O'Fallon Patch Spotlight Athlete Of The Week: Greg Rothermich, Stallions Baseball Club

Without his equipment on, Greg Rothermich doesn’t look like he should be playing catcher.

He’s not a rough-and-tumble fat guy, who’s too big and can’t move, so he has no choice but to play behind the plate.

In fact, Rothermich is about 5-foot-11, 180-pounds, with a slender build, and real athletic talent running through his veins.

He looks like he ought to be playing the outfield, or maybe shortstop, or anywhere other than catcher.

But it might be because Rothermich is so athletic and talented, that’s he’s developed into one of the finest defensive backstops in the entire area.

And that’s why the No. 1 catcher for the varsity and the Stallions Baseball Club of Wentzville and St. Peters’ 16-under team is the O’Fallon Patch Spotlight Athlete of the Week.

“I’ve been catching since I was eight,” Greg Rothermich, whose older brother Wade, a 2011 North High School graduate who's headed to Lindenwood University on a baseball scholarship next year, said. “I always caught for Wade, and I’ve always been good at it. So when I got to high school and they said we needed a catcher, I said what the heck, I’ll do it again.”

And that move proved a godsend for the Panthers, who went 17-9 and tied for the GAC North championship last year.

North High had three pitchers (Wade Rothermich, Joe Siegler, and Lew Caradonna) make the all-conference team last year.

But as talented as those young men are, there was just one constant among them all—the brilliant receiver and leader they were throwing to behind the plate, Greg Rothermich.

“He’s as good as anybody back there,” Dale Rothermich, Greg’s dad and Stallions team coach, said. “He works real hard at it. And you can see the results.”

Most impressive about Greg Rothermich is his incredible throwing arm, a real weapon for North High and the Stallions whenever any opposing baserunner gets on.

Just last weekend, at the Greater Midwest Baseball Missouri-Illinois State Championships, Rothermich played two games on Friday and two more on Saturday, and put on quite a show for observers in attendance.

On Friday in wins over the Rawlings Prospects and Warriors Gold, Rothermich threw out five runners that tried to steal second, picked another runner off of first, and threw out another runner at second, who tried to advance a base after a play at the plate.

Then on Saturday, Rothermich threw out five more runners on the basepaths in the two games, for an incredible 12 assists in two days.

That’s practically unheard of, especially from the catching position, where many guys are put there against their will, because they’re too big or too slow to play anywhere else.

“I do feel like I play catcher different than other people,” Greg Rothermich said. “I feel like I’m more flexible than some other guys, and I’ve got a good arm, so I feel like I can throw people out.”

One aspect of Rothermich’s game he’s tried to improve on is his hitting. Last spring, he hit .250 for the Panthers, with 13 hits in 52 at-bats, and only had eight runs batted in.

Already this summer though, Rothermich has been much better at the plate.

He’s hitting third in the Stallions lineup, with a .404 batting average, and 15 RBIs.

In the four games this past weekend at Founder’s Park, Rothermich was red-hot with seven hits in 11 at-bats, with four RBIs, and five runs scored.

At that pace, it won’t be long before Greg is the Rothermich brother that college scouts are salivating over.

“I’m so proud of how hard he works,” Dale Rothermich said. “He just wants to get better. Everyday he works at it, and you can see it’s paying off.”  

Next spring figures to be a big year for North High baseball.

The Panthers are coming off a confidence-building conference championship season that’s created a buzz around the whole program.

And with Greg Rothermich, and junior-to-be first baseman and league home run champ Dre Gleason coming back in 2012, expectations are that North High will be very good for the next two years.

“That’s what everyone expects,” Greg Rothermich said. “I just know we’re always gonna battle.”

And with Greg Rothermich behind the plate for North High, fans should know it won’t be long before somebody gets picked off, or thrown out trying to steal, or gunned down trying to advance, by the best defensive catcher in St. Louis, our O’Fallon Patch Spotlight Athlete of the Week.