- November 28, 2024
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Tommy Roache is one of Father Lopez's best hitters. He's also one of the team's best pitchers. So what would he do if he had to pitch against himself?
BY MATT MENCARINI | SPORTS EDITOR
Opposing pitchers haven’t had much success against Tommy Roache. That’s because they don’t know what Roache knows.
“I’d say, definitely don’t throw me a bunch of strikes, because I’m hacking first pitch,” he said, explaining how he'd handle pitching to himself. Roache, as a pitcher, led the Father Lopez baseball team with four regular season wins.
“If you get into a long at-bat with me, throw curve balls outside,” he said. “Make me make a mistake, because if you leave it over the plate I’m going to hammer it.”
Roache ended the regular season leading the team with a .439 batting average, and his 29 hits were second. He drove in 13 runs, scored 21 times and had eight stolen bases to go along with a 3.34 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 44 innings.
He’s committed to Gannon University, in Erie, Penn., where he’ll be joined by teammate Nick Restuccia.
When coach Trevor Berryhill made his way out to the mound to settle Roache down during the Senior Night win April 15, he didn’t say much. Roache wears his emotions on his sleeve, Berryhill said, and sometimes he just has to slow him downn.
It’s a fine line with Roache. The senior, like all pitchers, can get rattled, but he also says he pitchers better after he’s given up a few hits and starts feeling on edge.
“If I get in the mentality of being (angry) and mad, my fastball is quicker and I’m going to get you out,” Roache said. “(When) I get fired up, that’s when I pitch best. ... (It’s) not every game I have to get rocked to get in that mentality, but if I come to the mound with that mentality, look out.”
But the Gannon coaches see him more as a center fielder, Roache said, even though a possibility exists that he may return to the mound. If not, he said he’ll miss pitching.
“It’s my favorite place in the world,” he said of the pitcher’s mound.
The Green Wave play Lake Mary Prep on the road Tuesday, in the first round of the district tournament. The winner will advance to the district title Friday, and it’s a game in which Roache expects to play a big part. He expects it to be another step toward the state championship.
“I know we can do it,” he said. “We have the pitching, we have the hitting and we’re starting to click on all cylinders. ... But we have to take it one game at a time.”
Up next
The Green Wave beat Lake Mary Prep 4-0 April 23, and will advance to the district championship game April 26 against Masters Academy. The game is 7 p.m. at Lake Mary Prep, the host site for the district tournament.
