continued to pour it on in the postseason. It went on the road for back-to-back 3A substate games and outscored North Central Conference opponents Humboldt and Algona 27-6 to reach the substate final round. Only a loss to Raccoon River Conference rival North Polk, 7- 1, kept the Tigers out of the state tournament. North Polk, which claimed the league crown, went on to finish as the 3A state runner-up.
That is a blueprint Eldred would be more than happy to follow again this summer. Gilbert — 18-13 overall a summer ago — returns six players with ample varsity ex- perience. That’s not to say there aren’t big gaps to fill though, as the Tigers said goodbye to a relatively small but talented senior class in 2023. Brock Christensen, Kaden Malloy, and Alec Bell all hit be-
tween .300 and .329 and com- bined to drive in 34 runs in their final tours of the diamond. And then you get to Eli Eldred, the son of the Tigers’ head coach, who is currently putting together a strong freshman season at Southwest Community College in Creston. Eli Eldred was Mr. Everything for the Tigers a sea- son ago, hitting at a .348 clip with two home runs, 23 RBIs, and 12 more extra-base hits. He was also the ace on the mound with a 5-3 record and
2.27 ERA. So, yeah, those are Shaq- sized shoes to fill. “We are going to miss those guys a lot,” Jeremy Eldred said of his 2023 graduates. “Alec was just steady eddy, you knew night in and night out what you were going to get. Brock, he brought that speed intangible that is tough to replace. With Eli, that’s a difficult one, be- cause he was the motor that drove the team in every aspect of it. As he went, we went.” You don’t replace an Eli El- dred, that’s for sure, not with one individual anyway. Instead, Gilbert will look to collectively try to fill in those gaps this summer. It won’t be one player. It might not even be two. But as a group, it’s not impossible. “It’s going to have to be by committee this year,” Jeremy Eldred said. “Nobody can try to put that on their shoulders and go. It’s got to be the whole team.” That’s where experienced guys like Coal Myers, Alden Short, Tommy McGuire, Ean El- dred, Josh Grouwinkel, and Blake Bell enter the picture. All of them will need to take on bigger roles in 2024. It starts with Myers, a multi- ple-year starter who Eldred says has transformed himself into a good leader for his young ball club. Myers hit at a .310 clip
Left to right: Coal Myers, Tommy McGuire, Tripp Sturgill, and Josh Grouwinkel.
6 GAME ON | SUMMER 2024
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