'A second life for me': Rich Rowe takes over Moon baseball program eyeing resurgence

MOON TWP. – Rich Rowe, a true baseball junkie, isn’t afraid to take on challenges.

That’s why he accepted the job as head baseball coach at Beaver Falls High School eight years ago.

Beaver Falls has always been one of those schools where football and basketball clearly rank as the two most popular and most successful boys sports. But for the past eight years, Rowe worked tirelessly to upgrade BF’s baseball program.

Now Rowe has embarked on another challenge. He’s the new head baseball coach at Moon Area High School. He’s moving up from the WPIAL Class 3A ranks to 5A in a section loaded with quality teams and quality athletes.

“It’s definitely a different talent level from 3A to 5A,” Rowe said. “But if you know the game of baseball, hopefully you’re prepared for any level you’re coaching at.

“Good baseball is good baseball, and if you play it the right way, you’ll play good baseball and be able to compete against anybody at any level. So, it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to.”

Rowe, a lifelong resident of Beaver County who lives in Chippewa Township, was hired by Moon last July. He replaced Todd Goble, who resigned last June after coaching the Tigers for seven years.

Goble’s teams combined for an overall record of 53-54 including 30-34 in section play with two trips to the WPIAL playoffs. Goble’s best teams were in 2017 and 2018 when they went 9-3 and 11-1 in section play. But in each of the last two years, Moon went 1-9 and 1-9 in section play.

When Rowe was hired at Beaver Falls, the program had gone 13-43 in section games and 17-52 overall the previous four seasons. In Rowe’s eight years at BF – remember, the 2020 season was wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic – his team went 33-72 overall and 22-54 in section play with two playoff appearances.

“I do miss the kids at Beaver Falls,” Rowe said. “They’re good kids and I was there for a long time, 16 years in all when you consider my time as an assistant coach (from 1996-2005).

“But I’m excited about coaching at Moon. It’s a second life for me.”

Rowe, who recently retired as postmaster in Beaver, first heard of the opening at Moon last summer when he was coaching the Beaver Falls team in the Beaver County Colt League.

Chris Herman, his top assistant at Beaver Falls, teaches physical education at Moon. When Herman learned of Goble’s resignation, he called Rowe.

“Chris thought maybe Moon would be a good fit for him and I because he’s a teacher there,” Rowe said.

Rowe applied and got the job. And he did add Herman to his coaching staff, among several other assistants.

“My competitive juices are flowing again,” Rowe said. “I feel that we can be competitive at Moon. All the resources are here to do what you need to do to build a program in the right direction.

“I have some really good coaches working alongside me. The support from the athletic office and athletic director and the school administration has been fantastic. The baseball boosters have been great, so it's a different environment in that respect.”

Rowe learned a lot about his new team last fall in the Beaver County Colt League’s fall season. Rowe, the president of the league, used to also coach Beaver Falls’ Colt League team.

But last fall, he entered two Moon teams in the BCCL fall season.

Also, this past weekend, Rowe and 27 players spent three days at the Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, SC. Like so many high school teams throughout the country, the Tigers played two varsity and three juniors varsity games in the warm late winter weather of South Carolina.

The varsity team went 1-1 while the JV team went 3-0.

“I can tell you this, from my own personal experience, this is going to be the best baseball team I ever coached,” Rowe said. “That being said, how does that translate to playing well in WPIAL 5A baseball?”

Moon, which opens exhibition play Wednesday at Butler, has until April 3 until it plays its first Section 3 game. That section opener will be at Shaler, a 15-7 playoff team last year that features star senior Miguel Hugas, who recently moved to the United States from Venezuela.

A University of Alabama recruit, Hugas is a switch-hitting outfielder/pitcher who has already been clocked on the radar gun with a 93 miles per hour fastball.

The section also includes New Castle, whose star player, infield/pitcher Anthony Miller, has committed to Notre Dame; and West Allegheny, a perennial power that won the WPIAL 5A title last year.

“Every team at this level is going to have talented players,” Rowe said.

Last year, Moon didn’t have any of its players make the Section 3 all-star team. But Rowe hopes that will change sooner than later.

Moon’s roster includes 18 players on the varsity team and 16 on the JV team.

Three Tigers – junior first baseman/pitcher Nathan Barr, senior shortstop Jacob Despot and senior third baseman Austin Hiles – hit over or around .400 last year.

The pitching staff will include two juniors who saw limited action last year, Andrew Burress and Coleman Fletcher.

“I think we’ll do well and compete for a playoff spot,” Rowe said. “That’s the goal every year, to be in the mix for a playoff spot at the end of the season.

“It’s a talented section so we’ll have to find a way to compete and scratch out some wins and find a way to get into the playoffs.”

Rowe, 56, graduated from Quigley Catholic High School where he played baseball. As a resident of Beaver Falls at the time, he played summer ball with BF’s American Legion team.

He then played two years of baseball at the University of Charleston (WV), an NCAA Division II program. But after two years of college, he went to work with the U.S. Postal Service and eventually worked his way up to postmaster in Beaver.

Beside serving as an assistant coach at Beaver Falls from 1999-2005, he also served as an assistant for one year at Sewickley Academy and eight years at Blackhawk under the late Bob Amalia.

Two years ago, Rowe was instrumental in saving summer league baseball in Beaver County during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Along with former Beaver County American Legion commissioner Norm Krause, Rowe established a Senior Division in the Beaver County Colt League that included six legion teams. Those six legion teams joined the Colt League after the American Legion baseball season in Pennsylvania was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Rich is a go-getter when it comes to baseball and a gentleman of the game,” said former Quigley coach Kip Richeal, who once worked with Rowe when they were assistants at Blackhawk.

“He’s a good man who really loves baseball. The move to Moon will be a good change for him, and I wish him all the best.”

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: 'A second life for me': Rich Rowe takes over Moon baseball program eyeing resurgence