24 | APRIL 15 • 2021 

E

ric Israel is back on 
the ice.
The 26-year-
old Rapid City (S.D.) 
Rush defenseman from 
Huntington Woods suffered 
a torn MCL in his left knee 
Dec. 12 in the Rush’s sec-
ond game of the season, 
but he returned to action 
Feb. 13 for the ECHL team.
“I put in lots of hours of 
rehab at our physical therapy 
place,” Israel said. “The knee 

feels good. I tweak it once in 
a while — my knee lets me 
know it doesn’t like what I’m 
doing — but I’m healthy.”
Israel had played in eight 
games this season as of 
mid-March. The 5-foot-10, 
185-pounder’s lone two 
points came on a pair of 
assists after he returned 
from his injury.
In 52 games last year with 
the Rush, Israel’s first season 
as a professional hockey 

player, he had one 
goal and 16 assists.
Israel, a Berkley 
High School graduate, 
has an impressive 
hockey background.
He played in the 
Honey Baked youth 
travel hockey program in 
the Detroit area, winning 
back-to-back national 
championships, before 
playing junior hockey for 
the Brockville (Ont.) Braves 
of the Central Canada 
Hockey League for two 
seasons and Division I 
hockey at Robert Morris 
University, located outside 
Pittsburgh, Pa.

Israel was signed by 
the ECHL’s Fort Wayne 
(Ind.) Comets before 
the 2019-20 season 
but after playing in two 
pre-season games for 
the Comets, he was 
traded to the Rush for 
future considerations.
The ECHL is one step 
below the American Hockey 
League, the NHL’s top feeder 
league. The Rush is an affil-
iated of the NHL’s Arizona 
Coyotes.
The 2020-21 began in 
December so pandemic pro-
tocols could be put in place, 
and the season will continue 
until early summer. 

quick hits
BY STEVE STEIN 

A

better script couldn’t 
have been written.
On opening day, in 
the first game for new West 
Bloomfield High School base-
ball coach Josh Birnberg and 
the first game played on the 
Lakers’ new turf field, West 
Bloomfield beat Lincoln Park 
3-2 in extra innings.
Josh Weiss had a starring 
role in the production.
In his first varsity game, the 
junior third baseman-pitcher 
was the winning pitcher, and 
he had a walk-off hit in the 
bottom of the eighth inning.
After entering the game in 
the bottom of the seventh and 
getting an infield hit, Weiss 
pitched the top of the eighth 
and faced just three Lincoln 
Park batters. He fanned two 

and one was retired on a 
groundout.
With the bases loaded in the 
bottom of the eighth, Weiss 
drove the ball on a couple 
hops to the fence in left-cen-
ter, setting off a dog pile cele-
bration with his teammates.
“In shock. I had just gotten 
into the game in the previous 
inning after warming up to 
pitch a couple times,” is how 
Weiss described his emotions 
in the immediate aftermath of 
his game-winning single.
Coach Birnberg, 25, a former 
West Bloomfield baseball star 
who was the starting shortstop 
for the Lakers four years and 
captain for two years before 
graduating in 2014, lost his first 
season as the West Bloomfield 
baseball coach last year.

The COVID-19 pandemic 
wiped out high school spring 
sports across the state before 
Birnberg could even run a 
practice with his team.
“I’d loved to have beaten 
Lincoln Park 10-0, but what 
happened was the next best 
thing,” he said. “What a per-
fect way to start the season on 
our new field.”
Perfect is a good way to 
describe West Bloomfield’s 
pitching against Lincoln Park 
in the March 26 game. Three 
Lakers pitchers including 
Weiss did not allow a hit.
Weiss’ good friend Matt 
Fountain came on in the 
second inning and threw six 
innings with 10 strikeouts and 
just one walk.
Lincoln Park scored once in 

sports HIGHlights

NMLS#2289
brought to you in partnership with 

West Bloomfi
 eld High School junior is the winning pitcher and 
has a walk-of
 hit in the Lakers’ fi
 rst game of the season.
Opening Day Drama

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Who is that masked man? 
West Bloomfield baseball 
player Josh Weiss.

ANDREW WEISS

A Rapid Recovery in Rapid City
for Hockey Hopeful Eric Israel

Eric Israel

