A breakout season a year ago combined with the success she's enjoyed in recent summers at the AAU level ultimately helped Perry (Massillon) senior softball player
Casi Rohr earn a scholarship to pitch for the University of Toledo.
Even that hasn't kept her away from one of her secret skills — catching.
Casi Rohr might be famous for herpitching, but the Perry star alsois comfortable receiving pitches asa catcher.
Photo courtesy of perrylocal.org
Before her freshman season with the Panthers, Rohr had a talk with her mother that inevitably made her decide to focus her energy solely on becoming one of Ohio's top pitchers. Still, giving up squatting behind the plate has been a tough habit to break for the senior who led Perry to its first Division I state championship last June.
"My freshman year, I decided to be just a pitcher because it finally hit me that if I want to be successful that I needed to choose one spot," Rohr said. "I like the attention I get (pitching) just a little bit more. I still kind of catch sometimes, although nobody is supposed to know about it. I still catch sometimes for my travel team, but I try not to do it much so that I don't get hurt."
Her return for her final prep season helped Perry earn the No. 15 spot in the
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Softball Rankings before dropping out this week.
Although the Panthers also have a pair of juniors who have verbally committed to Division I colleges in third baseman
Shelbi Tilton (Kent State) and shortstop
Jayla Saibene (Ohio State), Rohr is the team's only senior.
She went 24-2 with a 0.71 ERA and 214 strikeouts in 167 2/3 innings a year ago as Perry finished with a 27-3 record.
At the state tournament, Rohr was spectacular. She struck out nine and gave up just three hits during a 5-0 win over Springfield (Holland) in a state semifinal. She then struck out seven and scattered six hits over six shutout innings in the championship game as Perry beat Grove City 10-0.
It gave the school its first title in a team sport.
"There was a lot of support, with the community really coming together," Rohr said of the experience of winning the title. "A lot more people started coming to games. Our incoming freshmen and our upcoming players from the (junior varsity) came in with better attitudes this year to be a part of a winning team."
Last season, Rohr was a junior for a Panthers team that had six seniors, five of which were starters. Rohr, who also was a member of the Akron Sapphires 18U travel team that won the ASA Eastern National championship in 2009, averages 61 mph with her fastball. The 5-foot-6 pitcher who made second-team all-state a year ago relies on getting movement on her pitches.
"As a sophomore and freshman she split time with another girl, but last year she stepped up and proved to be our No. 1 pitcher," coach Alison Heppe said. "I wouldn't say she lives on one pitch. She has a great curveball and is constantly working on her pitches. We mix it up pretty well, and I think that's what has helped her.
"Off the field, she works with our youth program a lot, and it seems like every little girl wants to be Casi Rohr."
She's embracing the role of being a leader with confidence, despite getting off to a rough start this season. Because of poor weather conditions throughout the spring, Perry didn't play its first game until April 7. That night, the Panthers lost to Federal League rival Lake (Uniontown, Ohio) 8-7 as Rohr gave up a game-winning home run in the bottom of the seventh.
Rohr, who also walked in the game-winning run in an 8-7 loss to Lake when she was a freshman, isn't ready to panic just yet. As Rohr and other pitchers from Ohio make the transition this season to the extension from 40 feet to 43 feet, she knows there likely won't be many other nights like that during the rest of the spring.
"(The change to 43 feet is) all mechanical work because it gives the batter a half of a second longer, and pitchers need to adjust a little bit," Rohr said. "(April 7) was the first time for us being on the field for a game this year. Our pitching was good but our defense was a little shaky.
"With me being our only senior, I'm taking on a different role. Our underclassmen are looking up to me and other people are depending on me more. I have to be mentally strong. I like the pressure that's being put on me and I feel confident in myself."
Jarrod Ulrey covers Central and Northern Ohio for MaxPreps.com. He covers prep sports for ThisWeekSPORTS.com
and can be reached at julrey@thisweeknews.com.
