Self-described baseball junkie, C-SC’s Gyorkos ready to man Quincy Gems’ reins

QUINCY — Brad Gyorkos’ efforts when it comes to building the Culver-Stockton College baseball program never wane.

Yet, there are times, especially during the summer months, where the itch to hit fungoes, play catch and be part of the game gets hard to scratch because there aren’t any baseball players on the Canton, Mo., campus.

“It gets monotonous and kind of boring at times,” Gyorkos said. “I just want to be around the yard every day.”

Next summer, the Quincy Gems are affording him that opportunity.

Gyorkos is taking over as the on-field manager of the Prospect League franchise, the Gems’ front office announced this week. Gyorkos is in his third season as the head coach at Culver-Stockton College, having played for the Wildcats for two seasons before graduating in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in sport management.

Before returning to his alma mater, Gyorkos spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Salem University in Clarksburg, W.Va.

“There’s something about being a baseball guy,” Gyorkos said. “All I want is what makes me happy and that is being in a dugout or in the third-base coaches box. I’m a baseball junkie. I can’t get enough of it.”

Gyorkos doesn’t want that to suggest he’s taking the job as a summer fling.

His passion also involved success, and he wants the Gems to succeed on all levels — in the standings, in attendance and in profitability.

“I wouldn’t have taken the job if I wasn’t going out there and try to win,” Gyorkos said. “It’s not a job where I’m going to go there and hang out and just be excited because it’s summer baseball. My expectations are to win baseball games.

“It’s the same thing here at Culver-Stockton. We want to build good relationships and everything that goes with it, but our expectations are to win baseball games. I think that’s what the fans of the Quincy Gems deserve. We want to put a product on the field they want to go watch.”

The Gems finished 27-32 last summer and haven’t been to the playoffs since winning the league championship in 2014. Gyorkos and Gems owner Jimmie Louthan plan to immediately look at the roster for 2022 and see which areas need to be addressed.

“We want to be talented and we want to win games, but we want to bring in the right people,” Gyorkos said. “I have to go about finding an assistant who is going to go about things the right way and represent the Gems well. From there, we have to put the team together to represent Quincy the right way.”