Almost two years after his graduation, former First Team All-Patriot League Lehigh baseball player Casey Rother, who graduated from Lehigh in 2022, is returning to Bethlehem as a hitting coach.
Rother played as a designated hitter at Lehigh for five years, during which he shattered records. Most notably, Rother broke the school’s single-season home run record with 15 in his fifth season.
After completing his bachelor’s degree in international relations and economics in 2022, Rother decided to pursue a master’s of engineering degree in Lehigh University 4+1 program. He was then eligible to play a fifth season for the Mountain Hawks, competing one final time in brown and white.
“Playing baseball is a great game, and doing it at Lehigh is even better,” Rother said.
Lehigh baseball coach Sean Leary said Rother is a record holder in nearly every category the program has, and he’s been named MVP twice.
“If there is a Mount Rushmore of our players here at Lehigh, he is on it,” Leary said.
After graduation, Rother said he attempted to pursue a career in professional baseball. When it didn’t work out, he took an opportunity to play abroad.
Starting in March 2024, Rother spent three months playing for the Zurich Barracudas, a baseball and softball team based in Switzerland.
This role included playing in games and coaching youth teams for the organization, for which he received free housing and a salary.
“I was grateful for that time,” Rother said. “I was able to travel a bunch, and I am never going to be able to do stuff like that again.”
At the end of the 2023-2024 season, two men’s baseball coaching roles were left vacant for the Mountain Hawks. So, Leary began a search to fill the spots of a hitting coach and a third assistant coach.
Rother said when he was a player, he never thought about coaching, as he was never very vocal. Instead, he was a lead-by-example player.
However, after taking time to reflect on his passions, he decided it was time to return to baseball in any way he could.
Leary said Rother’s preparation during the interview process impressed him, as Rother sent him a detailed plan outlining what it means to be a hitting coach at Lehigh and a 30-page PowerPoint on how he would utilize the team’s philosophies, practice plans and drills.
“He was aggressively pursuing (the position) as if he had never met me,” Leary said. “He was basically saying, ‘I am no longer a player. Now, I want to be a coach.’”
Leary said he was impressed with the energy Rother attacked the job opening with.
After a strong start to last season, the Mountain Hawks didn’t finish as they hoped, ending with a 24-23-1 overall record. Leary attributed this to the slow offensive production towards the end of the season.
“We feel that the offensive side of things may be the difference between us falling short of winning the Patriots,” Leary said. “This year, (our offense) will be driven through (Rother’s) ability to sort of elevate the production.”
Senior infielder and outfielder Jake Whitlinger, was teammates with Rother during his first-year and sophomore seasons. He said Rother is extremely motivated, and his energy rubs off on everyone around him.
Only a few current players on the team had the opportunity to play with Rother. Due to Rother’s professional nature though, Whitlinger said he doesn’t anticipate a strange dynamic in him coaching his former teammates.
Leary said it might take time for him to see Rother in a different light, but he believes Rother will have an easy transition because he has already set an example for himself as a player.
Leary believes Rother’s ability to relate to the players and physically perform is going to be a big plus for the coaching staff, and he said he’s excited to see Rother evolve this season.
“I think especially since he played here at Lehigh, he knows what everyday life is like on both sides of the mountain,” Whitlinger said. “In the past, we’ve had coaches that didn’t really get to live what it means to be a Lehigh baseball player, so having him go through those experiences that everyone on the team goes through makes it easy for him to connect with us.”
In addition to helping the Mountain Hawks win a championship, Rother said there is a broader goal he wants to accomplish this year.
“I want to help these young guys take responsibility for their life and become good young men,” Rother said.
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