Lessons learned

Bearcats’ catcher has learned value of working hard

Caden Koerbacher likes to stay at home most of the time. He likes to work and make money, usually helping out his dad framing houses. In his free time, he likes to hang out with friends and play video games.

But if Koerbacher isn’t doing any of those things, you can usually find him at a baseball field practicing his hitting stance or catching fundamentals.

If there’s one thing the starting catcher for the Pilot Point Bearcats has learned since he started playing sports at a young age, it’s that you have to work hard.

“Me and my dad used to hit in the garage when I was little for like three to four hours at a time,” he said. “I think a lot of it is my God given ability. I have to thank God that I can throw the ball hard and I naturally have a good swing, but I also work hard. I just try to work hard, and I always give it the best I can.”

Koerbacher, a senior, was born in Denton, but most of his memories as a kid are from him living in Pilot Point. He started playing little league at the age of four. He’s played catcher, third base and short stop, but it wasn’t until middle school where he decided to make catcher his official position and focus on just that.

“I started playing catcher when I was little. Moving around and blocking all came naturally to me,” he said. “The pop time and the throw down was all natural to me. I have a good arm, so I was naturally able to get a fast pop time. So that’s why I stuck with it.”

He said everything about playing catcher comes naturally. Hitting, on the other hand, became somewhat of a challenge for him. But being no stranger to hard work, Koerbacher knew he had to put in the extra time after practice to get better.

“Hitting is the hardest thing to do in baseball,” he said. ““I’m grateful I was born with a good arm. I can throw really hard and there’s not really anything I did about it. Throwing hard and catching is natural for me. I don’t have to work as hard at catching as I do at hitting.”

Koerbacher has played on varsity since he was a freshman. He’s played for three different coaches and has only made it to the playoffs with the Bearcats once in the 2018 season. He had a short stint playing football, but after his freshman year he decided to focus all of his energy on baseball and plays it year-round now.

Koerbacher’s batting average last season was .317. He had one homerun and 15 RBI in 22 games. This season in the five games the Bearcats have played Koerbacher’ batting average sits at .333 with 4 RBI. The Bearcats currently sit at 5-2 and Koerbacher and company are hoping to make it to the playoffs once district starts.

“It’s the last year for me here,” he said. “So, I’m trying to make sure that I do the best that I can. We are trying to make the playoffs this year.”

Koerbacher hates losing, and not just in baseball, he hates losing in everything.

“I am probably a sore loser,” he said. “I get pretty upset. I think a lot of times I’m probably a sore loser, like, especially with my friends – I get pretty annoyed.”

But most of the times he uses it as motivation to try to work harder, he said.

“If I didn’t hit as good in the game, I blame it on myself, that motivates me to work harder.”

When asked how the Bearcats will do this season, he said, it all comes down to how well you pitch and how well you hit.

“We’ll have to work on hitting and be consistent at hitting all the way through the lineup,” he said. “I think what wins games is pitching, so as long as we can get enough pitchers, we’ll be good. Collin Haynes was probably our top

pitcher last year and he’s out, but I think he’s going to be able to come back after spring break. That will help us, so long as we have good pitching and can hit the ball.”