Present for the May 14 signing ceremony were: Front row, from left, Sherri Rothwell (mother), Caleb Rothwell and Justin Rothwell (father); Back row, from left, NAHS Assistant Baseball Coach Ryan Unger, Former NAHS baseball Coach Rob Meade, NAHS Baseball Head Coach Brady Johnson and NAHS Assistant Baseball Coach Bryant Lung. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The parade of North Adams High School senior athletes moving on to the collegiate level continued last week as Caleb Rothwell, a four-year member of the Green Devils’ baseball program, signed his letter of intent to become part of the baseball program with the Ohio Christian University Trailblazers. Rothwell becomes the third Green Devil in recent season to ink with OCU baseball, following in the footsteps of brothers Bryant and Brady Lung.
In his senior season where the Devils finished 7-15, Rothwell hit .333 with seven extra-base hits, five doubles and two triples. With an on-base percentage of .449, he scored 16 runs, drove home 13. His time on the mound was shortened to just 12 innings due to shoulder issues and he finished 1-2 with a 4.67 earned run average, striking out 15 opposing hitters.
“Ohio Christian is close to home and I really liked the coaches and the team there,” said Rothwell at his May 14 signing ceremony. “I’ve visited a few times and I really like the people there and the area. It was kind of my first option all the way. They reached out to me first and I kind of started thinking that ‘this is the place for me’. I still have a few more weeks of no throwing because of my shoulder and I just started physical therapy so I should be back before summer starts.”
“We haven’t gotten a lot of wins while I was here at North Adams but we’ve always been close as teammates but most importantly, we’ve all grown as baseball players and as young men.”
Before stepping down, Rob Meade was Rothwell’s head coach for his first three seasons with the Green Devils.
“Caleb was a phenomenal players for us,” said Coach Meade. “He worked really hard and played a lot as a freshman for us and realized then that he had some things he needed to work on and he made a lot of changes and showed a lot of growth over the next couple of seasons and he has a bright future ahead of him. I’m proud of how he went about getting better, he was a team leader and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Taking over the reins of the North Adams baseball program for Rothwell’s senior season was Brady Johnson, who spoke to the Defender on his thoughts on his senior moving to the next level.
“Obviously Caleb was the heart and soul of our team,” said Johnson. “In my opinion, he was one of the top 10 players in the league and truly one of the leaders of our team, on and off the field. He’s someone who leads from the front which is the best thing I could say about him. Even with his injury, he still hit the ball well and was a leader in the dugout and that’s all we could ever ask for.”
While at Ohio Christian, Rothwell plans to study Middle Childhood Education.
The Trailblazers are an NAIA school, playing in the River States Conference and their baseball squad finished last season at 13-32.
