The milestones for Eastern High School’s head baseball coach Rob Christ just keep on coming.
After leading the Vikings to a 29–4 record and the school’s first Group IV championship a season ago, Christ picked up his 300th career victory earlier this month with a 6–0 win over Paul VI High School.
“I know it’s wonderful to have a milestone but I don’t spend a lot of time on it,” Christ said. “I’ve been very fortunate to have great players and extraordinary coaches backed by a great school and administration. My success is a bi-product of them.”
Christ has been at Eastern since 2002, and in the years since, his philosophy as a coach has not wavered.
“I don’t know that I’ve changed much. I’m still an old school coach,” Christ said with a laugh. “I believe that with an attention to detail and respecting your opponent, that’s how you will be successful.”
After graduating with a degree in communications from Elizabethtown College, Christ took a marketing position with the Pittsburgh Pirates and, later, served as the play-by-play announcer and director of marketing for the Prince William Cannons, a Class-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. Though he’s found a permanent home in teaching and coaching, he still finds time to handle play-by-play and hosting duties for Comcast of Gloucester County. Christ attended Rowan University for his master’s degree.
“The greatest accomplishments don’t come in the form of wins and losses; they come in the form of students and players coming back and talking to me about the value of hard work paying off and their growth as a person,” Christ said. “There is no greater compliment.”
With a number of seniors from last year’s team lost to graduation, Eastern was not expected to compete for another state title. The Vikings ended the regular season with a record of 15–10, a season highlighted by big wins and frustrating losses.
“I’ve tried to illustrate there is never an excuse and to not worry about what we can’t control,” Christ said. “Our focus is on executing, not on who we graduated, not on the injuries. We don’t think that way. We expect to win a championship every year.”
Eastern’s road to consecutive championships was a steep one as it entered the South Jersey Group IV tournament as an 11-seed. The Vikings picked up a 4–3 victory over Vineland High School on Monday, May 19 to advance to the quarterfinals. Eastern was scheduled to meet third-seeded Williamstown High School on May 22.
