Taylor Bump’s home in Gulf 

Port, Fla. is almost 1200 miles from 
Ann Arbor.

Situated right on the azure 

waters of Tampa Bay, it’s about 
a 40-minute drive from South 
Florida’s softball stadium. The 
last thing anyone would associate 
with the house is softball. Yet by 
a chance event, the sport became 
both the nexus and the antithesis 
of the freshman third baseman’s 
house, all in one afternoon.

It was after the Michigan softball 

team had wrapped up the USF 
Wilson-Demarini 
Tournament. 

If there was one word to describe 
the up-and-down weekend, tiring 
would be a fitting choice. Five 
games in three days, smack dab in 
the middle of midterms, the players 
had a lot on their plate. Back home 
in Michigan, however, an incessant 
winter storm had no plans to stop.

Coach Carol Hutchins broke the 

news to the Wolverines: their flight 
back to Detroit had been cancelled. 
They would need to stay the night 
in Tampa after having already 
spent more than three days there 
before. That would give them only 
two full days back home until they 
had to go back on the road and play 
in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

“Now what are we going to do?” 

Hutchins wondered.

The team had 24 hours to kill, 

over 20 hungry coaches and players 
to feed and no hotel booked. In the 
midst of all that, Hutchins didn’t 
turn to a coach, captain or another 
veteran, but rather to Bump, fresh 
off her first collegiate start at third 

base, for advice.

“Well, I asked her, ‘Taylor, if you 

were stuck in Tampa with all your 
softball friends, what would there 
be to do?’ ” Hutchins said. “I was 
wondering what we might do. Go 
to Busch Gardens? Go to the beach? 
Walk around?”

Bump had no hesitation. Even 

as a freshman, she knew that she 
had lots of camaraderie within 
Michigan softball and a tight 
family at worst an hour’s drive 
away. The third baseman goes as 
far as describing her teammates as 
“basically my family now.” So, just 
like that she picked up the phone.

“Hey mom, how do you feel 

about having the whole team over?”

Bump says her mom showed no 

hesitation.

Fast forward a few hours, and 

it’s easy to see that Hutchins, Bump 
and the rest of the team made the 
right choice. The players traded 
in sweaty uniforms for swimwear 
and peace of mind. Some of the 
assistant coaches and the seniors 
stopped by a local Publix and 
bought the fixings for a makeshift 
ice cream and snack bar — a 
welcome indulgence for everyone 
from Bump to Hutchins.

But therein lies exactly the 

beauty of the softball team’s Tampa 
excursion. Even though the players 
and coaches didn’t follow the most 
efficient schedule or regimen for 
the day, the opportunity to relax 
and bond off the field over the 
course of a long season provides 
them a chance to grow closer as 
normal people: without being 
forced to work together by the rigid 
construct of college athletics.

“I think every time that we’re 

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, February 15, 2018 — 5A

Game-saving plays against Spartans display Cecconi’s growth

“Don’t let the puck cross the 

line.”

That was the only thought 

going through Joseph Cecconi’s 
mind late in Saturday night’s 
game against Michigan State.

With under three minutes 

left in regulation, sophomore 
goaltender 
Hayden 
Lavigne 

had just made two critical 
saves to preserve the Michigan 
hockey team’s 3-2 lead over the 
Spartans. But the rebound was 
loose and the netminder was 
out of position to make a play.

Michigan 
State 
forward 

Cody Milan backhanded the 
puck toward a wide-open net, 
and suddenly, the Spartans 
were 
milliseconds 
from 

tying the game and spoiling 
the 
Wolverines’ 
hopes 
for 

a regulation win and three 
points.

But in swooped Cecconi, and 

the junior defenseman would 
follow through on his own 
command.

Originally, Cecconi wanted 

to swat the puck away from the 
goal, but as he fell backward into 
the net, he realized he couldn’t. 
Instead, he caught the puck in 
his right hand and caressed it 
to his chest. Recognizing where 
he was, Cecconi pushed the 
puck out before it could cross 
the goal line — preventing, after 
further review, the game-tying 
goal.

“When it’s a scramble like 

that, everyone has to go back 
to the front of the net,” Cecconi 
said. “I was the closest guy to 
the net and Hayden was far out, 
so I just stepped right in there 
and made a save, I guess.”

The previous night, Cecconi 

was watching his teammates 
from the Munn Ice Arena 
stands 
in 
East 
Lansing, 

dejected after being called for 

a game misconduct and ejection 
for a high hit midway through 
the first period. Twenty-four 
hours later at Little Caesars 
Arena, 
the 
blueliner 
was 

making a heroic 
heads-up 
play 

to 
ultimately 

seal a Michigan 
victory 
in 
the 

annual “Duel at 
the D.”

Three 

minutes earlier, 
Cecconi was the 
first one down 
the ice with the 
puck, 
looking 

to make a play on the rush. A 
pinpoint cross-ice pass to a 
trailing Quinn Hughes resulted 
in a toe-drag from the freshman 
defenseman and the game-
winning goal.

Saturday 
night’s 
standout 

game was just an addition to 
an already-breakout season for 
Cecconi. His 16 points — four 
goals and 12 assists — and 69 
shots double his production in 

both categories 
from 
his 

freshman 
and 

sophomore 
campaigns.

Michigan 

coach 
Mel 

Pearson 
believes 
that 

while Cecconi’s 
offensive ability 
has always been 
there, he hadn’t 

been able to put it to good use 
until this season.

After two years of being 

underutilized, Pearson’s new 
systems suddenly gave Cecconi 
the 
chance 
to 
capitalize, 

especially on the power play. 

Focused on moving the puck 
low-to-high in the offensive 
zone, 
the 
Wolverines’ 

defensemen are now registering 
more shots from the blueline, 
affording 
Cecconi scoring 
opportunities 
aplenty. And he 
hasn’t put them 
to waste.

With 
crisp 

passes 
and 

strong 
blasts 

from the point, 
the Youngstown, 
N.Y. native has 
notched 
two 

goals and seven assists with the 
man advantage — comprising 
more than half of his points 
and more than any fellow 
defenseman with the extra 
man.

“He’s got good offensive 

skills, and I just think with that 
encouragement and confidence 
and the opportunity, he’s taken 
advantage of it,” Pearson said. 
“I think his growth in his game 

is huge.”

Pearson 

credits 
part 

of 
Cecconi’s 

offensive success 
to his elite puck 
management, 
seen 
in 
swift 

breakouts 
from 
the 

defensive zone, 
anticipating 
his 
teammates’ 

positions and passing “like a 
pro.”

On defense, his 6-foot-2, 

205-pound frame contributes 
to an increased reach with the 
stick and being able to body up 
opponents in scrums.

But Pearson was quickest to 

point to Cecconi’s increased 
maturity as a reason for recent 
achievements.

He 
believes 
Cecconi’s 

elevated poise started with 
winning a gold medal with 
Team USA at the 2017 U-20 
World Junior Championships 
— an experience that “really 
changed him.” Next was being 
named an assistant captain.

“Obviously, he is a leader, 

he wears a letter, he plays in 
every situation for us,” Pearson 
said. “He’s still young, but 
he’s matured a lot, and I think 
just 
taking 
on 
that 
added 

responsibility has helped him 
understand what being a leader 
is all about.”

Cecconi agrees. Offseason 

drills 
upped 
his 
technical 

game, 
but 
he 
considers 

his veteran presence on a 
roster mainly comprised of 
youngsters to have made the 
greatest difference.

“Being an upperclassman, I 

know that I have more of a role 
to play on the team,” Cecconi 
said. “I think that added to my 
confidence.”

And the “A” on Cecconi’s 

jersey is rubbing off on his 
teammates.

“Joe’s a great friend, a great 

teammate and a great player, 
obviously,” 
said 
Hughes, 

Cecconi’s 
defensive 
partner. 

“He just keeps things light, 
he’s not always serious … and 
he’s a very well-liked guy in the 
locker room.”

With intimidating defense, 

sharpshooting on the power 
play and veteran leadership, 
Cecconi has stepped up in a big 
way.

“He understands how the 

team counts on a guy like him,” 
Pearson said. “Especially when 
you’re given the opportunity, 
you have to seize it and take 
advantage of it, and he has.”

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Junior defenseman Joseph Cecconi has flourished into a reliable offensive player since coach Mel Pearson’s system has given him more opportunities.

BENJAMIN KATZ

Daily Sports Writer

“He just keeps 
things light, 

he’s not always 

serious.”

“... I just 

stepped right in 
there and made 
a save, I guess.”

The junior defenseman made a heady play to prevent what would have been the game-tying goal in Michigan’s 3-2 win

The perfect snowstorm

ACROSS
1 Día de San
Valentín flowers
6 California’s __
Gabriel
Mountains
9 Construction rod
14 Remove from the
bulletin board
15 Blood type letters
16 Like 36 piano
keys, traditionally
17 Lewis with 12
Emmys
18 “That ’70s Show”
exchange
student whose
nationality isn’t
revealed
19 Lessen
20 *Beer hall snacks
23 Surf and turf, say
24 NASA vehicle
25 Tempe sch.
28 Time for action
29 *Deli snacks
33 Actress Neuwirth
with Tonys and
Emmys
34 Slim craft
35 *Bakery snacks
41 “Tempt not a
desperate man”
speaker
42 Pretty good
43 *Diner snacks
46 California wine
valley
50 Favorite
51 One of three
rhyming mos.
52 Pavement
cloppers
54 Component of
balanced health
... and what each
answer to a
starred clue looks
like it should be
part of?
57 Lose one’s cool
in a big way
60 Murmur
61 Lift with force
62 Car or tree
feature
63 Tote
64 Film with lots of
shooting stars?
65 Ships
66 Stat for Clayton
Kershaw

67 Flexible Flyers,
e.g.

DOWN
1 Blitzed, in football
2 In stock
3 Peloponnesian
War victor
4 Put on the line?
5 Wading bird
6 No-risk
7 Help with an
inside job, say
8 Gas pump part
9 Genuine article
10 Flows out
11 Feathery wrap
12 House pest
13 Bread with
caraway seeds
21 Insurgent
22 Charged fish?
25 Indigenous
Japanese
26 Notice
27 Multi-tools have
many
30 Old hoops org.
31 Board
32 Solo with a
Wookiee co-pilot
33 Nowheresville,
with “the”
35 Cut closely

36 Sharpen
37 Skip over
38 Board bigwig
39 Heart test letters
40 Broth that’s the
base of miso
soup
44 Cath. or Prot.
45 Christmas eave
decor
46 “The agreement
is off”
47 Take wing

48 Rather put out
49 Starlike flowers
53 Figure-eight
steps, in an
Argentine tango
54 Posterior
55 Acidic
56 Draped garment
57 FG’s three
58 Exist
59 Many a “Call the
Midwife”
character

By Elliot M. Abrams
©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/15/18

02/15/18

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

RELEASE DATE– Thursday, February 15, 2018

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

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FILE PHOTO/Daily

The Michigan softball team stayed in Florida on Sunday due to a snowstorm.

together, when we’re together on 

the field and in the locker room, we 
become really close, but when we’re 
together outside of the field and 
outside of the locker room, there’s 
just something, there’s a different 

kind of bond that forms,” Bump said. 
“And with trust and with laughter 
and with, just like, smiles, and just 
being around each other when 
we’re not around softball, it makes 
us really comfortable together.”

The Wolverines won’t have many 

more opportunities off the beaten 
path to build up true team bonds 
like they did on this sunny Sunday 
in Florida. The opportunity to 
establish a family, like the perfect 

pitch for a batter, is something 
Michigan can’t afford to miss out 
on. Right now, though, after an 
opportune snowstorm and Bump’s 
open home, it seems the Wolverines 
are on the right track.

RIAN RATNAVALE

Daily Sports Writer

