Jupiter Defeats Defending State Champ Cardinal Gibbons

Perhaps no team in Palm Beach is more talented this year than the Jupiter Warriors. Having a strong returning core, and a new manager at the helm to lead them, many were wondering what the Warriors would look like when they finally hit the field in 2025.

Jupiter answered that question emphatically on Tuesday afternoon by going out and dominating the defending state Champion Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs, 13-5, in the HSBN First Pitch Elite tournament.

The win was the first as manager of the Warriors for Giummule, but it also was the 300th of his career. A fact that he tried to keep hidden from the team leading into the game.

“None of my players or coaches were aware of the milestone before the game,” said Giummule. “This was my first game here, and I wanted to keep the game and the focus on the team, and our first game together.”

If the Warriors players didn’t know beforehand, they certainly played like they did. They scored one in the second, three in the fourth, and five in the fifth, to take a commanding 9-1 lead over the defending state champions.

The big blow in the fifth inning came on a pinch-hit, two-run home run off the bat of senior Jon Kammerer. Jake Finnegan and Andrew Abad each also added two hits apiece for the Warriors. Abad had three RBIs.

On the mound for Jupiter, Ethan Trivison started the game and went 3.2 innings, allowing only one hit and one unearned run, while striking out six.

“We swung the bats well today, and did a lot of things right,” said Giummule. “There are still some things to clean up early in the year, but overall I thought it was a good first game for us.”

While he did not want his team to know, the win was still significant for Giummule on several fronts. He made the difficult decision this past summer to leave coaching in Broward after two decades, and relocate his family up north, to take over the Jupiter program.

His first game with his new team, and back in Broward, also was against one of his mentors.

“Obviously winning my 300th game in Broward was special,” said Giummule. “Jason (Hamilton, Gibbons Manager) is not only a friend, but someone I looked up to when I was a 9th grader and he was a senior at Coconut Creek High School. He kind of took me under his wing that year, and it’s something I have never forgotten.”

With the nostalgia and emotion of a big opening win, the Warriors will now set their sights on the quick turnaround of facing American Heritage-Delray today. Both teams are 1-0 in the tournament, and the winner will have a chance to possibly play for a tourney championship later this week.

For Gibbons, they also are back at it today, with a match-up against Miami Christian, a team that came within one game of a state championship last year.

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