HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata College Athletics Department is thrilled to announce the appointment of our new baseball coach, Tom Gibboney.
"After working with the team to identify our program's needs, opportunities, and challenges, we developed a set of criteria for our next head coach," said Athletic Director, Greg Curley. "Among the priorities we identified was finding someone with successful head coaching experience, a proven record of successful recruiting, the ability to hit the ground running, familiarity with our program and Juniata, a belief and commitment to our educational mission and values, and a vision for the future of our baseball program. When considering all of these attributes, Tom checked all of our boxes."
Coach Gibboney is no stranger to Juniata as he has mentored student-athletes here for over 16 years. This will be his third time as a part of the baseball team. He had a three-year term from 1996-1998 under Bill Berrier (most wins in program history) and a six-year stint with the baseball program from 2006-2011. He was an assistant to George Zanic (second most wins in program history) for the 2006 & 2007 seasons before becoming the head coach in 2008. Prior to Juniata, he had a distinguished 10-year run (1995-2005) as the Head Baseball Coach at Huntingdon Area High School.
"I am excited for the opportunity to return to the baseball program and work with a young baseball team that has some experience," said coach Gibboney. "I look forward to making them the best possible team they can become. I also look forward to enhancing the program in all aspects, including facilities and relationships with alumni among other things, in order to give the players the best possible experience as student-athletes."
In his first stint as the head coach at Juniata, Gibboney stepped in and led the team to a 26-12 record, good for the second most wins in a season in program history. He was named Landmark Coach of the Year after the team won the regular season title, going 16-2 in conference play. That team eventually made the Landmark Conference semifinals. Two seasons later, he led the Eagles to the Landmark Conference Championship.
During his four years, he coached two Landmark Players of the Year (2008, 2011) and one Pitcher of the Year (2008). He had eight first team All-Landmark Conference selections and seven second teamers. Three players were ECAC South Region All-Star first team selections and one second made the team. One player was named the ECAC South Region Player of the Year. 11 players were named Landmark Player of the Week in his four years. He rejoins the program sitting fourth all-time in wins with 71
As an assistant, Gibboney joined the team as they went on to win a program-best 30 games and advance to the MAC Commonwealth Championship game. He helped coach nine All-MAC Commonwealth players which included the 2006 Pitcher of the Year. 11 student athletes made the All-Academic Team in those two seasons. He also worked closely with 2006 first-team All-MAC Commonwealth catcher Zach Sternberg.
In his first time with the baseball program in the late 90s, the team made steady improvements and in the 1998 season the team went 20-17 (9-5 in the MAC).
In his time at as head coach at Huntingdon Area HS, Gibboney led them to a PIAA AA State Championship in 2000, three District VI titles (2000, 2002, 2004) and to the District Semifinals in 2003.
In his three seasons as a player on the Juniata baseball team, he hit over .300 twice including batting .364 as a senior as the Eagles made it to the NCAA Tournament.
"Tom's accomplishments as a coach speak for themselves, more importantly he has a unique ability to connect with and get the most out of his student-athletes," continued Curley. "Beyond that, his commitment to and belief in Juniata and the potential of our baseball program quickly identified him as the right person at the right time to guide our program to a successful future."