Canon-McMillan loses plenty in Zach Rohaley
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As Zach Rohaley walked off the field in his final high school game, he tipped his hat to the heavily-cheering Canon-McMillan fans who made the trip to Penn State to watch him and his teammates win their second PIAA championship.
Rohaley kept his cool as he strolled into the dugout, but inside he was filled with emotion.
“I was just going back on all the years. Big memories I had at Canon-Mac,” Rohaley said. “I’m just thinking about every situation that came up. Just how much I tried to give to all these fans. We couldn’t do any of this without our family, our friends, our school. We got it done. We play for each other. The team stuck together. It was just the best feeling coming up and tipping the hat.”
Rohaley was the winning pitcher in Canon-McMillan’s 10-3 win against Bensalem in the PIAA Class 6A final. And really, any other outcome could have been considered a surprise considering Rohaley won more than just about any pitcher in WPIAL history.
A senior right-hander, Rohaley improved to 14-1 this season and became only the eighth WPIAL pitcher to win 30 games in a career. Twenty of those wins came in his final two seasons. He was also the winning pitcher in a 2-1 victory against North Hills that gave CanonMcMillan (21-5) its first WPIAL title.
Canon-McMillan coach Tim Bruzdewicz said Rohaley’s importance to the team went well beyond the wins.
“I think it’s his attitude, the toughness and the will to win that spills out over to our team. I think that’s more important than the actual pitcher,” said Bruzdewicz. “Yeah, he’s had a lot of wins. But just as equally important is how much of a leader he is. It just spills over to the kids. They know when he has the ball in his hands, we are pumped up. We are ready to go.”
That toughness showed in the PIAA final when Rohaley tweaked his groin in the second inning. He pitched through the pain, and ultimately closed his career in what he said was the best way possible.
“This is the perfect ending,” said Rohaley, who will play at Wheeling Jesuit. “There’s no other way I’d want to end it. I feel like that’s the reason why I wanted to stay in that game. It’s my last high school game. I wasn’t going to quit on them. I tried to never quit on them before and I’m not quitting now.”
Kline one-ups mom
A few weeks ago, CanonMcMillan senior outfielder Brandon Kline became a WPIAL champion just like his mother.
Kline has since one-upped her.
Kline’s mother, Alissa Kline (then Alissa Noel), was a star pitcher at Canevin and led the Crusaders to their first WPIAL title in 1990. But the Kline family never had a PIAA gold medal until Brandon earned one last week.
“I think I have bragging rights in the house now. I think I deserve a good dinner once in a while now,” Kline joked.
Kline had a big game against Bensalem. The team’s leadoff hitter, Kline reached base in all four of his at-bats, going 2 for 2 with two RBIs and two runs scored. He also walked twice.
Vincentian
Few WPIAL players were in the same league this season as Vincentian’s Kyler Fedko, who tore the cover off the ball as one of the area’s top hitters and was a standout in the field at shortstop.
Fedko led Vincentian (204) to its second PIAA Class 1A title just two years after he and brother Christian helped the Royals earn their first. Christian graduated last year, but Kyler’s huge senior season vaulted the Royals to not only a PIAA title, but also their first WPIAL championship. For that reason, Fedko said this state title meant a little bit more.
“I’d say this one is probably better. You get the WPIAL and you get the state. The double,” Fedko said. “It feels kind of special. I’d rather win it with my brother, but this one probably felt better.”
For the season, Fedko hit .661 with 8 home runs, 40 RBIs and 40 runs scored. He had an on-base percentage of .750. Fedko went 2 for 2 with an RBI and two runs scored in a 5-3 win against Southern Fulton in the PIAA final.
Fedko will soon reunite with his brother at the University of Connecticut. Christian was the American Athletic Conference Rookie Position Player of the Year and helped the Huskies reach the NCAA tournament.
“It’ll be great,” Kyler said. “I’ve been waiting a whole year. It’s going to be good. I love playing with him. We make each other better and push each other every day.”
South Side Beaver
South Side Beaver’s first appearance in the PIAA championship didn’t go as well as it hoped — the Rams lost to Lancaster Catholic, 51, in the Class 3A final — but who would have expected even a month ago that they would have even qualified for the state tournament?
After finishing third in its section, South Side Beaver (17-6) went on to reach the WPIAL semifinals, beat perennial power Riverside in the third-place consolation to reach the PIAA playoffs for the first time since 2000, and then beat three district champions to get to the PIAA final. The Rams had never won a PIAA playoff game before this season.
“I think it was the belief,” said South Side Beaver coach Chip Hunter. “No matter how much talent you have, if you don’t jell together, it’s difficult for a coach to get the team to be successful. You can only go so far on talent. These kids really believed in each other. They enjoyed playing for each other. It was an unselfish group. I think that’s really what it was. Not being selfish and wanting to accomplish things as a team and not as individuals. I think that’s how we really got here as a team.”