Hawkins Gebbers, of Brewster, was recently drafted by the Seattle Mariners during the 33rd round of the draft. Photo by John F. Cleveland, II
Hawkins Gebbers, Brewster High School graduate, was drafted in the thirty-third round of the Major League Baseball Professional Draft last Thursday morning by the Seattle Mariners.
“The funny thing is I played for the Mariners little league team,” said Gebbers. “It seemed like me and my brothers and cousins were always playing something. My family has always been very supportive of me in everything. I always wanted to play at the highest level possible and this is just another step on the way to my dream.”
Gebbers just finished his fourth year at Biola University and led the team in numerous offensive and defensive categories while playing some third base, first base and the majority of time at second base.
The Mariners have several Rookie League, A, AA, AAA and short season clubs that Gebbers might play on, but he said it would probably be the short season Everett AquaSox or the Pulaski Mariners a rookie league team out of Virginia.
Hawkins grew up around baseball with his brothers and cousins all playing most sports from early on. Gebbers started out in the Brewster Little League system where he played for the Mariners and was coached by his dad Mac Gebbers.
Gebbers will be playing with the Everett AquaSox this weekend in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the Mariners will decide where to send him after the Vancouver series.
Gebbers graduated from Brewster High School in 2005 and helped the Bears win the State 1A Baseball Championship his senior year and was named State 1A Player of the Year. Brewster placed third his freshman through junior seasons.
His brothers Johnny, Daniel and Mac R. also helped win championships in both baseball and basketball or at least one sport before Hawkins and all went on to play sports in college.
Johnny played baseball and basketball at Gonzaga University before finishing up playing baseball at Whitworth University, Daniel played baseball and Whitworth University and Mac R. played baseball and football at the University of Puget Sound before finishing up just playing football at Azusa Pacific University.
Their dad Mac Gebbers also had a successful collegiate baseball career at Gonzaga University, where he had his number retired.
“My dad has coached me my whole life,” said Gebbers. “Our family is just awesome when it comes to supporting me and helping out. Even my great cousin Jerrod Riggan comes out whenever I call and pitches batting practice for me. It has always been like this.”
”I have been dreaming about playing at the highest level my whole life and this is just another step, it is a big step but now I will see what I can do at this level. I have had a constant push to try and get better, stronger, faster and more skillful every year, and hopefully that never ends.”
Hawkins Gebbers will be playing for the Everett AquaSox, short season baseball club June 20 against Vancouver. The Mariners organization will decide whether to keep him at Everett or send him to the Pulaski Mariners in Virginia after the weekend series.
Gebbers leads AquaSox in hitting
Hits his first professional home run
The AquaSox beat Vancouver 10-1 on June 20.
Gebbers started at third base and was 2-5 with one RBI.
Everett lost to the Canadians 3-1 on June 21.
Gebbers started at third base and was 2-4.
The AquaSox lost to Vancouver 7-1 on June 22.
Gebbers started at third base and was 1-3 with one RBI.
Gebbers was supposed to play the three-game series with Everett and then fly out to the Pulaski Mariners, a rookie-league club out of Virginia.
He will instead stay with the AquaSox at least to begin the summer.
Everett plays in the Northwest League along with the Spokane Indians, Boise Hawks, Eugene Emeralds, Tri City Dust Devils, Vancouver Canadians, Salem-Keizer Volcanoes and Yakima Bears.
Everett played the Spokane Indians at Everett June 25-27 then traveled to Eugene to play the Emeralds June 28-July 3.
He has continued his hot start for the AquaSox and is currently leading the team in hitting with a .412 batting average, 14 hits, nine RBIs, .588 slugging percentage, 1.062 OPS and a .474 on base percentage.
He hit his first-ever professional baseball home run in the first inning in a 5-1 victory over the Spokane Indians. He pulled it over a tall fence in left centerfield at least 375 feet.
Everett beat the Spokane Indians 4-3 on June 23.
Gebbers started at second base and was 1-4.
The AquaSox lost to the Indians 18-9 on June 24.
Gebbers started at second base and was 1-3 with one run scored.
Everett beat Spokane 12-1 on June 25.
Gebbers started at second base and was 2-4 with a double and one RBI.
The AquaSox beat the Indians 5-1 on June 26.
Gebbers started at second base and was 3-4 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored. He hit a two-run home run in the first inning and bunted for a base hit down the third base line in his second at bat.
Everett beat Spokane 6-3 on June 27.
Gebbers started at second base and was 1-4 with a double and two RBIs.
The AquaSox lost to the Eugene Emeralds 5-4 on June 28.
Gebbers started at second base and was 1-3 with a double and two RBIs.
