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