Alum Max Kirbach hired to coach Henry-Senachwine baseball

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More than two decades after playing for the Henry-Senachwine baseball team, Max Kirbach has been hired to lead the program.

“It means a lot,” Kirbach said. “I graduated from Henry (in 2001) and played on the baseball team. It’s a nice feeling to come back and support the hometown team and have a chance to be the head coach.”

Kirbach replaces Matt Emmons, who left to take the same position at Pekin after leading the Mallards for five seasons.

Kirbach was an assistant for Emmons in 2021.

Previously, Kirbach served as the head coach at Casey-Westfield for six seasons. He coached the Casey-Westfield Junior High team to a state runner-up finish.

Kirbach, who also is Henry’s golf coach, has experience coaching softball and girls basketball as well.

“I’m going to preach fundamentals,” Kirbach said. “We’re going to work a lot on pitching – a lot of mechanics. Same with hitting. We’re going to shorten those swings up a little bit so when we’re facing those guys throwing 80-plus we’ll get a few more hits and not rely on stealing a whole bunch of bases.”

Kirbach inherits a roster that returns several key players from a team that went 21-11 and won a Class 1A regional championship last season.

“I think they lost five seniors, so there’s going to be some holes to fill in the lineup, but we have a bunch of freshmen coming up and we have some core players – some very strong hitters and top tier pitching – coming back,” Kirbach said. “I think it should be a pretty bright season.”

Having previously been an assistant, Kirbach is familiar with many of the players.

“I work at the high school. I teach these guys,” Kirbach said. “I know them really well. I’m familiar with their swings and how they pitch and all that stuff. I know what they need to work on and know their strengths, so we can build on that.”

Kirbach said he’d like to keep moving the program forward.

“I want to keep building the program,” Kirbach said. “Matt Emmons did a great job keeping a JV team, which is incredibly hard to do at a small school. I want to keep building the numbers. I’d like to be over .500, get to that possible 20 wins and hopefully get another regional and beyond.”