Gateway baseball seeks improvement under 1st-year coach

By: Michael Love
Sunday, March 9, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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When Andy Hoover was hired in August as the next varsity head coach of the Gateway baseball team, he had a vision for what the team and the program could become in the following months.

Meetings with players led into fall evaluation workouts which, in turn, bled into winter work that prepared the young Gators for where they are now, just a week away from the start of the 2025 season.

“It was a lot of good work in the fall,” said Hoover, a Lancaster County native who honed his craft, in part, from several years of play at state-power Lampeter Strasburg out of District 3.

“It was tough the first couple of weeks just learning names. It was fun to dive into it and find out their skill levels. It was important to build a language with the guys so we’re all talking about the same things and using the same terminology. Baseball is often a universal language, but their language was a little different from where I had been coaching.

“We introduced some things they had never done before which is good for them. It makes them more well-rounded baseball players.”

Hoover said good weather in the fall helped the team get a good head start.

“We were practicing outside until Thanksgiving,” he said.

Gateway graduated 10 seniors from a team last spring which went 4-14 overall and 3-9 in Section 1-5A.

The Gators learned on the fly after last year’s coach, Luke Padezan, was hired just a month before official preseason practices began.

“I can’t imagine the tough position (Padezan) was put in last year to try and evaluate talent and build a rapport with such a short time before the season started,” Hoover said.

“But I know I can see, with all the work we’ve put in, that they are hungry. I have seen some of the guys step up into those leadership roles and help bring this team closer.”

Padezan stepped down after the season concluded in May, and the search for a new coach began.

“It is way better now because I feel we came into last season less prepared for the season, and it showed with our record,” 6-foot-3 sophomore shortstop/pitcher Jon Saunders said.

“We’re coming into this season with high hopes. These coaches, I really like what they are doing. They know the game and have a lot of energy.”

Assisting Hoover is former Plum and IUP standout Markus Cestra and Penn-Trafford graduate and Canisius pitching star Tyler Smith.

Saunders and senior Myles Beavin were among the top pitchers in terms of innings pitched last year, and Saunders finished with two of his team’s four victories.

Junior Grady Dunsmore, who will share time between first base and catching, led the team in batting last year (.389) with five doubles, eight runs batted in and seven runs scored.

“After the tryouts, we are hungry and ready to go,” said Dunsmore who is looking at IUP among other schools in the college recruiting process.

“We haven’t won a playoff game in a while, so we want to be that team to change that.”

Dunsmore said there was instant energy as soon as the players met the new coaching staff.

“I’ve had three different coaches since my freshman year,” he said. “I think they will provide stability to the program.

“We’re young this year, but we have guys with a lot of versatility who can play a number of positions. That is really going to help us. I think it is going to be an awesome year.”

Gateway remains in Class 5A and will play a Section 4 schedule against Baldwin, Connellsville, McKeesport, Montour and Thomas Jefferson.

It is a big change in the new two-year cycle from recent seasons with section games against more familiar rivals in Penn-Trafford, Franklin Regional, Fox Chapel, Plum, Armstrong and Penn Hills.

The Gators are slated to kick off the season this Tuesday (March 18) at home against North Hills.

“There was that instant connection when (the new coaches) came in,” Beavin said. “You could tell they had high hopes for us and wanted to put us in the best position to succeed. It was really good for us to have a fall full of workouts for them to evaluate us. We’ve gotten a lot of work in (since August). It’s been awesome.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway