NMLS#2289
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26 | JUNE 17 • 2021
quick hits
BY STEVE STEIN
W
alkoffs and heartbreaks.
That was the end-of-the-
season story for the West
Bloomfield High School and Frankel Jewish
Academy baseball teams, which were led
by first-year coaches Josh Birnberg and Joe
Bernstein.
Each team rode an emotional roll-
er-coaster in the postseason.
West Bloomfield stunned Birmingham
Seaholm 4-3 on June 5 in a Division 1
district semifinal game at Warrior Park in
Troy on an RBI double in the bottom of the
seventh inning.
But the Lakers lost 8-3 to powerhouse
Birmingham Brother Rice in the district
championship game, falling victim to one
bad inning.
Frankel played just one postseason
game, but it felt like a doubleheader. The
Jaguars lost 5-4 in 11 innings to Southfield
Christian on June 4 in a Division 4 dis-
trict semifinal at Auburn Hills Oakland
Christian.
The losses hurt the Lakers and Jaguars,
but only momentarily. There was much for
them to celebrate a year after the COVID-
19 pandemic wiped out their seasons.
Both Birnberg, a former West Bloomfield
baseball star, and Bernstein were supposed
to have their first season as coach in 2020.
COVID-19 took care of that.
“This season went quickly, but I really
enjoyed it. We had a fun group,
” Birnberg
said. “We started out as a bunch of guys on
a team, and it turned into a family.
“I had no idea what to expect from our
team and the teams on our schedule we
played because nobody played last spring.
“We ended up winning 25 games. It was
the first time the team has won 25 games
in a long time. We won 24 games when we
made it to the Sweet 16 (in 2014) when I
was a senior.
”
The Lakers finished 25-15, 9-6 in the
OAA White Division this season, good for
a second-place tie with Birmingham Groves
and North Farmington behind division
champion Farmington (12-3).
West Bloomfield led Seaholm 3-0 in the
district semifinal, but the Maples tied the
game with a run in the fifth inning and two
more runs in the sixth.
A nine-pitch walk drawn by West
Bloomfield’s Brayden Daulton followed
by a first-pitch double by Logan Pikur off
Seaholm ace Jimmy Love, a Wayne State
University recruit, in the seventh launched a
noisy celebration by the Lakers after courte-
sy runner Jamar Respress crossed the plate.
West Bloomfield led Brother Rice 3-2 in
the top of the fifth, but the Warriors scored
six runs after the first batter was retired.
LORI KERR
West Bloomfi
eld, Frankel baseball teams
celebrate despite season-ending losses.
Walking Of
into the Sunset
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Jackie Kallen Adds her Insight
to The Kings
For those too young to know what
Thomas Hearns accomplished in
the boxing ring and meant to Detroit
over his long career, there’s a
documentary just for you.
The Kings, a four-part Showtime
documentary, focuses on how
Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard,
Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran
dominated the boxing world in the
1980s.
Jackie Kallen is interviewed in the
documentary. She has been Hearns’
publicist for 43 years.
“I first met a young Thomas
Hearns when I did a story about
him for the Oakland Press in 1978,”
she said. “Soon, I was hired as
his publicist, and I worked in that
capacity for both him and the entire
Kronk Gym boxing team for more
than 10 years.”
Kallen began managing boxers
at that point of her career, “but
Thomas and I have remained as
close as ever and continued to work
together,” she said.
It’s not just a working relationship,
Kallen said. It’s a friendship.
“We’ve gone through a lot
together ... marriages, divorces,
birthdays, and the other highs and
lows of life. We’ve become lifelong
friends and enjoy a rare and unique
bond,” she said.
Now 62 and retired from boxing
for 15 years, Hearns’ professional
boxing career spanned nearly three
decades.
He was 61-5-1 in 67 pro fights
from 1977-2006, winning 48
times by knockout. He was the
first boxer in history to win world
championships in five weight
divisions.
Nicknamed the “Motor City
Cobra,” Hearns was a proud
ambassador for his hometown of
Detroit.
“Every win, he won for his city,”
Kallen told the Detroit Free Press.
The Kings debuted June 13.
SPORTS HIGHlights
JACKIE KALLEN
Jackie Kallen and
Thomas Hearns. Kallen
has been Hearns’
publicist for 43 years.
West Bloomfield baseball coach Josh
Birnberg (center), with district semifinal game
walkoff heroes Logan Pikur (left) and Garrett
Kerr. Pikur had the winning hit and Kerr was
the winning pitcher, throwing a complete
game.