Westmoreland County Senior Spotlight: Jeannette’s Nick Rattigan

By: Anthony DiFilippo
Monday, April 29, 2024 | 11:47 AM

It’s been a rough go the last three seasons for Jeannette’s baseball team.

In those years, the Jayhawks compiled just nine total wins, recording the highest total, four, last year.

With plenty of time left in the season to add on, the Jayhawks won six of their first nine games to start this year.

That puts them at third in the section behind Serra Catholic and Greensburg Central Catholic.

Senior Nick Rattigan pointed to a couple different things that sparked the program’s turnaround.

“We had a bunch of new players come up last year. They have been playing baseball for a long time and have filled in a lot of the gaps that we had before,” Rattigan said. “They got some high school experience last year and put in a lot of work over the offseason. They have definitely been better in the field and at the plate this year.”

Jeannette rattled off four straight wins to begin section play and has six more crucial games against those opponents.

The goals are simple for Rattigan, who hit .306 last season and is off to an even better start this year.

“We want to make the playoffs and go as far as we can. I want to have a good year at the plate,” Rattigan said. “I have had a good start and hope to keep hitting well.”

A big reason Jeannette has performed so well is because of its increasing run production.

Overall, the Jayhawks have scored about nine runs a game, and that number jumps to just under 10 runs in section contests.

The Jayhawks have only three seniors on the team this year, so they’ve turned to the sophomores and freshmen to carry the load, and it has paid off.

Rattigan is undecided as far as what his future after high school holds.

This week, Rattigan took some time for a Senior Spotlight Q&A:

How did you get started with baseball?

I signed up for the Jeannette rec team in seventh grade. I did it to have something fun to do during the hockey offseason.

How would you describe your team’s performance so far?

I think we have been doing well. We have been getting hits out of guys at the end of the order more, and I think that has definitely helped us win games. I don’t think it is time to start talking about being successful yet because we still haven’t proven ourselves against the better teams.

What kind of work do you put in on and off the field to find the success that you have?

I spent a lot of time at the gym this summer. I was there pretty much every day to get stronger. I go to the field or the batting cages a lot to practice hitting.

Tags: Jeannette