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