HS Softball: Blue Mountain chooses Leonard as varsity head coach

Paul Leonard, left, and Mike Rollman chat during a game. After Rollman's sudden passing earlier this month, the Blue Mountain School Board has officially named Leonard as Rollman's successor as head coach.(Submitted Photo)

ORWIGSBURG — Mike Rollman’s untimely passing left a huge void in the Blue Mountain softball program.

Rollman, head coach of the two-time defending PIAA Class 4A state softball champion Eagles, suddenly passed away Feb. 9. The Landingville resident was 37.

With the softball season fast approaching — the offseason program has been in full swing and the first official practice date is March 3 — the Blue Mountain Athletic Department and Athletic Director Doug Morgan didn’t have much time to figure out what to do next.

For Morgan and the Eagles, the logical choice manned the first-base coaching box as Rollman’s right-hand man for the past five seasons.

The Blue Mountain School Board agreed. At Thursday’s meeting, the board officially approved the hiring of Paul Leonard as the Eagles’ next head softball coach. The vote was unanimous.

“The first time I’m standing in the third-base coaches box giving signs will be a little emotional,” Leonard said, referring to where Rollman coached during games.

“I can’t fill Mike Rollman’s shoes,” he added. “We’ll take what we learned and believe in and keep building on that foundation.”

Rollman built a foundation that could withstand an earthquake.

In six seasons (including the missed 2020 season due to COVID 19), Rollman’s teams compiled a 101-22 record, an .821 winning percentage. Under his guidance, the Eagles captured three Schuylkill League Division I championships, two Schuylkill League playoff championships, three District 11 titles and the last two PIAA Class 4A state championships.

In his last game, Rollman led Blue Mountain to a 4-0 victory over Elizabeth Forward in the state title game last June.

Leonard has been with Rollman as part of a staff that turned the Eagles from a good team into a state power.

The 43-year-old Leonard resides in the Pottsville area with his wife, Kelly, and daughters Emily, 15, and Lucy, 11. Leonard works as a Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technician, interpreting technical drawings and documents to identify defects in materials, metals and structures before shipping. Those materials are used in the construction, airplane and aerospace industries.

Leonard said he will keep the varsity coaching staff of Brett Matukewicz and Megan Rake intact, with the possibility of adding former Blue Mountain players to the mix.

“I’m going to rely on my staff,” Leonard said. “It’s a little challenging mentally, overwhelming at first. I’ll have Brett and Megan to lean on.

“What would Coach Mike want?” Leonard asked his players. “He would want you to go back to work and get better every day. We’re trying to keep things as normal as possible. We’re trying to have some sense of normalcy for the players.”

Rollman’s teams became known for pitching and defense. The coach believed strongly in developing a pitching staff, whereas some teams have one pitcher who throws almost every game. The use of multiple pitchers kept former ace Marla Freiwald healthy for the postseason runs the last two seasons, and the defense the Eagles played behind her drew raves from opposing coaches. In the eight state playoff games Blue Mountain played over the past two seasons, the Eagles made a grand total of two errors.

Offensively, Rollman taught his teams to run the bases aggressively, like Victoria Konkus scoring the eventual winning run on a errant throw in the 3-2 victory over Montour in the 2023 state championship game and the club stealing 121 bases last season.

Rollman also had a knack for picking the perfect time to call timeout and talk to his team. He did it in the seventh inning of both state championship games, taking his time walking out to the circle, gathering his girls and imparting a few words of wisdom. Part of his genius: The timeout was intended mainly to calm everyone down, give the players a chance to breathe and refocus so that they could cross the finish line.

Behind the scenes, Leonard and Rollman would talk almost every day, discussing Blue Mountain’s players, opposing teams and players and the strategies needed to be successful on the league, district and state levels. On the field, Leonard said he often will think of Rollman and what the coach would do in certain situations.

“It should be seamless,” Leonard said of the transition. “We have very similar coaching philosophies. Mike was a quiet leader. I’m more of the energetic type. … A daily piece of my life is gone.”

The program will honor Rollman’s memory with “21” helmet stickers, referring to Rollman echoing his former coaches’ mantra of “21 outs.” The team store will offer T-shirts, with proceeds of the sales being donated to the Rollman family, Leonard noted.

“It’s still Mike’s team and it’s still Mike’s program,” Leonard said. “It’s just different voices now.”