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