Rother Named Player of the Year for Second Straight Season; Five tabbed All-Patriot League

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• Complete Patriot League Release (11/5/22)

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Senior outfielder/right-handed pitcher Casey Rother has been named Patriot League Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, voted on by the coaches and announced by the league office Wednesday afternoon. Rother becomes just the third player in league history to be named the Most Valuable Player of the league twice and in consecutive years, the first since Navy’s Marcus Lee in 1993-94. In addition, five members of the Lehigh baseball team were voted to All-Patriot League teams with three making an appearance on the First Team.

Rother heads a First Team that also includes senior left-hander Luke Rettig and junior catcher Adam Retzbach. Senior infielder Joe Gorla and sophomore shortstop Tyler Young earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors.

For the second straight season, Rother was instrumental in leading the Mountain Hawks back to the Patriot League Tournament and in contention for the program’s first league title since 2015. In the regular season, he led the league in batting average (.371), hits (71), RBIs (48), doubles (18) and slugging percentage (.613). He also launched a career-high nine home runs and in league play, batted .381 with 37 hits, 28 RBIs and a league-best seven homers. Rother, a jack of all trades, also excelled on the mound this season with his 3-0 record, two saves, a 1.32 ERA over 13.2 innings of work. He struck out 12 batters with two walks on the year.

His Player of the Year honor is Lehigh’s fifth, becoming the first two-time winner in program history.

The now two-time All-Patriot League selection, Retzbach had a tremendous season at the plate, demonstrating immense power as the league’s home run leader of the regular season with 11, just two shy of the single-season program record. He batted .295 with 52 hits, 12 doubles, two triples and had 45 RBIs. He slugged .574 and reached base at a clip of .400 with 25 walks and nine hit-by-pitches. Behind the plate, Retzbach showcased his power arm by throwing out a Patriot League-best 16 batters trying to steal bases. He also spent time at left field and first base on the year with a fielding percentage of .991 with 282 putouts, 36 assists on 321 chances with only three errors.

Another two-time All-Patriot League selection, Rettig excelled as the ace of Lehigh’s rotation throughout the year. He went 8-2 with a 2.01 ERA, striking out 68 and walking 30 in 67.0 innings. Rettig finished with two shutouts and two complete games with a 1.27 WHIP. He is just the third pitcher in program history to win at least eight games in a single season and over the weekend reached the 200-strikeout milestone, becoming just the fifth pitcher in program history to reach the plateau.

In just 24 games, Gorla put together an impressive senior season despite missing the first half of the campaign due to injury. He hit .313 with 30 hits, two home runs and 14 RBIs, scoring 20 runs. Gorla slugged .438 with an on-base percentage of .377. In league play, Gorla batted .329 with an OPS of .809.

Finally, Young enjoyed a breakout season as the team’s starting shortstop, finishing second on the team in hitting with a batting average of .348. He had 54 hits, eight doubles, two triples, a homer and 30 RBIs, slugging .445 with 25 walks and an on-base percentage of .444. Young also scored 36 runs and had an OPS of .889.

The second-seeded Mountain Hawks begin their quest back to the Patriot League Championship Series with a best-of-three semifinal round at Bucknell this weekend. Lehigh faces the Bison twice Saturday starting at noon with the third game set for 1 pm on Sunday if necessary. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required).

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2022 Patriot League Baseball Major Awards
Player of the Year: Casey Rother, Lehigh, Sr., OF/RHP

Pitcher of the Year: Connelly Early, Army West Point, Sun., LHP
Rookie of the Year: Nick Wang, Holy Cross, Fr., 3B
Defensive Player of the Year: Eduardo Diaz, Navy, Sun., SS
Gene Depew Coach of the Year: Jim Foster, Army West Point

2022 First Team All Patriot League

SP: Connelly Early, Army West Point, Sun.
SP: Jake Bloss, Lafayette, Jr.
SP: Luke Rettig, Lehigh, Sr.

RP: Tanner Gresham, Army West Point, Sun.
C: Adam Retzbach, Lehigh, Jr.

1B: Ross Friedrick, Army West Point, Jr.
2B: Derek Berg, Army West Point, Sun.
SS: Kevin Dubrule, Army West Point, Jr.
3B: Sam Ruta, Army West Point, Sun.
OV: Nick Manesis, Army West Point, Sr.
OV: Chris Cannizzaro, Bucknell, Sr.
OV: Casey Rother, Lehigh, Sr.

At-Large: Christian Policelli, Navy, Sr.

2022 Second Team All Patriot League

SP: Brian Dawson, Army West Point, Sr.
SP: Austin Odell, Bucknell, Sr.
SP: Will Greer, Bucknell, Jr.
RP: Luke Fox, Holy Cross, Jr.
C: Dylan Minghini, Lafayette, Sr.
1B: Tyler Dunn, Bucknell, Mrs.
1B: Joe Gorla, Lehigh, Sr.

2B: Brendan Lowery, Bucknell, Sr.
SS: Tyler Young, Lehigh, So.

3B: Jacob Corson, Bucknell, So.
OV: Hunter Meade, Army West Point, Sr.
OV: Grant Voytovich, Bucknell, So.
OV: Peter Ciuffreda, Lafayette, Jr.
OV: Colin Smith, Navy, Jr.
At-Large: Sean Scanlon, Holy Cross, Fr.