Whether it’s on the diamond or the lanes, Rohan Patel has shown a knack for remaining calm, no matter the situation in front of him.
“I’m usually calm on the field,” said Patel before North Arlington’s state tournament game against Wood-Ridge. “I never really get frustrated or mad or anything..
“Staying calm helps me because getting frustrated really makes me lose focus and I like to keep my focus steady at all times.”
What has followed is the finest stretch of the North Arlington senior’s career.
On May 15, Patel threw a five-inning no-hitter as he struck out 12 and walked one against Secaucus. The next day, Patel hit his first varsity home run, a tie-breaking blast in the bottom of the sixth inning to give North Arlington its first over St. Mary’s of Rutherford since 2018.
Patel’s second varsity homer came just one day later as part of a career-high four RBI performance at Secaucus.
For his performance, Patel is The Observer Athlete of the Week.
“That definitely helps calm down the coaches and his teammates,” North Arlington baseball and bowling coach Paul Marcantuono said. “People are looking at him like, okay, everything’s good, everything’s calm, let’s just pull together here and everything will be alright.
“He will show emotion when he needs to, but he is a very calming presence at the plate and on the mound.”
One such moment where that emotion was exhibited when he hit the home run against St. Mary’s. Patel admitted he didn’t think it was going out right off the bat, but the ball kept carrying.
“I was just aiming to get a hit so I can get on base for the next at-bat and I just hit a home run,” Patel said. “I got pretty jammed up on it, but I saw it carry so I became hopeful at the end that it was going to go over the fence.”
Such a moment might have seemed impossible a season ago when, as a junior, Patel went just 1-for-18 as a hitter. After slimming down to 195 pounds, a more athletic Patel hit a very solid .329 (23-for-70) with 19 runs and 17 RBI.
The improved conditioning led to significant gains on the mound as well, as he nearly cut his ERA into half at 3.73 and 36 strikeouts in 30 innings.
“I think he worked very, very hard in the offseason to put more muscle on and be a lot more athletic than he was the last couple of years,” said Marcantuono. “That showed with his swing and with him on the mound and in the field making plays.
“I always knew the ability was there, I just think he didn’t get off to the right start last year at the plate and this year, he looked really good at the preseason. He’s worked very, very hard in the offseason to become the player he is.”
Marcantuono also saw Patel’s calmness during the past few winters on North Arlington’s bowling team.
As a junior, Patel rolled a 205.17 average to qualify for the Bergen County and NJSIAA State Tournaments and help lead North Arlington to a North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 title. He again qualified for both tournaments as a senior with a 204.39 average. During the Vikings’ run to the North 2, Group 1 final, Patel averaged a 214.83
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)