Brother Rice Finals Hero Aiming to Ace Family Life, Financial World
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
July 6, 2023
Matt Conway said the 2008 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice baseball team he played on wasn’t necessarily the most talented group to ever come through the state.
But that squad was still plenty good, and there was one thing that became evident during the playoff run the Warriors went on 15 years ago.
“Nobody really stood a chance,” Conway said.
It was certainly hard to argue.
During the MHSAA Division 1 Tournament, Brother Rice outscored its opponents by a combined score of 74-8 and never trailed during its seven playoff games.
The run culminated with an 8-0 win over Saline in the Division 1 championship game at Battle Creek’s C.O. Brown Stadium, led by a four-hit shutout from Conway on the mound. The title was Brother Rice’s third in school history and remains its most recent.
“The team camaraderie we had and the willingness we had to play for each other really showed in the way we dominated the playoffs,” said Conway, who now works for Center Rock Capital Partners, a private equity industrial firm based in Bloomfield Hills.
While the Warriors that year had camaraderie and chemistry, one thing they also had that other teams didn’t was Conway, who at the time was arguably the best prep player in the state.
Not only was the 6-foot-7 Conway an ace pitcher, he was also a fearsome power hitter at or near the top of the lineup.
The shutout in the championship game as a junior was only one of his achievements in high school, given he was also named first-team all-state in 2008 and 2009.
During his junior year, Conway batted .429 at the plate and was 11-1 on the mound.
Conway was an all-around force again for Brother Rice in 2009, but the Warriors fell short in their bid to repeat, losing in a Quarterfinal to Saline.
After graduating from Brother Rice in 2009, Conway went on to play baseball at Wake Forest, and his college career got off to a terrific start. He was named a freshman All-American at Wake Forest after leading the Demon Deacons with a .382 batting average during his first college season.
He went off during the summer after his sophomore year to play in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League in Massachusetts, arguably the nation’s premier summer league for college prospects and followed intensely by pro scouts.
Unfortunately, a knee injury made his time there short-lived.
“Unfortunately in the first game, I got hurt pretty bad,” Conway said. “I had to leave the Cape, and things weren’t really the same ever since.”
Conway eventually finished a nice college career at Wake Forest, but had to battle through more knee injuries.
He ultimately decided a professional baseball career wasn’t meant to be.
“At that point, I realized this is maybe not the path I was supposed to take,” Conway said. “I played through my senior year, and then took the uniform off and put on a suit. It was a little different, but I do believe things happen for a reason.”
Indeed, Conway has no complaints. He’s happily married to his wife Stephanie and has two children, an 18-month-old daughter and an infant son about a month old.
As an alum of Wake Forest, Conway was obviously thrilled to see the Demon Deacons advance to the College World Series semifinals and earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament this season.
“I had a ticket booked to Omaha to go to the championship series if they made it,” he said.
Conway has worked for Center Rock Capital Partners since 2018 and has always had plenty of knowledge in the financial and business sectors, given his father, Van, is a renowned financial consultant who owns a firm in Birmingham.
While his baseball playing days have been over for a while, Matt Conway said the lessons he learned playing in high school for Brother Rice head coach Bob Riker, and at Wake Forest for head coach Tom Walter, prepared him well for his current career and will always be with him.
“Time management, prioritizing and making sure you are on top of what you need to get done,” Conway said. “It taught me more than I could ever think of.”
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PHOTOS (Top) Brother Rice’s Matt Conway walks to the plate to accept his medal after the Warriors' Division 1 title-clinching win in 2008, and these days is building a family with wife Stephanie. (Middle) Conway makes his move toward the plate during that 2008 championship game. (Baseball photos from MHSAA archives; family photo courtesy of the Conway family.)
Off to Superb Start, Three Rivers Eager to Build on Program-Best Run
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
April 14, 2026
THREE RIVERS – The Three Rivers varsity baseball team reached historic heights last spring with an experienced group of seniors and talented underclassmen in Scott Muffley's return to the third-base coaching box.
Three Rivers caught fire during the 2025 postseason and finished 25-15 overall, winning Division 2 District and Regional championships before falling 10-0 in its Division 2 Quarterfinal to eventual champion Ada Forest Hills Eastern. The Regional title was the program's first.
Muffley, a Three Rivers alumnus and long-time marketing teacher at the high school, begins his second season of this second tenure after previously guiding the Wildcats to a District title in 2010. He later enjoyed a successful stint as Schoolcraft's head baseball coach before resigning to follow the careers of his daughter Josie in Division I softball at Florida State and son Jordyn in minor league baseball.
Even though he graduated eight seniors, Muffley returns six starters, including senior starting first and third baseman Mason Awe.
"We got really hot towards the end of last season. We played our hearts out with great team baseball,” Awe said. “When everyone started listening to Coach Muffley near the end of the year, that's when we began hitting and playing very well. Our pitching and hitting are really strong again.”
Hitting, speed on the basepaths and defense will be Three Rivers' biggest team strengths. Awe was selected second-team all-state as a junior after batting .462 with 12 extra-base hits, 23 RBI, 26 runs scored and 12 stolen bases.
He had multiple college baseball scholarship offers but instead will attend Kalamazoo College and play football, hoping to compete for the starting quarterback job this fall.
Other key returnees for the Wildcats this season include junior pitcher and utility player Aiden Williams, junior catcher Tate Rohrer, senior centerfielder Brady Penny, senior pitcher and third baseman Gabriel Young, junior shortstop and pitcher Drake Dibble and senior outfielder Carson Bowley.
"Mason is going to be my utility guy. He can play anywhere in the infield and has a strong stick in our lineup," Muffley said.
"Tate will have to be a strong horse for us again behind the plate," Muffley added.
Dibble, a three-sport athlete, will be counted on heavily to make a lot of plays at shortstop.
"We had great team players last year. Our goal is to win more hardware and win our (group’s) first conference title. That hasn't been done in a very long time,” Dibble said. “The biggest thing is we just have to play for one another."
Sophomores Rylan Corte and Tyson Rohrer are making a big impact. Corte is a middle infielder, while Tyson Rohrer is a left-handed pitcher and roams the outfield.
"Rylan has a phenomenal glove and is very smooth," said Muffley, who added that Corte and Dibble already have executed a half-dozen double plays.
Williams returns as Three Rivers' ace on the pitcher's mound, where he compiled a 6-2 record with a 1.69 ERA as a sophomore with 49 strikeouts over 49 2/3 innings pitched.
Corte, Dibble, Tyson Rohrer, Penny, Cole Dunmier, Nowak and Young will shoulder a few innings on the mound as well.
"It was tough as a pitcher my sophomore year in a conference as strong as ours, but I got solid experience. I took this year off from football and put 30 pounds on, and I have increased my fastball by six miles per hour," said Williams, who has verbally committed to play at Glen Oaks Community College in two years. His future plans are to study education and become a coach.
"Team chemistry is definitely a key. We had a lot of tough losses early last season, and once we came together as a team we all had one goal, to keep winning."
Despite graduating a significant class a year ago, Three Rivers hasn't missed a beat this spring getting off to an 8-0-1 start. That strong beginning includes league sweeps of Otsego and Sturgis.
The Wildcats are 4-0 in the Wolverine Conference entering today’s home doubleheader against Plainwell. They are shooting for the school's first league title since 1974.
When Muffley got an opportunity to return to the program before last season, he jumped at it.
"I had the itching to get back into coaching, When (athletic director) Matt Stofer asked me to come back, it was just perfect timing,” Muffley said. “I saw the group of individuals we had coming up. I knew there was a lot of talent there. The only thing we had to do was get them to buy into a system, and it took time.
“Things went very well for us last season once we did that. It involves not only the ability to play the game, but mental toughness, self-visualization, goal setting, positive and negative self-talk, being a good teammate and the ability to be coachable.
"What we have are a lot of good quality players who are interchangeable with plenty of arms, especially our younger kids. We just have to put everything together. Baseball is a mental game, 70 percent failure and 30 percent success. It's a learning process that many of these kids don't see until the next level. We're teaching that aspect to them now."
Penny, a four-year varsity player, serves as Three Rivers' leadoff hitter followed by Williams in the No. 2 slot, Young or Tyson Rohrer hitting third and Awe as the clean-up hitter.
Dibble, Tate Rohrer, Corte, Ethan Moreland and junior Alex Nowak also have provided plenty of punch at the plate during the early portion of the schedule. Three Rivers' goal at the plate is to hit .330. The Wildcats batted .326 a year ago, and that was a big reason for much of their success. They were a base-hitting team with just six home runs in 2025.
"Our achievements last season were big and helped put Three Rivers baseball on the map. I think we have a good squad. We want to win another District, Regional and keep working from there," said Penny, who anchors the Wildcats' starting outfield.
"Brady has blazing speed; the kid makes some unbelievable catches out there and tracks things down well. At the plate he can lay down a bunt and beat plays out," Muffley said.
When not pitching, Tyson Rohrer will play first, left field or right field. Bowley, junior Ethan Moreland and junior Lincoln Burkey also will log time in the Wildcats' outfield.
"My role as a senior is to keep everyone humble and to play for one another and be a real team, build chemistry and teach the younger guys to listen. If you can do all those things, you will succeed," Bowley said.
Sophomore JT Wilds, a pitcher and infielder, will split time between the junior varsity and varsity squads throughout the season, along with Cooper Goff (c, of).
Muffley's coaching staff consists of Derek Adams – one of Muffley's former players – along with Steve Dibble, Jerry Burgess and Chris Kearney.
"Our coaching staff is phenomenal. We all share the same philosophy and have the same level of passion for the game,” Muffley said. “They have all been a Godsend. We all get along and believe in playing the game the right way."
Scott Hassinger is a contributing sportswriter for Leader Publications and previously served as the sports editor for the Three Rivers Commercial-News from 1994-2022. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Three Rivers’ Aiden Williams delivers a pitch to the plate last season during a tournament game. (Middle) Brady Penny throws the ball back into the infield after making a catch in center field. (Photos courtesy of the Three Rivers athletic department.)