Loyola New Orleans baseball coach Jeremy Kennedy added a familiar face to his staff in former Wolf Pack catcher Gabe Trastoy. Trastoy, who played at Loyola from 2017 to 2022, was hired as a graduate assistant and pitching coach for the program, Kennedy announced on Thursday. 

"I'm excited to have Gabe back in the program in this new role," Kennedy said. "Gabe had a major impact on the turnaround of the program, including the first SSAC Championship in 2021.  It's been fun for me to work with him and watch his development as a player, leader, and now a coach. 

"He possesses the character traits that are important to us, he's a great human being who cares deeply about the continued growth of this program and the people in it.  Having him here has already made a massive impact and I know it will continue to as we grow. The addition of the position and specifically Gabe is another step in the right direction for the program and our ability to develop players on and off the field."  

In his first season as a graduate assistant in 2024, he helped the pitching staff to the third-best ERA (5.52) and the third-most strikeouts (400) in the Southern States Athletic Conference. Opponents hit .278 against Loyola pitching, too.

Trastoy was a mainstay at the catcher position during his time as a player, owning the Top 3 spots in the record book for most runners caught stealing in a single season. He caught 20 runners in 2018 and 17 each in 2021 and 2022, totaling 71 throughout his career to own the No. 1 spot for runners caught stealing in a career. The next closest to Trastoy is 49. During his last few seasons behind the plate, Trastoy became a leader for the pitching staff by understanding each of his teammates' strengths and calling the pitches. 

After graduating from Loyola in 2022, Trastoy returned to his hometown of Miami, Florida to coach and teach at Downtown Doral High School. There he ran practices, planned workouts and built throwing programs for the team's pitchers. 

After a year in Miami, he returned to New Orleans and the Loyola community as the program's graduate assistant and pitching coach while pursuing a Master of Business Administration. 

"I'm blessed for the opportunity and I'm super excited to continue building on a culture that I was a part of as a player," Trastoy said. "Loyola has become a second home for me and its good to be back."