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-
SUMMER 2025 | GAME ON 21
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