If you ever need to win a pitchers' duel, Connor Gehr from Gulf Shores is a safe bet.

Now hurling for the Meridian Eagles, the freshman righthander picked up Pitcher of the Week honors on the conference and national stages thanks to an 11-strikeout complete game that featured zero earned runs allowed to help his team win a 1-0 game.

The former Dolphin scattered 5 hits and 1 walk over his 7 innings of work to complement double-digit punchouts of Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldog batters. The 1-0 win helped the 20th-ranked Eagles improve to 9-3 overall with their fourth victory in one-run decisions.

Gehr’s effort earned him recognition from the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference as well as the National Junior College Athletic Association for Week 4.

He was named NJCAA Pitcher of the Week on Wednesday, Feb. 26, then went out and delivered another solid outing with 7 strikeouts over 5 innings with 2 earned runs to help Meridian upset No. 2 East Central 7-6.

The Eagles entered this week of play at 13-7 overall with conference play set to open on March 12 against Northeast Mississippi. Eight games so far have been decided by one run where five have ended in wins and three in losses.

Through the first 20 games, Gehr has logged the team’s second-most innings pitched with 21 over 4 appearances and 3 starts. He leads the team with 2 complete games to go along with 29 strikeouts against 14 hits, 9 walks and 3 earned runs allowed. Gehr has compiled a 1.29 earned run average and 1.10 WHIP (walks plus hits, divided by innings pitched) on top of a 1.000 fielding percentage with 1 putout and 1 assist on 2 chances.

Across NJCAA Division II, Gehr’s strikeouts are tied for 25th in the country and his ERA ranks eighth among pitchers who have made at least three starts.

A two-time first-team all-state selection on the Class 5A stage during his time as a Dolphin, Gehr helped Gulf Shores extend a streak to four-straight area titles his final season. He also represented the Dolphins at the 2023 AHSAA All-Star game and spearheaded Gulf Shores’ first win over Orange Beach on the baseball diamond.

The Dolphin ace racked up 100 strikeouts compared to 29 walks and a 0.83 ERA over 67.1 innings as a senior where he never allowed more than three runs in a start. Two of his three losses from an 8-3 record came opposite no-hit efforts.