The media guide for the Gilbert Community School District baseball and softball teams for the summer season of 2025.
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MEMBERS OF THE 2025 GILBERT SOFTBALL TEAM include (front row, left to right) Aubrey Johnson, Sammy Johnson, Olivia Latterell, Zoey Jones, Emma Latterell, Lily Shedarowich, Katie Sniezek, (middle) Michaela Nissen, Hadley Barber, Ali Wibholm, Ellie Leyva, Cora Hatfield, Alexandria Main, Scarlett Murdoch, Gwen Pistilli, Jasmine Gehling, Evie Christenson, (back) Piper Klaffke, Avery Wilson, Lauren Sniezek, Reyn Dani, Paizley Doerder, Morgan Loonan, Clara Newton, CeCe Hart, London Hibbing, Eko Eldred, Emily Roche, and Ally Nelson.
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Z oey Jones — not a rah- rah girl. She’s never going to be a cheerleader in the dugout or in the field. But what she will provide is a near .400 batting average, an on- base percentage about 100 points higher, and she will defi- nitely be a thorn in the side of an opposing catcher due to her ability to swipe a bag each time she reaches base. The twins, Emma and Olivia Latterell, they’re never going to get in their teammates’ faces and bark to provide motivation, it’s just not their style. But they will give their team pop at the plate, and they play with a grit that makes it nearly impossible not to want to follow. Olivia throws on the catcher’s gear and logs inning after inning crouching behind the plate with a rod in her back. Yes, there’s pain, probably a lot of it. But there she is for the love of the game. And you better believe her teammates see that. Katie Sniezek, see above. She’s quiet and carries herself in a way that is the opposite of intimidating. But her softball skills do make opponents quiver just a little. She can hit for power, she can hit for average, she can steal bases, and in the field she is buttery smooth at shortstop. She’s the complete ballplayer, as her status as a two-time all-state honoree can attest. These are the leaders of the
Gilbert softball team entering the 2025 campaign and they are four good reasons why the expectations are to improve upon last year’s 18-17 cam- paign that included a 4-12 mark in the always-treacherous Rac- coon River Conference. In each of the past two seasons, the Tigers have reached the Class 4A regional final round, just one
step from the program’s first- ever trip to the state tourna- ment, and both times they’ve been denied by league rival North Polk. Is this the summer Gilbert clears that final hurdle? Maybe, but a lot of games and a lot of improvements will be made be- fore the postseason rolls
around. For now, veteran head coach Staci Sniezek is looking at the smaller picture. What can her players do to get better today, tomorrow, and next week? What can she do to get her leaders to step into even bigger roles and be those mouthpieces that moves the emotional
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needle as well? “None of our three seniors (Jones and the Latterell twins) or Katie are rah-rah, so I’ve got to keep encouraging them to step out of their comfort zone because they do have to be that person,” Sniezek said. “But what’s nice about all four of them is they do a lot of the things behind the scenes that show leadership. They’re not going to stand up and give the pep talks, but I’m hoping they step into that. But they do pick their spots.” Gilbert finds itself in the mid- dle of the pack in one category this summer — it has experi- ence, and yet it has to replace a good chunk of last season’s starters as well. Gone are 2024 graduates Delaney Eickert, Tay- lor Puck, Maddy Shannon, and Adalyn Gauck, and then the Tigers must also replace ver- satile player Tovaria Smith, who moved out of the district this spring. Those five players ac- counted for 116 hits, 76 runs scored, and 54 RBIs a season ago. So, yeah, there are definite holes to fill. But Sniezek doesn’t nec- essarily see that has a cup half- empty kind of thing. Sure, she would love to have all of those players back, not only for their talent but for their personality, but she also sees the value of competition and youth. “It definitely changes the at-
the toughest in the lineup, but that will also provide everybody else the opportunity to take ad- vantage. This isn’t a team were we want one or even three people carrying it anyway.” Jones hit at an efficient .376 clip with a team-high 36 knocks in 2024, which led to a second- team all-RRC honor and all- state nod. Emma Latterell came in at just below .300 (.296 to be exact) with three dingers and 27 RBIs. And let’s not forget about jun- ior Clara Newton, who is per- haps the most important player on the team as one of its power hitters and, oh yeah, the No. 1 pitcher. Newton batted .253 with three home runs and 20 RBIs a season ago. In the circle in 2024, Newton put together an 18-13 record with a 3.32 ERA over 177 in- nings of work. Considering a lot of those innings came inside the conference, those are more than respectable numbers, and Sniezek sees 2025 as a chance for her to up her game even more. “Starting with a returning pitcher is everything,” Sniezek said. “Clara showed a lot of growth last season and she’s had a good spring. She’s worked on adding some pitches and refining her spots, and hopefully she’ll use the experi- ence she’s gained to add con- fidence.”
mosphere because there’s a lot of opportunity for everyone when you have six positions open,” she said. “We think we have a good idea of which kids will contribute, now it’s figuring out where? So this is fun for them because this is opportu- nity.” Sophomore Sammy Johnson, a speedster who was a perfect 13 for 13 stealing bases a sea- son ago, will certainly be in the mix for an expanded role. CeCe Hart, another sophomore, showed her skills at the plate primarily in a pinch-hitting role a season ago, and Lauren Snie- zek, a junior, will see more play- ing time as well. Until the inexperienced players gain their footing, Gil- bert will rely on, well, its reli-
ables to steer the ship. Katie Sniezek is the most ob- vious place to start. A unani- mous first-team all-conference and all-state player last summer, she’s coming off a sophomore campaign in which she hit at a .346 clip with 20 RBIs. Throw in her defensive proficiency — seriously, you won’t find many better high school shortstops — and it’s not difficult to see why she’s so re- spected. But she also dealt with that spotlight in 2024 and the frustrations that came with it. Teams pitched around her. Con- stantly. And that’s not likely to change anytime soon. “The strikes she saw last summer were mistakes,” her mom and head coach said. “We know she’s going to be pitched
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Smith and Alex Powers were both reliable second and third pitching options last summer, so now the Tigers will have to look elsewhere. Sniezek says Emma Latterell will log some innings and she’ll surprise some people. “Emma used to throw a lot in her younger days and she’s got a really nice curveball,” Sniezek said. “I’m excited to see what kind of year she can have.” New Gilbert assistant coach Denali Loecker has taken on the role of pitching coach and Sniezek has so far been im- pressed. Loecker had a storied high school career at Ogden where she hit 67 career home runs from 2016-20 — the sec- ond-most in state history, trail- ing only Kendyl Lindaman and the 71 she hit for Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial. Loecker led Ogden to the 2020 Class 2A state championship, and then went on to play collegiately at Iowa and Louisiana. “(Loecker) is our ninth-grade coach and then handled all of the pitching in the offseason, and she did a great job,” Snie- zek said. Sniezek has an idea of where her team will land in the 4A hier- archy, at least by reputation. Gilbert has a chance to be good and it will be respected across the state. But when it comes to the RRC landscape, the Tigers won’t necessarily be considered
as one of the league heavy- weights. “With the experience we do have, it’s hard to say we’re an underdog, but a team is only as good as its depth,” Sniezek said. “We want to make sure we’re a threat all the way through the lineup. Maybe we do that with small-ball, maybe we do that with speed, maybe it’s spreading the players out in the lineup. We’ll see.” The goal is to pick off some of these conference juggernauts in the regular season, thus giving the Iowa Girls High School Ath- letic Union a reason to put the Tigers in a regional that doesn’t house a North Polk, a Carlisle, or an ADM. Give Gilbert a chance to flex its postseason muscles against a non-RRC team, that’s really the ultimate goal. When it comes to the confer- ence, there just aren’t any of similar size better. A season ago, the RRC had the 4A state champion (Carlisle) and runner- up (ADM), and collected 30 per- cent (18 of 61) of all of the 4A all-state honors. Nine all-state players return, including first-teamers Ava Husak and Lucy Lucas of North Polk, as well as Lauren Hage- dorn of ADM. It’s easy to remember that Carlisle and ADM battled it out for the 2024 state crown that
eventually went to the Wildcats and Hall of Fame head coach Jim Flaws, who is now the owner of six state crowns in his distinguished tenure. But let’s not forget North Polk was a state semifinalist and — oh by the way — put together a per- fect 16-0 conference record en route to the RRC title in 2024. Playing these teams isn’t what bothers Sniezek. Truly, she wel- comes it. However, playing them night after night ... after night can harm the psyche. That’s why she’s excited about the prospect of playing some conference doubleheaders this season, which will then open up dates to allow the Tigers to test themselves outside of the league. “In this league, there’s just no recovery time,” she said. “You’re playing the best in the state every night. Your fans know that and your players know that. But by playing a dou- bleheader every Monday night, we’ll get another day off and that allows us to find some non- conference games. Plus it could also be a nice situation in that if you’re up against one of the top pitchers in the conference, how do those teams play that in the second game of the double- header?” Gilbert will play twinbills against ADM, Boone, Winterset, and North Polk this summer.
2024 RRC STANDINGS
Team
RRC Over
North Polk*
16-0 13-3 11-4
37-6 31-10 37-8 28-11 23-17 12-20 18-17 17-19 8-24
ADM**
Carlisle***
Bondurant-Farrar
9-7 7-9 6-9
Winterset
Ballard Gilbert Boone Carroll
4-12 4-12 0-14
*State Qualifier **State Finalist ***State Champion
2025 RETURNING LEADERS
Batting Average
Name, School
Ave. .500 .446 .431
Ava Husak, North Polk Brynn Acton, Winterset Lauren Hagedorn, ADM
Hits
Name, School
Hits
Brynn Acton, Winterset Ava Husak, North Polk Elyse Engebretsen, N. Polk
58 57 56
Home Runs
Name, School
HR
Ava Husak, North Polk Lauren Hagedorn, ADM Brynn Acton, Winterset
13 13
9
RBI
Name, School
RBI
Ava Husak, North Polk Brynn Acton, Winterset
49
36 Neela Applegate, Winterset 33
Pitching Wins
Name, School
Wins
Ava Husak, North Polk Lauren Hagedorn, ADM Clara Newton, Gilbert
29 19 18
Pitching Strikeouts
Name, School
Ks
Ava Husak, North Polk Lauren Hagedorn, ADM Brynn Acton, Winterset
363 253 102
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MEMBERS OF THE 2025 GILBERT VARSITY BASEBALL TEAM include (front row, left to right) Joey Pyfferoen, Cooper Mitchell, Alexzander Dunmire, (middle) Seth Papesh, Micah Leyva, Blake Bell, Gabe Nelson, Ean Eldred, (back) Tripp Sturgill, Isaac Renze, Tommy McGuire, Alden Short, Josh Grouwinkel, Hayden Russell, Brayden Howard, Trent Wesselmann, and Matt Zoz. Team members not pictured include Taylor Dukes and Canaan Stanton.
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N ew Gilbert head baseball coach Jake Gaul cer- tainly isn’t a rookie when it comes to teaching the game. His rèsumè is long and distinguished with stops at a number of colleges. He’s coached in the junior college and Division II ranks from Kan- sas, to Texas, to New Mexico. What is a little different with his newest venture, besides the move from college to high school, is his position at the front of the bus. And that brings a smile to his face. “From a coaching standpoint, not a lot changes other than my name going behind the Ws and Ls,” Gaul said, referring to the transition from an assistant coach to the head coach of a program. “I’m not going to change who I am as a coach. Developing and teaching the game of baseball to these kids has always been No. 1 for me players’ names, their strengths and weaknesses, and where they best fit in the team land- scape. And being new to the state of Iowa, he’s admittedly not familiar with historically good programs or what potholes may lurk inside the Raccoon River LEFT: Senior members of the Gilbert baseball team include Tommy McGuire, Hayden Rus- sell, Alden Short, Josh Grouwin- kel, and Brayden Howard. and it will stay that way.” Gaul is still learning his
Conference. The good news is he has time to learn all of that. Besides, there are more important things to learn in the early portion of the season. He wants to know what makes his players tick? What motivates them? What puts them in posi-
tion to collect the most success? The learning is the fun part. “The first week, the guys were pretty nervous, but I told them I’m here to have fun and to work hard while we’re doing it,” Gaul said. “The transition has been great and the guys have been great.”
Gaul repeatedly mentions his desire to push pace and play fast, concepts that are usually reserved for a sport like basket- ball. It’s not often related to baseball, but to hear Gaul ex- plain it, the picture quickly ma- terializes. With the speed the Tigers pos-
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sess, with the aggressive ten- dencies the players own, the new coach wants to exploit those strengths to put oppo- nents in uncomfortable posi- tions. “We’re going to play fast and push the pace,” Gaul said. “Meaning, we want to be ag- gressive in all aspects of the game, whether it’s on the mound or at the plate. That might be taking bases, or a hit and run, or a bunt and run, whatever it might be. We always want to try to get that extra bag. And then on the mound, we’re going to pitch with tempo and go fast. We want to make hitters as uncomfortable as possible. If you get that hitter uncomfortable, you’re going to see a lot more success on the mound.” Finding those advantages and exploiting them, that’s what all good teams do and Gilbert wants to make that leap this summer. The Tigers struggled at times a year ago en route to a 9- 21 overall record — the pro- gram’s first losing record in close to two decades — and a 5-10 mark in the Raccoon River Con- ference, but they saved their best baseball for late in the sea- son. They pulled off back-to- back postseason upsets over Benton Community and Saydel before falling to second-ranked and eventual state semifinalist Marion in the Class 3A substate final. And with so many players re-
Tommy McGuire, one of the handful of the seniors on this year’s roster, will look to step into that No. 1 spot in the rota- tion. He went 2-4 with a 3.55 ERA in 45 1 ⁄ 3 innings of work in 2024. McGuire allowed 61 hits and struck out 38 batters. Gaul also sees McGuire as a catalyst at the top of the lineup. The lefty stick seemingly always puts the ball in play and is a threat if he reaches base. Also, don’t forget his prowess as a center fielder, which saved the Tigers on several occasions dur- ing their postseason run last summer. “Tommy is going to play a huge role for us, whether it’s on the mound, at the plate, in the field, or all of the above,” Gaul said. “He’s a little spark plug at the top of the lineup, and then on the mound he’s just a bull- dog. He’s going to come at you with three or four pitches.” McGuire is one of four return- ing players that earned honor- able mention all-conference honors a season ago. Tripp Sturgill, Ean Eldred, and Blake Bell joined him. Alden Short, another senior, was the Tigers’ only first-team all-conference selection in 2024, and the versatile infielder did it by producing an outstanding season at the plate. He hit a team-high .457 with 32 hits, in- cluding eight doubles, and 12 RBIs. His on-base percentage
turning this summer, Gilbert seems poised to make a big leap forward if it can do the little things well. “We have a good core group coming back with a lot of experi- ence and I think we have a chance to be pretty good,” Gaul said. “But it’s going to depend on how hard the guys work. They have to buy in and play with confidence. “I’ve got some high hopes.
We’ve got talent on this team and if the guys put it all together, we could definitely shock some people.” It all starts on the mound, which also happens to be where the most noticeable hole from a season ago resides. Coal Myers, a 2024 graduate, pitched nearly 27 percent of all available innings last summer, and the Tigers rode his right arm in the postseason.
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stood at .594. “Alden has got a really good bat and he plays really good de- fense,” Gaul said. “He’s a smart baseball player. He’s got a great baseball IQ.” Short could also see some in- nings on the mound, as could Sturgill, Eldred, Micah Leyva, Josh Grouwinkel, and Matt Zoz. Sturgill (28 2 ⁄ 3 innings), Zoz (21 innings), and Leyva (18 1 ⁄ 3 in- nings) combined to strike out 63 batters a season ago. “I’m excited to see some of these kids step into bigger roles this year,” Gaul said. “Micah Leyva got some good innings last year and I expect him to fill a huge role this year. Josh Grou- winkel, I know he didn’t pitch last year, but he could definitely see some significant innings on the mound. He’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done.” Consistently throwing strikes will always be key, but the de- fensive players behind the mound will be equally important. Gaul likes the versatility he has on the infield and knows there is plenty of speed and talent in the outfield with the likes of McGuire and returning left fielder Brayden Howard. Finding consistency at the plate will be of the utmost impor- tance as well, and that’s some- thing the Tigers struggled with in 2024. Among the returning starters, only Short hit over .300
a season ago, but Gaul has been pleased with the early pro- gress his kids have shown at the plate. He sees guys such as El- dred as capable of taking a gi- gantic leap forward. “Ean is one of our best all- around hitters,” Gaul said of his junior who hit at a .238 clip with one home run and 15 RBIs a season ago. “I’m excited to see what he can do this summer. He’s been really great both at the plate and defensively.” Bell will be back behind the plate to provide a calming in- fluence for the pitchers. What does all of this mean when it comes to wins and losses, particularly inside the Raccoon River Conference? Again, Gaul doesn’t have a great handle on what to expect from Gilbert’s league opponents, but he knows nothing will be easy. That includes the teams the Tigers will face out of confer- ence as well. “I would rather play teams that are toward the top half of the teams throughout the state ver- sus some of the lower-tier teams because they give you a true test and they allow you to push your guys,” Gaul said. “If you want to be the best, you have to compete against the best.” The RRC housed the best, at least when it came to 3A, a sea- son ago. North Polk won the league by two games over
runner-up Bondurant-Farrar and then proceeded to roll through the postseason en route to the state championship. The Co- mets, Bluejays, and Boone all won at least 20 games in 2024. Boone could be a danger to last season’s champion this summer, as the Toreadors return a slew of talent, including first- team all-state catcher Noah Davies and third-team all-state outfielder Luke Moore. North Polk will be led by sec- ond-team all-state performer Drew Owen, while Bondurant- Farrar will rely on second-team all-state pitcher Will Pottebaum. The Comets will have to find a way to replace do everything tal- ent Reece Wrage, who was the 3A Player of the Year and a member of the all-state Super Team in 2024. Gaul isn’t expecting a confer- ence championship in his first year at the helm, although that would be nice. He knows it might take some time to build his program before it reaches that position, but if the Tigers can im- prove upon last season’s sev- enth-place finish, that would be a good start. “I want to see the guys make improvements throughout the season,” he said. “At the end of the day, I know it’s about wins and losses, but making improve- ments from the last couple of years would be huge.”
2024 RRC STANDINGS
Team
RRC Over
North Polk*** Bondurant-Farrar
13-3 11-5
29-6 23-9
ADM Boone
9-7 8-7 8-7 8-8 7-9
16-15 20-15 16-14 15-15 12-22 9-21 8-19
Winterset
Ballard Carlisle Gilbert Carroll
5-10 1-14
***State Champion
2025 RETURNING LEADERS
Batting Average
Name, School
Ave. .457
Alden Short, Gilbert Noah Davies, Boone
.423 Bowen Tadlock, Winterset .405
Hits
Name, School
Hits
Drew Owen, North Polk Lucas Moore, Boone Noah Davies, Boone
44 42 41
Home Runs
Name, School
HR
Noah Davies, Boone Dylan England, Boone Kamden Jorgensen, Carlisle
7 5 4 4
Lucas Moore, Boone
RBI
Name, School
RBI
Dylan England, Boone Parker Ernst, Bond-Farrar Lucas Moore, Boone
30 29 27
Pitching Wins
Name, School Wins Will Pottebaum, Bond-Farrar 8 Hayden Mohwinkle, Carlisle 6 Reed Smith, Winterset 6 Cole Miller, Bond-Farrar 6 Ks Hayden Mohwinkle, Carlisle 66 Drew Owen, North Polk 65 Stone Sibenaller, Carroll 53 Pitching Strikeouts Name, School
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