titles. "I've been playing competitive softball for 38 years. Dave is one of the best players I've played with or against:' Sherline said. An All-State baseball player as a junior in 1992 at West Bloomfield High School, Ettlinger was enjoy- ing life playing softball and golf and working as a salesman for 1-800-Hansons when he was diag- nosed in May with the cancer. "At first, I thought I had a canker sore on my tongue, but it wouldn't go away and it became more and more painful:' he said. He said the love and support of his family and girlfriend helped enor- mously in his recovery, and Hansons also was "incredibly supportive." He's now working in management instead of sales at Hansons because he doesn't have the stamina to deal with the physical demands of sales. He's been employed by Hansons for more than three years. "Has this experience changed my outlook on life? Of course," Ettlinger said. "I'm not the home run hitter I used to be and I've lost about 80 per- cent of the throwing strength in my left arm, but I'm grateful I can still play softball and golf. And I'm more appreciative than ever of the love of my family and friends." ❑ Please send sports news to sports@thejewishnews.com.