Mike Rooth has the distinction of being the first, and so far only, Felician student-athlete to have had his number (3) retired. According to longtime Golden Falcon head baseball coach Chris Langan, it was an easy decision.
“Our program simply would not be where it is today if Mike didn’t decide to come to Felician,” Langan said. “Having that caliber of kid in our program helped us to get more like him. If you’re going to build a program, you want to start with a player like Mike. He just did everything right, on and off the field.
“Plus, the numbers speak for themselves.”
In a sport that values its statistics, Rooth put up gaudy ones. He was a .388 career hitter at Felician, and was the first player in program history to reach 200 career base hits, finishing with 210. He still holds the career school record of 64 doubles, and the single-season marks for doubles (24) and hits (78). He ranks second all-time in home runs (18) and runs batted in (136).
An all-county catcher at Central Regional High, Rooth caught and played third base and designated hitter for the Golden Falcons. He was the baseball program’s first NCAA All-Region performer, earning that honor as a sophomore in 2004, and the first to be voted All-CACC four times.
During Rooth’s senior season of 2006, Felician improved by 13 victories to a then-school record of 29. The Golden Falcons finished as the runners-up in the CACC that year. Rooth completed his college career with only 34 strikeouts in 541 at-bats.
Rooth received a BS in management from Felician in 2007. He is a corrections officer in Ocean County.
He and his wife, Kathleen, reside in Bayville.
Last updated 10/20/15
