34 | MARCH 18 • 2021 

L
et’s try this again.
A year after having 
his first season as West 
Bloomfield High School 
baseball coach taken away 
from him when spring 
sports were canceled by 
the Michigan High School 
Athletic Association because 
of the COVID-19 pandemic, 

Josh Birnberg is gearing up 
again to guide the Lakers.
“Last year, we had tryouts, 
I picked our team, and we 
were done. We never had 
a practice,” Birnberg said. “I 
was so disappointed for my 
eight seniors.”
With 2020 in the rearview 
mirror, here we go again for 

West Bloomfield baseball.
Tryouts for the team will 
be March 22-24, followed 
by a Thursday, March 25, 
practice and the Lakers’ 
opening day game at 4:30 
p.m., Friday March 26, 
against non-league oppo-
nent Lincoln Park.
This will be a special 
opener not only because it 
will be Birnberg’s first game 
as West Bloomfield’s coach.
It will be the first game 
on the new turf at West 
Bloomfield’s baseball field. 
The turf was installed last 

year thanks to a 14-year, 
1.25-mil building and site 
sinking fund approved by 
school district voters in 
2013.

quick hits
BY STEVE STEIN 

H

annah Resnick loves 
to bowl, and she 
was looking for-
ward to joining the nation-
ally renowned Lawrence 
Technological 
University women’s 
bowling program.
But her family’s 
health put those 
plans on hold.
Resnick decided 
not to bowl this 
season for the Blue 
Devils after becoming uncom-
fortable at the first practice 
last fall.
It wasn’t her teammates and 
coaches who made the 2020 
Frankel Jewish Academy grad-
uate uncomfortable. They were 
wearing masks and following 

all of the school’s COVID-19 
safety protocols.
It was some of the other 
bowlers at 5 Star Lanes in 
Sterling Heights that day.
“They weren’t wearing masks 
or social distancing,” she said.
After thinking about it for a 
week or so, Resnick contacted 
LTU women’s bowling coach 
Kevin Wemyss and told him 
she didn’t want to bowl this 
season.
“I told Hannah if that’s what 
you decide is best for you and 
your family, then I’m perfectly 
OK with that,” Wemyss said. 
“If Hannah contacts me next 
September and says, ‘Coach 
Kevin, I’d like to bowl,’ that’s no 
problem.
“I’ve had a number of con-

versations with Hannah. She’s a 
very nice young lady.”
If she bowls for LTU next 
season, where Resnick would 
fit in the Blue Devils program 
is a big question.
With only two years of expe-
rience bowling on the boys 
bowling team at FJA on her 
resume, Resnick would compete 
for a roster spot at LTU with 
some of the top women’s colle-
giate bowlers in the country.
LTU’s varsity team is 

ranked No. 5 in the country 
in the United States Bowling 
Congress power rankings. The 
Blue Devils have been ranked 
as high as No. 2 this season. 
Two of the country’s top 50 
women’s collegiate bowlers are 
on the LTU varsity roster.
There could be varsity, junior 
varsity ‘
A
’ and ‘B’ and practice 
squads next season depending 
upon how many women are in 
the LTU program. There are 
varsity and junior varsity ‘
A
’ 

sports HIGHlights

NMLS#2289
brought to you in partnership with 

FRANKEL JEWISH ACADEMY

Hannah Resnick makes tough decision 
not to bowl for Lawrence Technological 
University this season.

Safety Over 
Strikes and Spares

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Hannah Resnick was the only girl on the Frankel Jewish Academy 
boys bowling team last season. FJA did not have a girls bowling 
team.

Hannah 
Resnick

Batter Up! New West Bloomfi
 eld 
Baseball Coach Ready for 
Opening Day ... Again

Josh Birnberg’s 
first game as West 
Bloomfield High 
School baseball 
coach also will 
be the first game 
on the new turf 
at the school’s 
baseball field. 

JOSH BIRNBERG

