It’s game day for Casey Rother, but he has some time to spare.

Spending his summer playing for the Mat-Su Miners of the Alaska Baseball League, Rother’s routine won’t change much until early August.

“We wake up, have some breakfast and then maybe we’ll go on a little hike or go fishing,” says Rother, who is staying with a host family while in Alaska. “A lot of golf being played too. We love playing golf.

“We get to the field around 5 or 4 and then warm up, take some BP and then play at 7. We play a lot of games, so that’s going to happen a lot.”

Rother probably wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Tamaqua graduate will spend the next few months honing his craft, building on arguably the most successful season of his career this past spring at Lehigh University.

Rother became the fourth Mountain Hawk - and first since Mike Garzillo in 2016 - to be named Patriot League Player of the Year.

Hard work pays off

It was a season that was the product of the hard work Rother put in at each stop along the way throughout his career.

“I’m a process-oriented guy, so I think every at-bat for my entire career that led up to this season that we had was part of it,” he said. “During the summer of last year, I got the opportunity to play down in Texas for a little bit and that was tough. I was seeing 95 constantly, and it was just tough pitchers the entire time, but that really helped me for this season.

“But in the fall, and the winter, just working every day and working hard, slowly helps to produce a season like the one I just had. It’s definitely a process, and it keeps going on, and I just have to keep working hard at it.”

The junior finished the regular season batting .350 (48-for-137) with six doubles, five home runs, a triple, 28 runs scored and 29 RBIs with 19 walks. He had a .518 slugging percentage, and an on-base percentage of .441 to lead Lehigh to the Patriot League Championship Series against Army West Point.

“It was definitely a special season. This group, we definitely clicked,” he said. “I’m going to miss the seniors. Coming back with the freshmen and sophomores that we have, I’m excited for next year, but we were a tight group. We were all good friends, and really enjoyed playing baseball together. Everything just clicked. We came just short, but it was definitely fun. Every day we came in and worked hard and just loved doing it. That was a special group, and it doesn’t happen often, but hopefully it’ll happen next year.”

In league play, Rother batted .365 (35-for-96) with four doubles, two home runs, a triple and 15 RBIs with 21 runs scored. He also walked a team-best 17 times and slugged .490 with a .470 OBP. His 13 multi-hit games was tied for the team lead, and he was also tied for the team lead in multi-RBI games with seven. Rother led the league in hits and runs scored.

Rother finished the season with a team-leading .329 batting average and 52 hits, and tied for a team-best 34 RBIs. His 22 walks and six home runs ranked second on the club, and his .494 slugging percentage and 33 runs scored were third-best on the team.

At one point during the season, Rother reached base in 26 straight games.

Lehigh concluded the 2021 campaign with a 24-19 overall record, and a 17-10 mark in Patriot League play. The Mountain Hawks won the regular season title for the first time since 2006.

COVID year

Rother made up for lost time during his sophomore season, which was canceled after 15 games because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We had a lot of downtime, so it made you realize what you love doing, what you love to do every day,” said Rother. “Sitting on a couch for 12 hours a day makes you think, ‘Dang, I really want to play baseball right now.’

“That’s why going down to Texas, I was never in that state before and just by myself, was kind of a cool experience. But it was definitely something where, if I hadn’t been sitting on a couch for so long every day, then I probably wouldn’t have gone down there. So that’s definitely something that I took advantage of, and just to realize that baseball is a fun game and I want to keep playing, and that gave me a chance to work hard at it.”

The Lehigh numbers aren’t surprising to anyone who saw Rother play during his high school days.

As a senior in 2017, Rother led Tamaqua to the District 11 3A title, as well as an appearance in the state playoffs as he hit .472 (34-for-72) with 10 doubles, in addition to a pair of home runs and 20 RBIs.

Extra motivation

And he helped Lehigh get to the doorstep of a Patriot League title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament this past season, a setback that has only served as motivation for Rother heading into the offseason.

“After the last game of the championship series, I remember we were just sitting in our dugout as they were celebrating,” he said. “And I realized how difficult it was to get to that part, so it was kind of a daunting task for next year. We have to do this exact thing again, and it was very difficult with a lot of challenges along the way throughout the season. I got in my car and just thought, ‘Wow, we have to do this again, and it was pretty tough to do.’

“So it’s a very special thing to make it to the championship series, especially this year; it was super hard to do. But I think we’re going to be able to do it again. We have some good guys coming in, our freshmen and sophomores are going to get another year of development and they’re going to improve, so we have high expectations for next season.”

The player and person Casey Rother is in 2021 is not all that different from the one who made 30 starts as a freshman in 2019.

And that’s not likely to change in 2022.

“I’m a very day-to-day guy,” Rother said. “When I first got to Lehigh, I was probably just hoping I made it to everywhere I was supposed to be on time and try not to mess up.

“Gradually, each day I try to hit a little better, throw a little harder, get better in the classroom. But from Day 1, it’s just been about trying to do my job, and figuring out what my job is. The job gets more and more difficult every year, every day, but it’s just a gradual thing.”

As much as he tries not to get ahead of himself, it’s hard not to be excited about what the future holds for Casey Rother.