A Tale of Two Baseball Teams

SPORTS

From left are West Bloomfield freshman baseball players Ari Klinger, Andre Landau and Max Gross.

Josh Goldberg

A Tale of Two Baseball Teams

Coach, pitchers look to the future.

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The North Farmington High School junior varsity baseball team didn’t win a lot of games this season. Neither did the West Bloomfield High School freshman baseball team.

But at least there was a season, after spring sports were canceled last year by the Michigan High School Athletic Association because of the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

And the young men on the North Farmington and West Bloomfield teams were able to begin their quest to make it to the varsity baseball roster at their school.

The North Farmington JV coach was Josh Goldberg, a 2020 Michigan State University grad whose first season ever as a coach was at his high school alma mater.

“Surreal,” is how Goldberg described the experience.

“I never intended to be a coach, at least not at this age (23),” he said. “But I really enjoyed the experience. It was fun. It was a familiar setting for me. I knew a lot of the kids and their families. It felt like I was back in high school.

“There were lots of learning experiences for us this season, both good and bad because of the pandemic. All will be beneficial.”

Besides being not being too many years older than his players, Goldberg could relate to some of them in a different way.

He didn’t play much on the North Farmington varsity baseball team when he was a junior. But he led the team in hitting when he was a senior, batting around .400 while catching and playing centerfield.

The lesson for his young players who weren’t getting much playing time was never stop working and learning.

GARY KLINGER

RAIDERS’ HOT STREAK

North Farmington finished 11-21. But the Raiders won eight of 11 games during a stretch in early May.

“We put the ball in play, we talked on defense, our base running was good ... We did all the things we needed to do to win,” Goldberg said about the winning streak.

North Farmington’s top pitchers were Jason Bedol, Jacob Berg and Henry Nathan, three of the seven Jewish players on the team.

The other Jewish players were Josh Miller, Sam Melder, Adam Nothstine and Jack Schultz.

Bedol was 3-2 on the mound with a 1.32 ERA. He walked seven and struck out 58 in 26 1/3+ innings. He also was the team’s leading hitter with a .413 batting average.

Berg was 2-4 with a 4.28 ERA. He struck out 49 in 36 innings.

Nathan was 3-3 with a 5.77 ERA. He struck out 28 in 26⅔ innings.

So what’s next for Goldberg after his first foray into coaching?

Armed with a bachelor’s degree in marketing with a minor in sports management from Michigan State, he hopes to land a job with a professional sports team, preferably in baseball or basketball.

He has a particular interest in designing and marketing uniforms.“It’s a niche, but it’s a passion,” he said.

LAKERS’ ARMS

Over at West Bloomfield, the freshman baseball team went 8-18 this spring, but the record is a bit deceiving.

Six of the losses were to powerhouse Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and the Grosse Pointe South junior varsity team. And after starting the season 0-10, the Lakers turned things around and went 8-8 the rest of the way.

“The kids stayed positive all year, even during that tough start,” said West Bloomfield coach Ken Rys. “They brought energy every day.”

West Bloomfield’s top pitchers were Ari Klinger and Andre Landau. Max Gross was the Lakers’ catcher when he wasn’t pitching.

The trio combined for all eight West Bloomfield pitching victories.

“THERE WERE LOTS OF LEARNING EXPERIENCES FOR US THIS SEASON, BOTH GOOD AND BAD BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC. ALL WILL BE BENEFICIAL.”

— RAIDERS’ JOSH GOLDBERG