Rosati rock solid for N-G baseball

He’s got the brains, a variety of talents and even a lucky rock in his back pocket.

There’s not much holding back Richie Rosati these days as the Neumann-Goretti High School shortstop has been firing on all cylinders during his senior year.

Ranked toward the top of his graduating class with a perfect unweighted 4.0 GPA (5.2 weighted), Rosati is excelling both in the classroom and on the baseball diamond.

“From an early age, my mom would sit at the table with me and help me study,” Rosati said. “Quizlets helped me out a lot, too. My mom just wanted me to be the best person off the field with my academics so I definitely credit her a lot with that. She was always the top of her class and she wanted me to be like her.”

On the field, there’s a good mix of natural talent mixed with hard work, too. Rosati was the shortstop for the 21-win state championship-winning Saints last year as he was surrounded by a senior-heavy squad. He hit .333 last year with 17 RBIs while receiving Second Team All-Catholic honors. More importantly, he soaked up valuable experience and life lessons from his older teammates.

“It’s definitely really different,” Rosati said. “We had that whole bunch of seniors from last year and they had taken everybody under their wing. Now, with us seniors, we have to take our juniors and our sophomores under our wing and just kind of lead from the front.”

Rosati took that initiative over the winter, working out with a few younger teammates who would become key components of the 2025 roster.

“It was winter workouts so most of the team worked out at (South Philly Sports Training at 2514 Morris St.) but me and my dad held a workout for people who couldn’t really afford it. So we met at the school gym after school each day and it worked out like a charm.”

Rosati put in the effort during the offseason, but the results were a little slow out of the gate for both the player and the team. The Saints have hovered around .500 most of the season and have been the victim of five one-run losses through May 7. Chalk it up to a young, inexperienced team and a little bit of bad luck. Rosati thinks he might have found the answer for the latter.

“I found a lucky rock,” Rosati said with a laugh. “I keep it in my back pocket every game. I found it in McNichol Field. We were going through a rough patch with a lot of bumps. I dug it out of the ground. Before every game, I give a little rub to the rock and put it in my back pocket. Ever since then, we’ve been playing better and I’ve been doing a little bit better personally. I’ve been so confident.”

A little confidence is all it takes. 

Rosati, who was tied for the team-lead in hits, delivered a game-winning double in the top of the seventh inning in a 5-1 victory over Cardinal O’Hara on May 7 in a crucial late-season Catholic League game. It helped the Saints in the PCL standings but it also proved they could win the tight games. 

“There’s really no other nine kids that I’d want to go to war with every day,” Rosati said. “I totally think that once the switch is flipped, we’re going to be rolling.”

Rosati is used to the big stage. In grade school, at St. Pio Catholic Regional School on Pollock Street, Rosati loved the spotlight in a different way.

“I used to sing in my grade school’s festivals,” he said with a laugh. “We had a big stage and I’d get up there and sing a lot of Bruno Mars. But that ship sailed when I hit puberty and I couldn’t hit those high notes anymore.”

Now he hits baseballs. And he will continue to do that next year as Rosati will play at Rutgers University-Camden and study health sciences in hopes of becoming a physical therapist. He will join 2024 grad Will Gural and he will share a room with his current teammate Chris Meitzler as the three will reunite for the Scarlet Raptors.

“I want to be a physical therapist just to give back to where I started,” Rosati said. “Once I’m done playing baseball, I want to help younger athletes as they progress through their game just like I was when I was younger.”

Right now, he’s enjoying every last minute of playing at Neumann-Goretti.

“You never want to take any of this time that you have on or off the field for granted,” Rosati said. “I’m enjoying my time with them whether it’s goofing off at practice or going out on our own time and getting something to eat. I just want to surround myself with everybody and soak it all in.”