Gravdahl Supplants Coste as Cobbers Career Hits Leader

Article reprinted courtesy of the Forum and reporter Eric Peterson

MOORHEAD — Andy Gravdahl surpassed a legendary figure in the Concordia Cobbers baseball lore who is also his current head coach.

Gravdahl supplanted Chris Coste as the career hits leader in program history with six hits in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at St. Scholastica on Wednesday.

"There was no goal to beat Coste, it just kind of happened naturally," said Gravdahl, a West Fargo High School graduate.

Gravdahl has 165 career hits, while Coste finished his playing career (1993-1995) with 159. Coste went on to have a professional career that included a World Series championship with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Coste sensed potential greatness in Gravdahl — who also played for the Cobbers football team for four seasons — the moment the multiple-sport athlete stepped on campus.

"When he made the choice to come to Concordia, as long as he stayed healthy, he was going to break some records," Coste said.

The Cobbers won both games in the doubleheader against St. Scholastica, with Gravdahl contributing three hits in each game. In the first inning of Game 2, Gravdahl legged on an infield single to surpass Coste.

"He barreled every single ball except for one," Coste said. "He gets more infield hits than most guys because of his speed. ... Because he's so fast, he's probably missed out on over 20 hits by the umpires getting the call wrong at first base because he surprises them."

The Cobbers (10-12, 4-2 MIAC) have won four consecutive games and in the moment that is more important to Gravdahl than breaking Coste's record.

"If you don't only care about winning, what's the point of playing a team sport?" Gravdahl said. "We won two games so we are on a pretty good win streak right now."

Coste said Cobbers assistant coach Anthony Renz describes Gravdahl as an "aircraft carrier" due to his substantial set of skills.

"He can absolutely carry a team with all the things he can do," Coste said. "He's amazing in center field, he's always the fastest guy on the field. He has incredible power and puts the ball in play and causes so much havoc."

Gravdahl said he heard prior to the season that the career hits mark was within reach in his fifth and final season in the program. However, he didn't want to know how close he was to the record during the season.

Gravdahl accidentally found out before Wednesday's doubleheader that he was three hits away from tying the record.

"I didn't want to know and then I accidentally read a Concordia athletics article," Gravdahl said. "That's when I shut my eyes and I realized I can't think about that at all."

The 5-foot-10 Gravdahl surpassed Coste in his final season as Concordia head coach. Coste — who also manages the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks — recently announced this would be his final season as the Cobbers head coach.

"I'm happy that it happened while I was the coach," Coste said. "I think it's fantastic. Anybody who can break a record like that has truly earned it."

Coste said Gravdahl has pro potential and Gravdahl added he would pursue a professional baseball opportunity if one surfaced after his college career.

Gravdahl has already left his mark on the Cobbers program.

"At our level, he's a generational player," Coste said. "You don't see that combination of speed, power, awareness, strike-zone judgment. This list goes on."