Performance: Bay Reps' Jake Stevenson
February 15, 2019
Jake Stevenson
Traverse City St. Francis senior – Hockey
Stevenson had three goals including two straight during the third period to send Saturday’s game against Petoskey to overtime, as his Traverse City Bay Reps co-op team went on to win 5-4 and clinch the Northern Michigan Hockey League championship. Stevenson, in his fourth season in the program, is the team’s leading scorer and has scored five goals over his last three games in earning the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
The Bay Reps are made up of players from Stevenson’s St. Francis High School as well as Bear Lake, Elk Rapids, Kalkaska and Kingsley. They’ve won nine of their last 10 games to move to 17-5 and earn the No. 11 ranking in Division 1. The hat trick was Stevenson’s second this season, and after Thursday’s win over Manistee he has 22 goals and 20 assists in 22 games this winter. Petoskey led Saturday’s game 2-0 before Stevenson scored his first goal, and he added his second on a power play and his third from just outside the circle.
Stevenson is playing this season for his third high school head coach; his dad Mark was the coach Jake’s freshman year, followed by Ryan Fedorinchik the last two and now former assistant – and NHL defenseman – Mike Matteucci. Jake Stevenson also played soccer at St. Francis and golf earlier in high school, and he’s hoping to continue playing hockey at the junior level and then collegiately after graduating this spring. He carries a 3.0 GPA and eventually would like to study drone piloting.
Coach Mike Matteucci said: “This will be Jake's fourth year playing high school hockey, and each year his game has improved. Jake has always wanted to move on to the next level after high school, so the last couple of years he has really taken ownership in his game. As a coach, it is a pleasure to come to the rink every day and have players like Jake who are coachable and who make others around them better. This year more than others, Jake has embraced the ‘team’ game, which as increased our statistical output as well as helped us win more games. What separates Jake from others is his tenacity. He is a very competitive person who is hard to play against. He is definitely an impact player on our team!”
Performance Point: “It's senior year and you don't want to go down without a fight. All the boys started the pick it up in the third period, and we all brought it together,” Stevenson said of his team’s comeback against Petoskey. “We just weren’t connecting our passes. Everyone was getting too nervous with the puck, not really calm. We weren't really playing our game. I think just being one of the leaders on the team, you need to show that even when we're down, it’s no excuse to stop playing. Someone had to step up and take control a little bit.”
Together as a team: “It's fun just knowing there's all these guys (from Bay Reps’ schools) out there, and being able to play with them and meet them and become new friends. I think when we're at the rink we make the most of it, every time we're there from the second we walk in to the second we leave. Usually no one just leaves right after practice – we kinda hang out for a little bit and talk, and catch up and mess around see how everyone's day is going. We hang out every now and then in the summer times. We do some summer hockey together. ... We try to stay close.”
Valuable input: “We've brought in Mike Matteucci as our head coach and Kyle Jean, Mikey Wittersheim and of course Coach (Eric) Videan. I think all the coaching staff has helped a lot, helped bring everyone together. They've taken different looks at kids and helping them out. Coach Jean has helped me out tremendously on offense, just helping me realize when to shoot the puck, when to make the pass, how to make the plays. Coach Matteucci has been helping me a lot in the defensive zone, and so has Coach Videan. And Mikey's our goalie coach, and he's been helping me out with tips on where to shoot.”
Dad knows: “It was great having him as a coach because he played in the high-level juniors and he knows a lot about the game, and he’s coached a lot of kids so that helped a lot. Every now and then he still gives me advice from what he sees and tries to help me out still.”
Game on: “Everybody in my family has played hockey, even my mom did; she played on a girls club team when she was younger. (I have) three sisters and three brothers … I'm the second youngest. We used to build a rink in our back yard, and so we'd all go out there and play, and we got a little competitive because obviously we all want to be the best from the family. But it's fun. I'd say I'm the best, but ... my brother thinks he is. I don't know about that.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) The Bay Reps' Jake Stevenson (5) battles for the puck during a November game against Big Rapids. (Middle) Stevenson brings the puck forward against Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central. (Photos courtesy of the Traverse City Bay Reps hockey program.)
Pro Stars Cherishing St Clair Roots, Support
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 11, 2020
It’s been nearly 10 years since Jacob Cronenworth and Tyler Motte were teammates at St. Clair High School, but the pair still managed to energize their hometown in 2020.
Cronenworth tied for second in the official National League Rookie of the Year voting, which was announced Monday – and won several Rookie of the Year honors from other organizations, including his fellow players – after a standout first season with the San Diego Padres.
Motte was a key cog for the Canucks as they made a run to the Western Conference semifinals, scoring four goals and adding an assist in 17 playoff games, and earning himself a two-year contract extension in October.
And as the folks back home were reveling in that success, both were happy to have the support.
“The support of our town has been crazy throughout my career, even back when I was at Michigan,” Motte said. “When you have the support of not just your friends, family and loved ones, to have it go to an even bigger population where you grew up, that’s cool to see.”
Motte and Cronenworth provided plenty of great memories while students in St. Clair, most notably helping the Saints win the 2011 MHSAA Division 2 baseball championship. Cronenworth was the winning pitcher in the title game, while Motte had two hits and scored what turned out to be the winning run against Grand Rapids Christian.
“Obviously, that was an incredible team,” said Cronenworth, who was a junior that season. “We only lost one game the whole year. It was just a special group of guys. We were all friends, we all played little league together. We’d all play street hockey and basketball together in the summers. It was a great way to cap off our childhood.”
That team featured 10 players who would go on to play college athletics. Two – Joel Seddon and Jared Tobey – joined Cronenworth and Motte as professional draft picks, as they were both selected in the MLB Draft. Another, Jeremy Carrell, is now the Detroit Tigers bullpen catcher.
Most of the players on the title team had been playing together since Little League, where they also had plenty of success, taking second in the state in 2006 before a handful of them came back and took third the next year. As they stayed together, the wins kept coming.
“I think at the time (2011), with that group of people, our eyes were on a state championship,” Motte said. “I was in more of a supporting role, because we had a lot of good baseball players. Just looking back, it was kind of crazy.
“Going through with those guys and how much fun we had in Little League really made the camaraderie we had in high school so much stronger. We had guys that really cared about each other, and that’s what made it really fun.”
The 2011 Division 2 Final was Motte’s final competitive baseball game, as after his sophomore year he joined the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor. He had planned to continue playing baseball while going to school at Ann Arbor Pioneer, but said that it didn’t work out.
“If there was a way to go out, that’s the way to do it,” he said.
Baseball was a big part of Motte’s athletic upbringing, just like hockey was a big part of Cronenworth’s. The two had played travel hockey together locally in Port Huron, and Cronenworth continued to play the sport through high school. By that time, baseball had started to look like his path forward, but he was still a star on the ice, winning the Macomb Area Conference Red MVP.
“It was one of those things, I think Tyler wanted to play both in college, but it was a decision that we kind of had to make – I always wanted to play hockey,” Cronenworth said. “I think probably my sophomore year of high school, maybe freshman year when I got called up to the varsity in baseball, that was the turning point. But (hockey season) was huge. It just gave me a rest from baseball. When we were younger, yeah, you’re playing street hockey in the summer, but when it was baseball season, we played baseball, and when it was hockey season, we played hockey.”
Both went to University of Michigan to continue their academic and athletic careers and took winding professional paths before getting the opportunities they’re currently enjoying.
Both already have been part of multiple pro organizations. Cronenworth was dealt to San Diego after beginning his career as a Tampa Bay Rays draft pick. Motte was a Chicago Blackhawks draft selection and after his first season was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets, who later sent him to Vancouver.
But while they may both be out west now, their biggest fans remain in St. Clair – unless you count each other.
“I got to watch him play basically every single game besides,” Cronenworth said. “He had that game where he scored two short-handed goals, and I’m in my living room at 10:30 in the morning screaming at the TV. We have a group chat with the guys we played with in high school. We’re like one big family. We grew up together.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Former high school teammates Jacob Cronenworth (left) and Tyler Motte meet up while Cronenworth plays minor league baseball for the Bowling Green Hot Rods in 2016. (Middle) Cronenworth shows his support for Motte during the latter’s time suiting up for USA Hockey. (Below) Cronenworth holds the trophy and Motte is bottom row, second from right, as St. Clair celebrates its 2011 Division 2 baseball championship. (Photos of Cronenworth and Motte together courtesy of Tyler Motte; head shots courtesy of MLB.com and NHL.com, respectively.)