34 | MAY 20 • 2021 

What a difference a year makes 
isn’t always a trite cliche.
It truly describes this season 
for the Frankel Jewish Academy 
girls tennis team.
After not playing last season 
because spring sports were 
shut down by the Michigan 
Department of Health 
and Human Services and 
Michigan High School Athletic 
Association in the wake of 

the COVID-19 pandemic, the 
Jaguars won their first Catholic 
League division championship 
this season.
And they did it in style.
They won all three of their 
Intersectional II matches 8-0, 
beating Madison Heights Bishop 
Foley, Allen Park Cabrini and 
Riverview Gabriel Richard.
While they were doing that, 
they surprised Royal Oak Shrine 

6-2 in a Catholic League cross-
over match.
Not bad for a team that hadn’t 
won a match since 2018 and 
had just three practices in 2020.
“
After those three practices 
last year, I thought we’d have 
a better season than in 2019. 
Then the season was canceled,” 
said fourth-year FJA coach 
Leroy Zagata.
“I knew we’d have a strong 
team this year. I was hoping for 
a good season. I was floored 
when we beat Shrine (April 28). 
They’re usually a solid team.”
Nobody exemplifies the 
Jaguars’ climb more than 
the doubles team of seniors 
Mackenzie Morton and Adena 
Wolf.
They won a couple matches at 
No. 4 doubles as freshmen and 
didn’t win any matches at No. 
1 doubles as sophomores. They 
won their first four matches 
this season at No. 1 and No. 2 
doubles.
“Mackenzie and Adena have 
never let losing get them down. 
They’re always happy to play,” 

Zagata said.
FJA
’s singles lineup has fresh-
man Abigail Gelfand, senior 
Arielle Shlafer, junior Sophie 
Fieler and sophomore Aliyah 
Lofman.
Other doubles teams are 
seniors Sabrina Carson and 
Lillian Beavers, sophomore Erin 
Grey and junior Rayna Golnick 
and seniors Sophia Aaron and 
Anna Weinbaum.
The Jaguars finished their 
dual match season last week 
by facing Ann Arbor Gabriel 
Richard and North Farmington. 
They’ll play in a Division 4 
regional tournament May 20 at 
AA Gabriel Richard.
They lost 7-1 May 12 to AA 
Gabriel Richard, suffering their 
first defeat of the season.
“Long matches and long 
points. And a bit of a wake-up 
call for regionals,” Zagata said 
following the loss.
The future is bright for the 
FJA girls tennis program. There 
are 26 girls in the program this 
season, up from the 14 to 16 the 
previous three years. 

quick hits
BY STEVE STEIN 

SPORTS

David Vinsky’s professional 
baseball career was derailed last 
season when the minor leagues 
were shut down because of the 
COVID-19 pandemic.
Vinsky is back on track 
this season. The 22-year-old 
outfielder from Northville is 
playing for the Springfield 
(Mo.) Cardinals, the St. Louis 
Cardinals’ affiliate in the 
Double-A Central league, two 
levels below the majors.
Vinsky was supposed to 
start last season on the roster 
of the Peoria (Ill.) Chiefs, the 

Cardinals’ affiliate in the low-
Class A Midwest League.
He never played in Peoria in 
what was supposed to be his first 
full season as a pro. Instead, he 
jumped right over that level.
Vinsky was hitting just 
.231 through five games at 
Springfield, but he had a two-
run single in the first inning May 
7 that gave Springfield a 4-3 lead 
over the Wichita Wind Surge in 
a game Springfield lost 11-7.
Vinsky was selected by the 
Cardinals in June 2019 in the 
15th round of the Major League 

Baseball draft after 
outstanding careers 
at Farmington Hills 
Harrison High School 
and Northwood 
University.
Armed with a 
$100,000 signing 
bonus from the 
Cardinals, Vinsky 
played in 2019 for the Johnson 
City (Tenn.) Cardinals in the 
Rookie Appalachian League and 
State College (Pa.) Spikes in the 
short-season Class A New York-
Penn League.
He hit a combined .284 in 56 
games.
Vinsky was at the St. Louis 

Cardinals’ spring training 
facility in Jupiter, Fla., 
in mid-March last year 
when COVID-19 halted 
professional baseball.
“I was at spring 
training for one day last 
year,
” he said. “They sent 
us (minor leaguers) home 
quickly. We didn’t do any 
baseball activities before we left. 
I had two plane flights in 24 
hours.
”
Vinsky played three seasons 
at Northwood, leaving as the 
program’s all-time leader in hits 
(274), batting average (.411), 
doubles (66), runs (189) and RBI 
(160). 

What’s the Jaguars’ Net Worth? 

Vinsky Moves Up to 
St. Louis Cardinals’ Double-A Team

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Frankel Jewish Academy girls tennis team celebrates its 
Catholic League Intersectional II division championship last week 
after beating Riverview Gabriel Richard at Drake Sports Park in West 
Bloomfield.

FJA

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

David Vinsky

