30 | JUNE 8 • 2023
SPORTS
F
or a variety of reasons,
it was a season to
remember for the
Frankel Jewish Academy
baseball team.
First and foremost, the
Jaguars finished strong
with eight wins in their
last nine games. They
ended up 9-4 overall, 4-0
in the Catholic League, and
won their second straight
Catholic League division
championship after a 16-year
division title drought.
They should have played
more than 13 games.
“We lost five games to
weather. Rain, snow and
cold. The weather was
uncooperative until the final
two weeks of the season,”
said Frankel coach Joe
Bernstein. “We lost another
game because there were no
umpires.”
One of Frankel’s wins was
a historic 5-3 non-league
victory in mid-May over
Allen Park Cabrini, a team
the Jaguars had never beaten.
“We’ve been playing
Cabrini once or twice a
year for about 25 years,”
Bernstein said. “Sometimes
the games haven’t been close.
We always circle that game
on our schedule to judge our
progress.
“That’s a very good
program, one we’d like to
emulate. Each year, they’re
competitive in the state
playoffs, in the running for
a Catholic League division
title, and they play the right
way.”
There were plenty of
Frankel heroes in the victory
at Cabrini.
Pitching staff ace Ryan
Schmeltz threw a complete
game and helped his cause at
the plate with an RBI triple.
Ethan Grey was on base in
all four of his at-bats (single,
double, two walks) and he
had three stolen bases.
Ryan Rubin had three
singles, stole four bases and
scored three runs.
Caleb Robbins contributed
an RBI triple.
“I told the kids after the
game that we had never
beaten Cabrini,” Bernstein
said. “All they knew before
the game is this is a team we
really wanted to beat. Our
alumni players were aware of
the significance of the win.”
Each Frankel victory
this season was especially
significant because the
Jaguars did not participate in
the state playoffs.
A “perfect storm” of
the schedule of the state
playoffs and Frankel’s annual
educational class trips,
Bernstein said, made it
impossible for the Jaguars to
play in the post-season.
It was the first time in
Bernstein’s nine years in the
Frankel baseball program,
including the last four as
the coach, that the Jaguars
didn’t participate in the state
tournament.
“The state has been great
about working with us on
scheduling (around Shabbat)
in the state playoffs,”
Bernstein said.
Frankel seniors went
In a Frankel baseball season where every game was
a ‘must-win,’ one victory stood out among the others.
Sparkling on the Diamond
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
JONAH MILLER
Ryan Schmeltz was the ace of
the Frankel pitching staff.
Frankel baseball coach Joe Bernstein lines up with seniors (from left) Gabe Gordon,
Ethan Gray, Merrick Michaelson and Caleb Robbins.
AMY ROBBINS