Gibault Catholic High School brought home its second state championship in three months, winning the IHSA Class 1A baseball final Saturday over Henry-Senachwine, 8-0.

In March, the Hawks – featuring a few athletes from the baseball squad – won the school’s first state boys basketball title.

The long postseason hoops run proved to be an early hindrance for the baseball Hawks, as players such as Kameron Hanvey and Hudson Blank from the hoops squad needed to get in baseball shape on the fly.

But in the end, it all paid off.

Brady Biffar, a crafty junior southpaw who won Monday’s supersectional game that sent Gibault to state, pitched a complete game four-hitter Saturday. Biffar threw many Henry-Senachwine hitters off balance, leading to several easy flyouts throughout the contest.

“He was pretty amazing out there for us today,” Gibault head coach Andy Skaer said.

Blank was a key part of Gibault’s offense once again. After homering in Friday’s semifinal win, Blank blasted a deep homer over the leftfield wall during what turned out to be a five-run fifth inning for the Hawks.

“Those things change the scoreboard real quick and are fun to have,” Skaer said of Blank’s homers.

Skaer was equally impressed, however, by Blank’s aggressiveness on the bases early in Saturday’s game that led to Gibault’s first run.

In the bottom of the first, Blank beat out a double play ball to keep the inning alive. After stealing second, Blank stole third and the catcher’s throw sailed into the outfield. That led Blank to score, giving Gibault the early lead.

“I like him being aggressive. That started the whole shebang,” Skaer said. 

Another key player this entire postseason for the Hawks was junior shortstop Jack Keeven. Batting ninth in the order, Keeven came through in the clutch countless times over the past couple of weeks. 

On Saturday, his two-out single in the fourth inning scored two to put the Hawks up 3-0. Keeven added an RBI double in the fifth inning. 

“He’s our playoff MVP, without a doubt,” Skaer said. 

The Hawks finished the season with a record of 24-14, with none of those losses coming against Class 1A schools. It’s the second state title in baseball for Gibault – the last coming 10 years ago in 2013.

According to Skaer, it just goes to show that patience indeed does pay off. 

“I knew we’d be better in May than March, and these guys proved me to be true… and in June,” Skaer said. 

A parade welcoming home the Class 1A state champs took place Sunday afternoon through the streets of Waterloo. That was followed by a reception in the gym, during which the team’s regional, sectional, supersectional and state trophies were prominently displayed. 

Semifinal suspense

It came down to the wire, but Gibault survived Friday’s IHSA Class 1A state semifinal contest against Goreville, winning 7-6 to advance to the title game in Peoria. 

A five-run second inning had the Hawks flying high, but Goreville kept chipping away until the very end. 

Trailing 1-0 with two outs in the top of the second, Gibault staged a rally. 

Keeven continued his hot streak from the ninth spot in the batting order with an RBI single. That was followed by a bunt single from Kameron Hanvey. Daniel Darin doubled to left, scoring two more runs. Then it was Blank with a two-run homer deep to left to put the Hawks up comfortably at 5-1.

Goreville plated single runs in the second, fourth and fifth to keep the game close into the late innings.

Hanvey, Friday’s starting pitcher for the Hawks, helped his own cause with an opposite field double to left in the top of the sixth inning to push Gibault’s lead to 7-4.

That was the score entering the bottom of the seventh before Goreville staged a last-ditch effort. The Black Cats plated two against Hanvey, resulting in a pitching change to hard-throwing senior lefty Darin.

With two outs, Darin walked the first batter he faced to load the bases. There was no room for error when Darin struck out the final batter for a narrow 7-6 victory. 

In addition to striking out nine over six and two-thirds innings, Hanvey went 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs.

By the numbers

The six players who won both basketball and baseball titles this school year for the Hawks were Hanvey, Blank, Tyler Frierdich, Andy Altes, Peyton Schaefer and Michael Wessel.

Per IHSA records, this is only the second time in state history – dating back to 1907 – that a school won state titles in both sports during the same school year. The other was Pleasant Plains in 1999-2000.  

IHSA uses a “multiplier” and a “success factor” for private school classification. IHSA Assistant Executive Director Matt Troha said a new two-year cycle begins with the 2023-24 school year.

“(Gibault was) not multiplied in either (sport) this year and will be the next two years, so I anticipate they will move up to 2A in both,” Troha said.

Leading the offense this season were seniors Darin and Hanvey. Darin hit .393 with a .585 on base percentage, five home runs, 30 RBIs and 40 runs. Hanvey hit .405 with 47 runs and 22 stolen bases. 

Both were also stellar on the mound. Hanvey went 10-3 with a 2.88 ERA in 65 and two-thirds innings. Darin had a save in 10 and one-third innings with 30 strikeouts and a 3.39 ERA.

Four juniors had solid seasons this spring and will return to defend the state title in 2024. 

Blank hit .395 with four homers, five triples, 39 RBIs, 37 runs and 10 stolen bases. Ty Frierdich hit .315 with three homers and 34 RBIs. Keeven hit .314 with 19 runs. Biffar went 5-4 on the mound with a 2.96 ERA in 71 innings. On offense, he had 23 RBIs and 28 runs.

Skaer has 296 career victories as head coach of the Hawks in addition to his two state title wins and one state runner-up finish.

For photos from the state title victory, click here.