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O-R Athlete of the Week: Zach Rohaley, Canon-McMillan

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Name: Zach Rohaley

School: Canon-McMillan

Sport: Baseball

Year: Senior

Rohaley’s week: Rohaley continued a strong postseason pitching effort by surrendering only one run and striking out nine to lead Canon-McMillan to its first WPIAL Class 6A championship with a 2-1 victory over North Allegheny.

He followed it with another dominating performance Monday against Dallastown in a PIAA tournament first-round game, also a 2-1 win, stifling the Wildcats early by not allowing a runner to reach second base until the fourth inning. He surrendered one run and struck out 10 in a complete-game victory.

The wins represented the school’s first WPIAL title since being called Canonsburg High School in 1936 and the first in the state playoffs since 2008.

“I’m just trying my best. I’m giving it 110 percent. The whole team is out here giving its all,” Rohaley said. “I know that if I can go out there, attack hitters and keep my pitch count down, I can be successful.”

In the four playoff games Rohaley has started for the Big Macs this season, he is 4-0 with 32 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings. The two-time Observer-Reporter Baseball Player of the Year surrendered just three runs in those four starts.

“I’m only trying to let hitters see one or two fastballs during an at-bat,” Rohaley said. “I want them to be expecting curveball when I throw a fastball, or expecting a a fastball and they get a curveball. I want to keep them off balance. That’s what this game is all about. I don’t throw hard enough to blow it by anybody.”

Sustained success: Controlling games on the mound isn’t new to Rohaley, a Wheeling Jesuit recruit.

As a sophomore, he had a 1.59 ERA and allowed only one run during section play. Last season, he went 7-0 with a 0.75 ERA in 42 innings. He only gave up four runs the entire season and struck out 52.

“Coming in as a freshman, I wasn’t expecting much,” Rohaley remembers. “I could throw a little bit. The coaches, my teammates and my family have given me the motivation to get to this point. I try to work hard. My family drives me places to try to get better. I give all the credit to them.”

It’s continued in his final season at Canon-McMillan. Rohaley is 12-1 with a 0.75 ERA and 95 strikeouts.

“Each year, I get the mentality that I have to be better than the year before,” he said. “That’s what I’m trying to prove to everybody.”

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