34 | NOVEMBER 21 • 2019
quick hits
BY STEVE STEIN
sports HIGHlights
brought to you in partnership with
NMLS#2289
S
outhfield native Justin
Prinstein has been
enamored with baseball
since a young age. He was a
scholarship player at George
Washington University, made
his professional debut overseas,
graduated from University of
Detroit-Mercy’
s law school and
was a major league scout for
the Baltimore Orioles organi-
zation.
Now, Prinstein, 35, is
using his baseball knowl-
edge to enhance Detroit’
s
youth. Prinstein is the exec-
utive director and founder of
International Stars Baseball, a
501(c)(3) nonprofit organiza-
tion.
The idea of the International
Stars Baseball Academy came
to Prinstein when he was in
law school trying to find a
place to train in Detroit. The
only option he could find that
had the netting and space he
needed was at the Boll Family
YMCA in Detroit.
In 2012, Prinstein decided
he wanted kids in Detroit to be
able to play the sport he was
passionate about. He began to
host weekly baseball clinics at
the YMCA that were free and
open to kids ranging from ages
5-14.
During this time, Prinstein
met Larry White, a mainte-
nance man at the YMCA, who
helped him run the clinics.
Prinstein’
s father, Jay, also
became active in the weekly
clinics.
From there, the organi-
zation continued to grow.
International Stars decided
to enter a team comprised of
kids from their winter baseball
clinics into the 2013 Detroit
Police Athletic League (PAL)/
RBI summer league. White was
named the head coach of this
team and serves as the academy
director.
Today, International Stars
has four teams playing leagues
during the spring, summer and
fall. This year, their 14u team
won the Detroit PAL summer
league. Prinstein also has had
a couple of the teams finish in
the top places in the Detroit
Legends League, which takes
place in the spring and fall.
“We have turned our pro-
gram from kids who have never
picked up a bat before to one of
the most competitive city teams
by far,” Prinstein said. “That’
s a
testament to our coaching staff
and our kids.”
Although Prinstein is the
sole executive director for
International Stars Baseball
Academy, the academy
wouldn’
t be where it is today
without the support from
Coach White.
“He goes out of his way to
mentor these kids. He’
s like
everyone’
s uncle,” Prinstein
said. “He doesn’
t get paid for
this; he does it out of the good-
ness of his heart. His sons,
Layton and Landon, and White
himself are on the ground
picking these kids up from
Baseball Academy
Justin Prinstein strengthens
Detroit’
s youth through baseball.
CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER
Jason Boschan’
s quest
to run a half-marathon in
every state in honor of his
late grandfather took him
to Lincoln, Neb., on Nov. 3.
Boschan, formerly
of Bloomfield Hills, was
one of more than 6,500
runners who competed
in the Good Life Halfsy in
Nebraska.
That was half-mar-
athon No. 23 of 50 for
Boschan, whose Run4Papa
effort raises funds for
Alzheimer’
s disease
research.
Papa is Boschan’
s late
grandfather, Dr. Louis
Heyman of Bloomfield
Hills, who suffered from
dementia before passing
away in 2013 at age 88.
Boschan self-funds
his trips to races. All the
donations to Run4Papa
go to Northwestern
University’
s Mesulam
Center for Cognitive
Neurology and Alzheimer’
s
Disease.
Several runners besides
Boschan ran the race in
Nebraska with “R4P” writ-
ten on their hands.
Boschan is one of
about 1,000 people who
has run a marathon on
all seven continents and
run in all six major mara-
thons — Boston, London,
Chicago, New York, Berlin
and Tokyo.
Josh Nodler scored his
first collegiate goal.
The Michigan State
University freshman center
from Oak Park put the puck
in the net Nov. 2 during the
third period of the Spartans’
6-2 loss to No. 4-ranked
Cornell at Munn Ice Arena.
It was a power play goal,
a one-timer from the right
circle, and it came with the
Spartans down 5-0.
“(Scoring a goal) is definitely a weight off my
shoulder and it was nice to do it in front of the
home crowd,” Nodler told the State News.
MSU coach Danton Cole is expecting a lot from
Nodler even though Nodler is a freshman.
The Berkley High School graduate and 2019
Jewish News High School Athlete of the Year was
a fifth-round choice of the Calgary Flames in the
NHL draft this summer.
Dr. Louis Heyman
and Jason
Boschan
Coach Larry
White gives
hitting tips.
PHOTOS BY ALLISON FARRAND
Executive Director
and founder Justin
Prinstein talks to kids
after winter training.