Florida pitcher Keagan Rothrock, right, and sophomore catcher Jocelyn Ericson touch gloves during recent Women’s Championship World Series in Oklahoma City. Rothrock is the SEC Freshman Player of the Year; Ericson is the SEC and National Fast Pitch Association D1 Player of the Year.
(SUBMITTED PHOTOS)
(SUBMITTED PHOTOS)
| Published June 19, 2024 By Al Stilley Editor After an outstanding freshman season as the NCAA Division 1’s winningest pitcher at the University of Florida, Roncalli High School product Keagan Rothrock’s goals remain the same. Rothrock wants to help lead the Gators to the Women’s College World Series (WCWS) championship and eventually play softball for Team USA in the Olympics. The determined student-athlete from Whiteland posted a 33-9 won-lost record for the Gators with a 2.59 earned run average (ERA) and an SEC-high 262 innings. Her 33 wins were the most achieved by any NCAA D1 pitcher. She struck out 210 batters, including a single-game high 13 against Lafayette College. She was named SEC Freshman of the Year, SEC second team, and National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) third team player. At Roncalli, she was 77-4 with a 0.45 ERA and 1,080 strikeouts plus two IHSAA 4A state championships as the Royals went 95-6-1 during three seasons. She pitched 22 no-hitters and 13 perfect games in high school. She returned home last weekend before returning to Gainesville, Florida for summer classes, conditioning, and to be a part of the Gators’ summer camps for youths. “Just a few days off,” she laughed. “Giving my body a full break, but the training is the same as in the fall and winter.” Her conditioning regimen with the Gators paid off as the 5-10 pitcher started all of Florida’s post-season tournament games in the circle, including their startling end to the University of Oklahoma’s string of 20 consecutive WCWS games in Oklahoma City. The Gators (54-14) stopped the Sooners on June 3, 9-3 but the Sooners advanced to the championship round the next day with a nail-biting 6-5 triumph in eight innings. The Gators won the SEC tournament, NCAA Regional and Super Regional championships and wound up third in the program’s 12th appearance in the WCWS. The 2022 National Gatorade Softball Player of the Year overcame the high intensity and tremendous talent faced during her freshman season. “The hardest transition was the mental side, understanding that I would not be perfect all the time, do everything right and not have the right outcome,” Rothrock said. “It was hard to learn because I was always being the best (high school) and now I’m facing girls with two- to three-years college experience. “Everybody we played against was good, so you scout and you trust the data that you can do better than they can. I had to wrap my head around all that. With my teammates’ support and by holding opponents to three runs or less, I’m giving my team the opportunity to win.” Pitching-wise, Rothrock intentionally worked hard on improving her curve ball and changeup to go with her patented rise ball that served her so well at Roncalli. During her senior year with the Royals, Rothrock had to overcome two complicated pre-season surgeries before returning to the circle for the Royals. Her “iron man” freshman campaign at Florida defied the odds. “The physical side improved the most,” she observed. “They (trainers) kept me in good health all season long. It was amazing because whatever treatment or whatever I needed to recover was always available. And that’s what really helped me in the tourneys (SEC and WCWS).” When Rothrock returns to Gainesville, she will be reunited with her teammates but most importantly, the Gators summer camps. And she will work on returning to the plate as a hitter. Concentrating on pitching as a freshman, Rothrock had no appearances at the plate. At Roncalli, she had a .488 career batting average with 122 RBI and 26 home runs, including a game-tying home run in her final Royals’ at-bat in the 2023 IHSAA championship game against Penn. Softball is big at the Florida campus and the Gators’ success last season restored optimism in the program. As at Roncalli after every home Gators’ game, Rothrock also was besieged by youth softball players for her autograph. “I was that little girl once,” the Southsider recalled. “I remember how much that meant to me then to go up for an autograph or a picture; I don’t want to be that athlete who says ‘no.’ They look up to me in the same way now.” She also reflected upon her years at Roncalli. “I was academically and exponentially prepared for the course load in college,” she said of her Honors and AP classes. “It was hard to get an ‘A’ at Roncalli because of its high level. I was well prepared to be driven academically and to manage my time well.” She also expressed her appreciation of family, school, and community support throughout her school days and even more so now at the University of Florida. Her summer routine includes her physical conditioning, studies, and hanging out around campus or town with her teammates, including sophomore catcher Jocelyn Ericson, the ’24 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division 1 Player of the Year. The beaches are about two hours away. And she enjoys reading in the hammock as she prepares for the future, hopefully by leading the Gators to a national championship and as a future Olympic team member. |  Former Roncalli standout Keagan Rothrock of Whiteland is at home at the University of Florida.  Keagan Rothrock, one of the Gators most popular players, enjoys meeting future softball players. “I was that little girl once. I remember how much that meant to me then to go up for an autograph or a picture; I don’t want to be that athlete who says ‘no.’ They look up to me in the same way now.” -- Keagan Rothrock |
RSS Feed