Cardinal Gibbons Is Unified & Determined
Chiefs manager Jason Hamilton runs the team through a fall scrimmage.
There is a great amount of comfort that comes to any baseball coach who knows he has an ace or two on his pitching staff. Over the past few seasons Cardinal Gibbons has been a perfect example of this, as manager Jason Hamilton was able to build everything around the strengths of several stud hurlers who led the team. Heading into the 2016 season the club does not have a recognized, clear-cut ace, and still Hamilton has all the reason to feel the same level of comfort.
“It’s very hard to replace Mark Nowatnik, Nate Pavelcik and Karl Hirsch,” Hamilton said. “Yet we have a bunch of arms and we have more depth on the mound than we have maybe had in the last three years, if not the last ten years. We have about 12 guys who can pitch at the varsity level. We just don’t have that bonafida number-one or number-two guy, yet.”
While it is undetermined which hurler will step to the front to shoulder the load in the biggest games as a unit they have made tremendous strides over the summer and fall seasons. Hamilton expects there to be some surprises this season, and he is confident he has several guys that can carry the weight of the innings they must replace.
Since the team did not lighten the schedule at all, those pitchers will be tested constantly throughout the year.
“We probably have our toughest schedule ever since I have been here at Gibbons,” Hamilton admitted. “I know that doesn’t make sense with us not even knowing who our top pitching guys will be, but we didn’t duck anybody since we know we have so many guys that we can run out there on the mound. We are just going to try and get them better as the season goes along.”
It is an interesting bunch of upperclassmen and a good mix of younger guys on the roster this year. The Chiefs could possibly have five or six underclassmen in the varsity lineup, but that is a dynamic they are still figuring out. As Hamilton puts it, it is a nice problem to have when the younger guys are challenging the older guys.
Pitching depth is a major strength of the Chiefs.
“I just try to come out here every day and work 100% to show them that we don’t accept anything but perfection here,” said sophomore Jarrett Hall. “We don’t settle just to make the regionals; we’re looking to make states and be the best team that we can be. I have to come every day and work as hard as I can and hopefully let everybody else know that we’re here to win. We’re not just here to wear the jersey; we are here to play ball.”
Hall is an excellent example of the drive on this team. Blessed with some excellent tools that will help him on the field this year, he is not content to rest on those abilities and is one of the hardest workers in practice. This work ethic is contagious throughout the team, where everybody is pushing one another to be the greatest player they can be.
The offense is the area where the team has worked to improve the most over the past few seasons. The pitching strength helps to ease the pressure, but the club is anxious to show how far it has come with its hitting this season by helping take some pressure off of its new pitchers. Veteran Colin Durkin moves up from the three-hole into the leadoff spot due to his ability to get on base and use his speed. The other veterans in the lineup come primarily from the infield, including Hall, Sean Coviello, Nick Diamond, Mark Van Sciver, Robert Maglione and Josh Shrouder, as well as newcomers Nico Rendina and Joe Cerquozzi.
“I think it is important for me personally to take that leadership role and let the younger guys know that we’re going to be good like the last few years,” said Durkin. “The last few years we only had to score a couple of runs because we had those stud pitchers, but this year we’re going to have to do better on offense. Our pitchers are not going to strike out 18 guys and keep them from scoring at all or else just a run. We’re going to have more pressure on the offense.”
Durkin is one of many two-way players who will also log time on the mound. This group also consists of Austin Phelps, Matt McLaughlin, Kyle Van Sciver, David Archaki, Ty Crittenberger, Jack Durkin, Fisher Cole and Anthony Loney. Like the rest of the team, it is a tight group that knows each other well.
“A lot of these guys have all been together since they were young,” Hall said. “They are great friends and it makes us splay better with that chemistry. We all practice together, both the JV and the varsity, so that is where that chemistry begins. We make the JV players better by showing them that we are not accepting any slacking around, that every rep you have to take it 100%. I think as we keep working together we become better.”
Now they are just hoping that leads to the success they strive for.
“The goal is to move on into the regionals,” Hamilton said. “You prepare your team as well as you can, play hard teams and be challenged throughout the year to try and get those two wins in the district tournament that mean you get to play for the district championship. When you get to the district championship you get to play in the regionals, and our goal has always been to get to that championship game. Then you have the opportunity to play in regionals and once that comes around anything can happen, which has been my experience. That’s our goal is to get to regionals, which we have been able to do a few times in my years here.”
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