How the Gilbert baseball team put together a surprise postseason run

The Gilbert baseball team put together a surprise postseason run that saw the Tigers fall just short of making the Class 3A state baseball tournament for the first time since placing second at state in 2020.

The Tigers ended the regular season with seven victories. But they went on to upset two teams with at least 25 wins in Benton Community and Saydel during substate play before losing a close 3-0 battle with No. 2 Marion during the 3A Substate 6 final on Wednesday at Marion.

"It was a fun run," said Gilbert coach Jeremy Eldred. "The boys were locked in, playing solid defense behind some great pitching."

Gilbert defeated Benton (26-14) by a 2-1 score on July 12 at Benton.

Tiger pitcher Coal Myers was in the zone, limiting the Bobcats to one run on five hits with three strikeouts and just two walks in seven innings to get the win. Gilbert scored both of its runs on offense in the first inning, and then Myers and a Tiger defense that committed only one error took care of the rest.

Ean Eldred hit a two-run double to score Tommy McGuire and Alden Short for the two Gilbert scores. McGuire singled and walked once; Short, Seth Papesh and Josh Grouwinkel each singled once, and Tripp Sturgill hit a double during the game for the Tigers.

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"Coal kept us in the game with his good pitching performance," Jeremy Eldred said. "Our defense won us the game with some spectacular plays in the outfield."

Gilbert overcame an early 1-0 deficit with four runs in the sixth inning to take down Saydel by a 4-1 score in the 3A Substate 6 semifinals on July 16 at Saydel.

Defense and pitching once again won the day for Gilbert against the Eagles. McGuire threw a six-hitter with four strikeouts and two walks in seven innings to earn the win, and the Tiger defense went without an error.

"We kept up the great defense versus Saydel and had some big timely hits in the sixth inning," Jeremy Eldred said.

Myers evened the score at 1-1 in the sixth with an RBI single and Ean Eldred followed with a two-run single and Blake Bell an RBI single to give Gilbert the lead for good.

McGuire, Myers, Sturgill, Eldred, Bell and Brayden Howard each singled once for the Tigers during the game. Short, Myers, Sturgill and Howard each scored one run against the Eagles.

Gilbert suffered its substate final loss to Marion on Wednesday at Marion. The Tigers picked up only two hits off Marion's Isaac Scott in finishing the season at 9-21.

"We ran into a great defensive team who made all the routine plays and some spectacular plays against us," Jeremy Eldred said. "We were not able to get anything going offensively."

Myers took the loss against Marion. He only gave up two earned runs in his 13 innings of work in the postseason.

Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com . Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: How the Gilbert baseball team put together a surprise postseason run