Games People Play: Lower’s Casey Carothers Matured into Collegiate Pitcher

Over the past four years Casey Carothers has grown well beyond his 5-11, 185-pound frame. The Pittsburgh native and Lower Cape May Regional alumnus registered a 4-0 mark for 2015 New Jersey Athletic Conference Champion Kean University.
The Cougars, a gaudy 34-11 this year, wrapped up the regular season May 7 with their 11th consecutive campaign of at least 30 victories. As of May 10, they awaited their draw in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The son of Jim and Pam Carothers, Casey left Erma for a one-semester visit to Rowan University before a two-year stint with the Cumberland County College nine. He then headed two hours north on the Parkway to Union. Neil Ioviero is the 18-season head coach at Kean.
“Casey has a good arm, a really good arm with a live fastball, a good slider and change up,” said Ioviero, a former independent league ballplayer. “He had some mechanical issues when he came here. The flow of his delivery was interrupted and last year he had trouble throwing strikes.”
Ioviero noted that Kean’s NJAC competition “is of a high level” so if players, especially pitchers, “don’t get involved in the mix it’s tough to get into the mix.” The coach wasn’t afraid to use Carothers in tight spots.
“He was a closer last year so we’d use him with first and second, no outs,” said Ioviero. “We decided to just use his arm, it’s too good to throw away. Then we decided to let him get his feet wet in the rotation. He’s much more confident now.”
Carothers developed to the tune of a 4-0 record with opponents batting just .198 when he was on the bump. Not bad for a Cape May kid who grew up playing street hockey and soccer.
“Kean has a remarkable pedigree and I wanted to go to a program where I had a chance to contribute in an effort to win a National Championship,” said the senior business marketing major. “I knew the biggest adjustment for me heading into my collegiate career would be to pick up the art of pitching, as I’d hardly ever pitched in high school.”
Carothers said his primary learning curve was patience. “I was recruited as an outfielder at Rowan and was converted to pitcher because of my velocity,” said Carothers, who topped out on the gun at 92 miles per hour. “The art of pitching was difficult to grasp at first and I was cut from Rowan’s team after the fall. I transferred to Cumberland and pitched for two years under Keith Gorman.”
Carothers has great nostalgia for the relationships and experiences he had playing for the Dukes of Cumberland. “We helped transform a program that had very little success for a very long time into a nationally recognized team,” he said. “From everyone packing into minivans for away games to the diverse cultures among the team members and coaches, we had times I’ll never forget.”
Carothers, 22, said he grew to love pitching because of the control a hurler has on the mound. “The fact that you control game is appealing to me,” he said. “As a pitcher you know that you have a chance to set the tone and give your team the best chance to win.”
Along with that enviable control comes burdensome responsibility.
“The pressure that is put on you for being the one who controls the game is most challenging,” said the right-hander. “Sure, you have a defense behind you, and we have a great defense, but it’s the pitcher who has to stay calm in the storm and not let the pressure become overwhelming.”
He must have handled it well. Baseball lifer Ioviero said Carothers’s greatest overall improvement at Kean is his maturity level. “He doesn’t get nervous,” said the coach, a Rutgers baseball alum. “If he throws a bad pitch it doesn’t snowball. He weathers the storm. If he’s had a bad batter he bounces back. The game is slower for him now.”
Ioviero is old school baseball personified. “You break the game down to simple terms for the players,” he said. Don’t walk people. Make them bunch hits to beat you. Pitch ahead. Throw strikes. Let the defense play. If a team gets one, don’t let them get two.”
Carothers, the lone CAL graduate on this year’s Kean roster, said the difference between high school and college ball is the coach is a “father figure” in a collegian’s life. “Your coach is a person who will watch over you for four years and communicate with you on a daily basis,” he said. “There is a relationship there. You know when you can joke around and when it’s time to get down to business.”
Carothers was quick to respond when asked how he balanced the demands of a 50-game, travel-filled baseball season with academics. “Lots of coffee,” he said.
Carothers is far ahead in his understanding of the game from four short years ago. “I now know what hitters are looking for in certain counts, what pitches to throw in certain situations and how to get the most effectiveness out of every one of my pitches,” said Carothers, who also adjusted his arm angle from over the top to 3/4 delivery. “I also moved to the far right side of the rubber and being a righty, this has allowed me to create deception to right-handed batters.”
The road he has traveled makes Carothers a respected source for high school ballplayers looking to take their games to the next level.
“If you really want to play college ball, be proactive and never be satisfied,” he said. “You can always find a way to improve your game or get into better shape. If you have that mindset you will have success at the college level. I wish I had the knowledge that I have now when I was a freshman.”