Gerber, baby: Nazareth baseball's Trent Gerber adds to family legacy with return to state
The Gerber family's athletic success in Nazareth can only be rivaled by the baby food company of the same name.
It began in 1976 when Collen Gerber was a member of the first girls basketball team in school history to make the state tournament. The next year, she and the Swiftettes won the team's first state championship, the start of the small-school dynasty that persists today.
A few years later, Norman Gerber and his partner Perry Brockman became the first male athletes at Nazareth to win a state title when the duo won the Class B boys doubles tennis championship in 1980.
Since Colleen's appearance at state, a total of 21 other members of the Gerber family have gone to state with Nazareth. Basketball and tennis dominate this list of names.
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But Trent Gerber has something that no other relative or sibling can claim. He's the only Gerber to go to state with the Nazareth baseball team, a feat he first accomplished last season and will replicate on Wednesday when the Swifts return to Round Rock for the Class 1A state baseball tournament.
"That's my bragging rights right there," Trent said. "They've got every other sport, but I've got this one and I'm taking it."
In small towns like Nazareth, family legacies tend to live on for generations. Those who grow up in the community settle down in their hometowns, their kids going to the same schools they attended.
The Gerber clan has put down roots in Nazareth and found great athletic success along the way. With so much success flowing through the family blood line, one-upmanship is bound to come up, like with Trent and his two older brothers, Bradley and Hayden, and older sister, Paige.
"Christmas this year, Bradley and Hayden brought up how they have so many rings in basketball or whatever," Trent said, "but there's also my side where I beat them in baseball and we just argue about that all the time."
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Trent is the youngest of the four Gerber children with large age gaps between the siblings. Bradley, the oldest, graduated high school when Trent was about 3. Hayden is 10 years older than his little brother and Paige is eight years older.
Watching his older siblings play sports was a motivating factor for Trent. He was too young to learn from Bradley, but he was able to get closer to sports through Hayden.
"Every season he was on was what I was on playing in my backyard," Trent said. "There was a little square against the wall, that was the strike zone that I threw to every day. Just kind of did that every day to get my locations down."
Gerber family get togethers are filled with athletic competitions. Trent learned that blood, sweat and tears in sports aren't reserved for varsity events. The family takes no prisoners at Easter playing knockout or football.
"It was crazy," Trent said. "If you were little, they didn't care. They'd beat you and let you know about it afterward. They did not care one bit. ... There was definitely some tears shed."
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The hours spent throwing the ball in the backyard, the competitive family events have helped Trent become the ace for Nazareth. During Nazareth's run to the state tournament last year, the Swifts had Aidan Moore and Kaden Cleavenger as the top two pitching options.
Gerber has taken over the role as Nazareth's No. 1 pitching option, and it's led the Swifts back to the state tournament.
"It's just a whole new team, really," Gerber said of the differences from last year's team to this year's. "I think we've had people step up and take over those roles from last year. It's not the same, better or worse, but we're a different team and I think the roles have changed. Just by different people stepping up, I think it's going to be a different outcome this year."
The Gerbers are not the only family to have decades worth of athletic prowess.
The 1976 Swiftettes that made history also featured Elaine and Rosemary Schulte and Vera Birkenfeld. Trent is joined by Luke Schulte and Tanner Birkenfeld as members of this year's baseball team returning to state.
The experience those players had in 2021 has helped the Swifts make a return in 2022. That run ended in the state semifinals, a historic mark for the school's first state appearance. The returners loved the run, but they want more this time around.
"I think last year, getting our feet wet there, I think we were just satisfied getting there, honestly," Trent said. "Being the first team from Naz to do that, I think we were just satisfied getting to the semis. This year, we actually want to go a little bit farther and do something no other Naz team has done yet."
CLASS 1A STATE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
Semifinals, Wednesday at Dell Diamond, Round Rock
9 a.m. — Nazareth (20-1) vs. Kennard (24-14)
Noon — D'Hanis (26-3) vs. Abbott (21-3-2)
Coverage: Follow @NathanGiese and @hpisani91 on Twitter for in-game updates, plus photos, stories and post-game interviews on lubbockonline.com and amarillo.com.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Gerber, baby: Nazareth baseball's Trent Gerber adds to family legacy
