It was a repeat feat for Canon-McMillan’s Rohaley

As the catcher rises out of his crouch to throw down to second base before the opening inning, the Canon-McMillan infield approaches the mound around Zach Rohaley for a moment of encouragement.
Rohaley, grateful for the pep talk before fiercely staring down competition a mere 60-6 away, has been forced to maneuver – sometimes even push – those in blue, yellow and white to the side.
“I have to watch where they are stepping,” he said.
One teammate that hasn’t had to watch his steps around Rohaley’s mound is Nick Serafino, who has been patrolling center field for the Big Macs after moving out of his second-base spot he grew up playing.
Loosening up in the outfield, Serafino, like every other teammate of the dominant junior pitcher, isn’t aware of what Rohaley does when he bends down to scrawl in the dirt behind the rubber.
Before casually stepping into the batter’s box for an at-bat, Rohaley inscribes four letters into each field the C-M baseball team has played at this year.
One set of initials is ‘LB’ to remember 2016 graduate Luke Blanock, who succumbed to a three-year battle with Ewing’s sarcoma last August. The next initials are that of Serafino’s father, Ralph, who passed away April 4.
“My mom has asked me what I’m doing out on the mound before I pitch,” Rohaley said. “I had no problem telling her. People haven’t really asked, so I haven’t said anything. It gives me a feeling that they are right there with me. They are with me all of the time.”
Nick Serafino and Rohaley, rivals during their youth with one representing Canon-McMillan and the other playing for Cecil Township, joined a local travel team and have played together since.
It also transpired a bond Rohaley had with Ralph.
“Ralph was the man,” Rohaley said. “He always was there to lend a hand. Anytime you needed anything, you could go to him. He knew everything about baseball. He was such a great dad.”
The motivation, given by those physically and spiritually on the field for Rohaley, propelled him and the Big Macs to a section championship after losing four of its first five regular season games.
For his performance, Rohaley is the Observer-Reporter Baseball Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.
He earned the award over teammates Cam Weston and Ian Hess, Carmichaels’ Joel Spishock and Ringgold’s Ryan Varley. It was Rohaley’s willingness and ability to take the ball against other top tier competition in the section, and dominating.
Unlike many area pitchers, Rohaley was effective with a variety of pitches, keeping opposing hitters off balance with a fastball topping out at 86 mph.
“What people don’t realize is that his fastball is his third pitch,” said C-M head coach Tim Bruzdewicz. “His bread and butter is being able to upset timing. While his fastball is still good, it’s the combination of being able to throw any of those three pitches – a fastball, changeup or curveball – during any count.”
He continued to a develop a change learned prior to his sophomore season, when he had an impressive 1.59 ERA and only allowed one run in section play. Rohaley’s numbers were even better this past year.
In 42 innings, he went 7-0 with a 0.75 ERA, giving up just four runs and striking out 52.
“Last year, my secondary pitches helped me, but this year I almost depended on them,” Rohaley said. “You have to be able to throw your secondary pitches for strikes. It’s all about keeping hitters off balance.”
He did just that when starting four games against second-place finishers Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township and Bethel Park. The Big Macs won each of them.
In Canon-McMillan’s 12 section games, in which it went undefeated, Big Macs’ pitching only surrendered 16 runs.
“We knew it was going to be a special year,” Rohaley said. “I understood with the new pitching rules that I needed to go after hitters early and keep being efficient. We had a taste of what losing was like when we went down to Myrtle Beach to begin the season. We didn’t like it.”
At the plate, Rohaley finished with a .360 average and 10 RBI in an offense that produced runs.
“He is definitely one of our leaders,” Bruzdewicz said of Rohaley. “When he steps between the lines, he is a fierce competitor. If you give me nine Zach Rohaleys, we would win a lot of championships.”