34 | AUGUST 20 • 2020
sports HIGHlights
NMLS#2289
brought to you in partnership with
T
hey’
re outstanding
athletes and good
students.
They’
re the Jewish News High
School Athletes of the Year and
Dr. Steve and Evelyn Rosen
Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship
recipients for 2020.
Ben Rosenblatt, Jenna
Silverman, Olivia Warren and
Andie Wolfe are the Athletes
of the Year. Mitch Blackman,
Will Bloomberg, Noa
Green, Hannah Resnick and
Rosenblatt are the recipients
of $1,500 Stars of Tomorrow
scholarships.
They were chosen from
applications submitted to
selection committees in a
process organized by the
Michigan Jewish Sports
Foundatio.
“This is a really good crop
of Athletes of the Year,” said
committee member Harry
Glanz.
Indeed they are. They
checked off all the boxes of
athletic accomplishments and
longevity, importance to their
teams and playing sports in
college.
The Stars of Tomorrow
scholarships were funded
originally by a donation made
in honor of Steve Rosen, a
Michigan Jewish Sports Hall
of Fame member who died in
2016.
The oldest of five children,
Rosen excelled in track and
field at Mount Clemens High
School and the University
of Michigan and eventually
became a radiologist.
“But Steve always felt he
could have been a better athlete
and a better student if he didn’
t
have to work while he was in
school,” Evelyn Rosen said
about her husband. “What
we’
re trying to do with these
scholarships is help Jewish
athletes focus on their sports
and academics.”
Let’
s meet the Athletes of the
Year and Stars of Tomorrow
scholarship winners:
ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
Name: Ben
Rosenblatt
High school:
Berkley
High school
sports resume:
He played boys soccer only as
a sophomore and was one of
just four sophomores to earn
All-State honorable mention
recognition that season.
College: Elon University (will
play soccer).
Best memory from high
school sports: “I’
ll most
remember the friendships I
made. My one season of high
school soccer allowed me to
become friends with kids I
never would have known if I
hadn’
t played.”
Life lesson learned from high
school sports: “It’
s important
to be responsible and loyal to
the ones you’
re closest to.”
Name: Jenna
Silverman
High school:
Bloomfield Hills
High school
sports resume: A
four-year member of the girls
tennis team, she won the No.
4 singles state championship
in Division 1 as a sophomore.
She was a Division 1 state
semifinalist in No. 4 singles as
a freshman and a Division 1
It’
s been a busy summer of baseball for Ben
Chosid.
The Kalamazoo College junior from Ann
Arbor has been playing in the three-team
South Division in the Michigan pod of the
Northwoods League, a prestigious summer
league for college baseball players.
Chosid plays for the Kalamazoo Growlers.
Some days, the Growlers play two five-inning
games. Some days, the Growlers play three
five-inning games.
That’
s a lot better than not playing at
all. Kalamazoo College’
s baseball season
was cut short after just seven
games this spring when
college sports were shut down
because of the COVID-19
pandemic.
“We were 5-2 when we
had to stop playing. We were
going to have a good season,”
Chosid said.
Chosid has enjoyed his time
with the Growlers, who are joined by the
Kalamazoo Mac Daddies and Battle Creek
Bombers in the South Division.
The season began July 1 and will
conclude with a championship game Sept. 5.
Each of the three teams will play 60 regular-
season games at Homer Stryder Field in
Kalamazoo and C.O. Brown
Stadium in Battle Creek.
The Growlers (28-16-3) were
in first place as of last week.
“I’
m grateful to get a chance
to play,” Chosid said. “And
being in the same league as
guys from from the Power 5
conferences has been nothing
short of incredible.”
This is the first time Chosid has played
in a collegiate summer league. Kalamazoo
College baseball coach Mike Ott told him
about the opportunity late in the school year.
Chosid plays shortstop for Kalamazoo
College, but he’
s playing mostly second base
for the Growlers.
quick hits
BY STEVE STEIN
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
They’re Reaching
for the Stars
JN Athletes of the Year, Rosen
Scholarship winners share what they
learned from high school sports.
Ben Chosid
KALAMAZOO COLLEGE
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MICHIGAN JEWISH SPORTS FOUNDATION