The Gibraltar baseball program was already powerhouse before they had their breakthrough at state over 40 years ago.

 

The Vikings won 17 conference championships before Rod Billerbeck led his 1979 team to an 8-4 win over Spencer to win the state title at Wausau Athletic Park. In its matchup against Deerfield, it set a state record with eight stolen bases during their 10-2 victory. They almost set it again when they did face Spencer for the title, swiping seven bags. The 15 bags stolen in the two games remains a record for the state tournament, with Wisconsin Heights (14) and St. Mary Catholic (13, 2006) the only ones that come close. 

 

The state title drought ended after a 24-hour rain delay with pitchers Hans Logerquist and Jon Bastian holding Spencer to just one hit in the game. Jeff Paschke was an offensive star in the game, hitting a double and scoring a run in the second inning to break a 2-2 tie and then tripling home one run and scoring on a suicide squeeze in the fifth inning to put the game out of reach.

 

Ending their season on a 20 game winning streak, the 1979 Gibraltar baseball team remains the school's only boys state championship squad.

 

The Door County Library's Online Newspaper archive provided much of the content for this article.