SENIOR WEEKS: Healthy Tobinus looking forward to future with familiar Coatesville faces at Widener

Successful teams always have star players. The ones who grab the headlines and light up the boxscores.

But they also have names up and down the roster who do their part without all that fanfare.

And sometimes, they need players who will do all of the parts at once.

The Coatesville baseball team had that in senior Trey Tobinus. The Red Raiders’ regular catcher for the last three years would’ve been the anchor behind the plate this season, had it not been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in April.

And this year, Tobinus was going to likely do more than just catch. Red Raider coach Hal Ziegler was planning to use him in the infield, outfield, or anyt other place Coatesville needed a reliable, talented and steady hand.

“I really was ready for this season,” said Tobinus, who had fully recovered from a rotator cuff injury between his sophomore and junior seasons. “I did not have a good year at the plate last season and I was working hard to get back to the player I was before. I was lifting really hard and running and when the season was called off I was, I guess you could say, really sad.

“We had a big group of seniors and I thought our pitching was going to be good with Cam Trego and some guys who could really throw,” Tobinus said. “We felt we had a real good chance to win the league so when it was called off it was really tough for the seniors.”

Ziegler was going to move Tobinus wherever he needed him and he talked about his grit and determination.

“Trey would have caught for me for four years this season,” Ziegler said. “But he can play the outfield and I was going to use him out there when I had to and I think he might have played some infield for us too. He could do a lot of things. He caught Adam Stauffer, who is in the Baltimore Orioles system, when he was a freshman and he did a good job.”

Catching Stauffer was a thrill for the young backstop, and he fondly remembers one moment when the two were not on the same page.

“Adam was pitching and the scouts were there to watch him,” Tobinus said. “The Orioles were there and I called for a curveball and Adam threw a heater right down the middle and hit me in the chest. Zig told me to go out there and get the signs straightened out, but that was a funny moment I will always remember.”

In the fall, Tobinus will join former Coatesville shortstop Anthony Boccio at Widener University, where Tobinus’ current teammate Ryan Weaver will also attend. Tobinus likes the idea of having some familiar faces around as he takes a big step toward his future.

“I know Boccio and Weaver is going there and it is a good academic school and I won’t be going there blind,” Tobinus said. “I know a lot of those guys. And Coach (Mike) LaRosa is a real good coach and I am excited to be going to Widener to play for him.”