Stephen P. Jaksa is an American college baseball coach and former pitcher. Jaksa is the head baseball coach at Saginaw Valley State University. He played college baseball at Central Michigan University from 1974 to 1979 for head coach Dave Keilitz. He was the head baseball coach at Northwood University in 1998 and at Central Michigan from 2002 to 2019.

Steve Jaksa
Jaksa with Central Michigan in 2018
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamSaginaw Valley State
ConferenceGLIAC
Record46–51–1
Playing career
1974–1979Central Michigan
Position(s)Pitcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1986Miami (OH) (P/C)
1987–1997Nouvel Catholic Central HS
1998Northwood
1999–2001Central Michigan (P/C)
2002–2018Central Michigan
2019–2022Saginaw Valley State
Head coaching record
Overall581–497–3
TournamentsMAC: 24–32
NCAA: 0–0
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
  • 6× West Division (2004, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017)
Awards
  • 2× MAC Coach of the Year (2004, 2015)

Playing career

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Jaksa graduated from Grand Blanc High School in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Jaksa then played college baseball at Central Michigan University from 1974 to 1979.

Coaching career

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Jaksa was an assistant at Miami University in 1986 while he was working on his master's degree. He then spent the next 11 years as the head baseball coach at Nouvel Catholic Central High School, where he won two state championships in 1990 and 1997.[1] Jaksa became the head coach at Northwood University in 1998, and guided the team to a 28–25 record. The following year, he became an assistant for Judd Folske at Central Michigan. In the summer of 2002, Jaksa was promoted to head coach. Jaksa guided the Chippewas to 500 wins,[2] and was twice named the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year. (2004 and 2015). On June 2, 2018, Jaksa retired from Central Michigan as the program's 2nd most winning head coach.[3] Just two months after his retirement, he was named the head baseball coach at Saginaw Valley State University.[4]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Northwood Timberwolves (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1998)
1998 Northwood 28–25 16–13 4th
Northwood: 28–25 16–13
Central Michigan Chippewas (Mid-American Conference) (2002–2018)
2002 Central Michigan 31–25 14–10 3rd (West) MAC Tournament
2003 Central Michigan 25–28 9–15 T-5th (West)
2004 Central Michigan 33–24 18–6 1st (West) MAC Tournament
2005 Central Michigan 42–18 18–6 2nd (West) MAC Tournament
2006 Central Michigan 35–23 17–9 1st (West) MAC Tournament
2007 Central Michigan 35–21 21–6 2nd (West) MAC Tournament
2008 Central Michigan 29–27–1 13–13 5th (West) MAC Tournament
2009 Central Michigan 28–30 12–15 4th (West) MAC Tournament
2010 Central Michigan 36–22 20–7 1st (West) MAC Tournament
2011 Central Michigan 31–27 17–9 1st (West) MAC Tournament
2012 Central Michigan 34–29 17–10 2nd (West) MAC Tournament
2013 Central Michigan 25–32 12–15 T-4th (West) MAC Tournament
2014 Central Michigan 35–23 19–8 2nd (West) MAC Tournament
2015 Central Michigan 35–22 20–7 1st (West) MAC Tournament
2016 Central Michigan 24–37 12–12 4th (West) MAC Tournament
2017 Central Michigan 31–28 16–8 1st (West) MAC Tournament
2018 Central Michigan 29–30–1 16–11 4th MAC Tournament
Central Michigan: 507–421–2 271–167
Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (2019–present)
2019 Saginaw Valley State 21–29–1 11–16–1 6th GLIAC Tournament
2020 Saginaw Valley State 8–5 0–0 Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Saginaw Valley State 17–17 12–12 6th GLIAC Tournament
Saginaw Valley State: 46–51–1 23–28–1
Total: 581–497–3

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ Hugh Bernreuter (August 16, 2018). "Former Nouvel, CMU coach Steve Jaksa takes over SVSU baseball program". www.mlive.com. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  2. ^ Andy Sneddon (May 11, 2018). "CMU's Jaksa gets 500th career win, Chippewas top RedHawks 6-2". themorningsun.com. BLOX Media Content. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  3. ^ Tony Paul (June 2, 2018). "College notes: CMU's 2nd-winningest baseball coach retires". www.detroitnews.com. USA Today. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  4. ^ "SVSU hires Jaksa as new baseball coach". www.ourmidland.com. Hearst Newspapers. August 15, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
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