Baseball鈥檚 back at Geibel Catholic
CONNELLSVILLE 鈥� Geibel Catholic鈥檚 baseball team suffered an 11-0 setback on Tuesday in non-section play against Brashear at Soberdash Memorial Field on the campus of Geibel Catholic Junior-Senior High School.
There isn鈥檛 a coach in America that would have been pleased with that result, and there is no doubt Gators head coach Derek Victor shared that sentiment, but the opportunity to actually host a second game this season was a win for the program.
Baseball has not been played at Geibel since 2019, and after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 campaign, the Gators didn鈥檛 return to the field when high school baseball resumed in 2021.
鈥淭hey haven鈥檛 had a program here for a while, so we are thrilled to have a program,鈥� Victor said. 鈥淲e are in the building blocks right now.鈥�
Victor, who is assisted by Matt Yoders, made his debut at Geibel on March 25 against Turkeyfoot Valley. The Gators had a 9-7 lead after five innings, but the Rams rallied for a 17-10 victory.
鈥淲e want to be competitive, and if we can鈥檛 be competitive, then we have stuff we need to work on,鈥� Victor said. 鈥淲e had Turkeyfoot beat through five, then the wheels came off.鈥�
Geibel freshman Eahn Stevenson has been the team鈥檚 catalyst in the early part of the season. He struck out 11 against Turkeyfoot and 10 against the Bulls. Stevenson is 3 for 7 with two triples and five RBIs.
Despite being a ninth grader, Stevenson is one of the Gators鈥� captains. Sophomore catcher John Hess and junior infielder Evan Strimel are also captains.
Sophomore Gary Tarbuk is leading the team with an .833 batting average. The Geibel first baseman has five hits, including two doubles through two games.
The Gators are not only young, but very inexperienced, as Stevenson is the lone player with a consistent amount of playing time.
Victor knows that will be a challenge, especially to work on fundamentals throughout the course of a season.
鈥淢ost of the other guys that have some playing experience haven鈥檛 played since Little League,鈥� Victor said. 鈥淲e have 12 kids on the team, and nine are on the basketball team.
鈥淭here are going to be some growing pains. It鈥檚 all about repetition with these kids because we have some that have never played baseball before.鈥�
Geibel has 12 on its roster. The good news for Victor is that he only has two seniors in Elias Martin and Mike Miller. In addition to Stevenson, the Gators feature two freshmen in Harrison Bechtold and Kade Yoders.
Ambrose Myers-Green and Troy Hoffer round out the sophomore class. Daniel Ernette and Zander Zimmerman join Strimel as juniors.
Geibel will play an exhibition schedule this year and next, and hope to return to the WPIAL in 2027. The WPIAL places teams on a two-year probationary period if they have been out of the league for a significant amount of time.
鈥淚 told the guys that our goal, when we get into the WPIAL, is to make a run at the section and the playoffs, and with the group we have that is here now and will still be here, it鈥檚 very possible,鈥� Victor said. 鈥淓specially with the other kids coming into the school in the next few years.鈥�
Geibel played for the WPIAL Class A championship in 2006 against California. The Gators were coached by Mark Riggin during that season. Geibel made the playoffs the next two seasons before falling on tough times.
The Gators return to action this Monday at 5 p.m. when they host Hillel Academy.