Serafino, Rohaley overcoming hardships together
Courtesy of California University
Courtesy of California University
Former Canon-McMillan standouts Nick Serafino, right, and Zach Rohaley had their sophomore seasons halted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Courtesy of California University
Courtesy of California University
California’s Nick Serafino runs onto the field at Wild Things Park prior to a game earlier this season.
Courtesy of California University
Courtesy of California University
Cal’s Zach Rohaley throws a pitch in a game earlier this season.
Nick Serafino kept his orange and yellow tinted Oakley glasses on the brim of his hat as the sun gradually tucked behind the first-base stands at Penn State’s Medlar Field.
Done soaking up the sun in center field, Serafino didn’t need the glasses to take in everything that came with celebrating a state title, from the Canon-McMillan fans to the gold medal he bit onto while taking pictures.
About an hour earlier, Serafino gathered his teammates outside of the dugout after running down a line drive to end the top of the fifth inning. The following half inning, Canon-McMillan sent 12 batters to the plate, scored seven runs to break a tied game en route to a 10-3 win over Bensalem to win the 2018 PIAA Class 6A championship.
He climbed into the stands to take pictures with his family and friends. Serafino then wrapped one arm around the other Big Macs’ captains, Zach Rohaley and Ian Hess, for more pictures.
“Out of high school, off of that state championship, it was like nothing could go wrong,” Serafino said.
Serafino and Rohaley, who have been teammates since childhood, have been asking themselves what can’t go wrong in their first two years of college.
The first curveball at Wheeling Jesuit University, where they both committed prior to their state title run, came 10 days before Christmas break during their freshman year. They were called down to a conference room in the athletic building on campus for an unexpected, mid-morning meeting.
The head baseball coach who recruited them to Wheeling Jesuit, Dan Abbenante, was no longer the coach.
“We were called down at about 10:45 a.m. It was a five-minute meeting,” Serafino remembered. “We were told he’s not our coach anymore and weren’t given any reason. That was an abrupt shock. We were a week-and-a-half away from break and didn’t know who we would be playing for.”
It also shook Rohaley.
“I was like, ‘Oh, God,'” Rohaley said. “I went to Wheeling because of that guy. He got me fired up about baseball. He had brought me in and I wanted to go to battle for him.”
The spring semester only brought more uncertainty.
Struggling to a 12-34 record, there was more on the mind of players at Wheeling Jesuit than baseball.
The team was mired in the middle of the Mountain East Conference when the university’s board of trustees declared a financial exigency and a letter was sent out to students about the financial challenges the university faced. A majority of that 46-game schedule was played with players questioning what was next in baseball and more importantly life, as academic and athletic programs were threatened to be shut down and cuts were imminent.
“We were barely winning, which I wasn’t used to,” Rohaley said. “I’d go out there and pitch and get the job done, but it was hard. Nothing was clicking. I wasn’t really used to it being that hard. In high school, it just came naturally to me. It felt like my mentality kind of switched and I would go out there and try to be perfect.”
While Rohaley’s academic major wasn’t eliminated, Serafino’s opportunity at continuing his engineering degree was no longer possible at the school.
“Engineering at Wheeling Jesuit wasn’t in high demand,” Serafino said. “There was a bunch of talk, a lot of rumors about the financial situation. I was worried. I didn’t see it coming but in the back of my mind, I expected (engineering) to go.”
Both decided to enter the transfer portal, which ironically led the two of them to staying close at California University.
It was not a package deal for Cal coach Mike Conte, but definitely another opportunity for the two who have continued to be teammates, roommates and what has turned into an inseparable friendship.
The much-needed change immediately impacted Serafino, who carved a spot in the outfield by starting seven of the nine games he appeared. His average crept above .300 throughout the first handful of games.
“I found a new energy level at Cal,” said Serafino, who started 35 of 37 games as a freshman at Wheeling. “I was surrounded by a group of guys that all they wanted to do was get better. I knew if I didn’t do that then, I wouldn’t have a chance.”
Rohaley, a three-time Observer-Reporter Baseball Player of the Year, threw six scoreless innings against his old Wheeling team to open the season. He pitched 19 2/3 innings and had a 4.58 earned run average before life threw a curve that Rohaley couldn’t handle.
The coronavirus pandemic paused the world.
Shortly after the Vulcans returned from their spring trip to Wilson, N.C., the season was cancelled because of the COVID-19. They were less than one week away from the start of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play.
Another season that neither could have envisioned.
“A couple of guys were just chilling on Twitter (on our bus ride back) and all of it started with all the Division I schools closing,” Rohaley said. “We were all like this is becoming a real serious thing. Our coaches told us to be ready for anything. Finally, we got the news that the season was cancelled.”
Yet, the two have leaned on one another through the hardships of the past two years. Both understood that all the bad that have come their way was something they couldn’t control.
“You aren’t thinking about leaving a college when you start,” Serafino said. “You are thinking that will be your home for four years. You aren’t thinking about the school maybe shutting down. You aren’t thinking about a pandemic. You just have to take the good with the bad. You have to move forward.”
“All you can do is use this for motivation,” Rohaley said. “There’s nothing I can do to change any of it.”
What the two have also realized is how much adversity has strengthened their lifelong friendship.
“It’s been awesome,” Rohaley unexpectedly said. “We’ve been able to expand upon on friendship and become even closer. I’ve loved every bit of it. We are one another’s biggest critics. He’ll do anything for me. I’ll do anything for him. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“He’s been there through thick and thin,” Serafino said of Rohaley. “He’s seen me at my best and at my worst. Our circumstance is unique, but having someone who knows what you’re going through really helps. I’ve leaned on him. He’s leaned on me. It’s what we’ve done all our lives.”