Rocket's season roller coaster ride comes to an end

Editor's note: This season we helped out the Titusville News-Journal with sports coverage, It was fun learning new things and making new connections.We often would hold the stories until they first appeared in the paper. A version of this story is published in May 26, 2023 paper. This team was really fun to watch at the beginning and end of the season.
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No sugar coated way of saying it. Titusville’s baseball season came to an end on Tuesday. 

They came in as the district’s second seed playing a team they handled easily earlier in the year, but the postseason is a new season.
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“That wasn’t the same team we saw in the first game of the year,” coach Roy Schweitzer said.

North East threw a southpaw Reid Courtwright at the Rockets and he befuddled the usually productive batters. “He was just on today, it was his day, sometimes you just have to tip your cap, he had his day.”

Lefty’s seemed to be a difficult matter for the Rockets this season.

“It seems to be a little bit of our Achilles tendon, we don’t see a lot of left-handed pitching. We were anxious at the plate, swinging off the front foot, they were anxious to get to it,” Schweitzer said of the inordinate amount of pop ups.

​“The game is funny," Schweitzer said insisting that doesn't take anything away North East, but earlier in the season they handled the Grapepickers 13-4. They came into the playoff's first round expecting a good game, but also expecting to win.

Schweitzer pointed to how the first inning went down. 

​Kasen Neely reached base then made it to second. A base hit that potentially could have scored him was foiled by his losing his footing and falling down on the Allegheny College artificial turf around where the shortstop usually stands. A score at that point may have changed the momentum and therefore the game.

But that wasn’t to be and the Grapepickers went on to a 3-0 win to end the Rocket’s season.

“Im really proud of our team, we didn’t make any mental errors, (North East)  just out played us today, they had three really solid hits and that was the difference.”

The Rocket’s had a spell mid-season where they lost four straight. Some team turmoil had to be settled out and after those losses and knowing they needed a big finish, they went 4-1 to put themselves in a decent position for the off-season.

”We stayed positive, every game was tough, our region is tough,”Schweitzer said. “Our kids are tough, Kasen Neely had a fantastic season behind the plate and on the mound, he hit the ball really well - over .400 on the season. Jaxon Covell had a great season, Landon Baker had a fantastic season in the outfield, not only hitting but his defensive play.”

Schweitzer had a long list of accolades to shower on his players who finished the season.

​He mentioned particular games where key players shined.
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Andrew Wheeling’s efforts against Grove City and Oil City earlier in the year jumped to the top. “He pitched his heart out down at Hickory (despite losing 3-2).

Everywhere around these guys have come a long way.”

This was a disappointing end to the season for the Rockets.

Tears were shed.

As Kasen Neely came off the field, assistant coach Aaron Beach thanked him for his work for the team, both had tears in their eyes.

“I can’t say enough about the way they hung together, they were true teammates, they counted on each other, they relied on each other and it was great to watch these guys mature right in front of us. They never had a nasty attitude and they always had each other’s backs,” Schweitzer said. 
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He is optimistic of the future. “Baseball in Titusville is very good right now.” He says if they keep getting the numbers to have success in years to come. “There is some good stuff going on with our baseball program and we just want to keep seeing it flourish.”