Zachary High Pitcher Zack Von Rosenberg

Accepts $1.2 Million to Sign With Pittsburgh

 

“The first hint I had was when Zach was five the babysitter called to tell me he was hitting a baseball over the top of the house from the back yard to the front yard,” said Crystal Von Rosenberg, mother of Zack Von Rosenberg.  

 

Of course, Von Rosenberg is the recent Zachary High graduate who recently received a $1.2 million signing bonus to pitch for the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League.     

 

“It was a long time coming and we wanted to make sure the final decision was his all the way,” said Randall Von Rosenberg, Zach’s father and a retired major in the U. S. Army. “The hardest thing for him was when it came down to choosing between LSU and the Pirates.”

 

Josh Corman

The family’s involvement with baseball began before Zack was born and even before there was a Von Rosenberg family for him to be a member of.   His half brother is Josh Corman the assistant head coach in charge of pitchers and catchers for Zachary High’s Head Baseball Coach Jesse Cassard.  

 

“You see Josh is my son from my first marriage,” explained Crystal Von Rosenberg who runs the nursing program at Zachary High.   “Even as a single mother I could see the potential in Josh,” she said.   “He absolutely loved to play baseball, so we became involved in the early 1980s in something called Travel Ball.”  

 

There is Little League and American Legion baseball, but those are leagues made up of teams that play each other in the summer.   “In Travel Ball there is no league,” explained Crystal Von Rosenberg.   “Everyone is an all star and teams travel to play other all star teams in other cities each weekend.   That is why it is called Travel Ball, and believe me it was tough, but we did it.”

 

Later, when the Cormans became the Von Rosenbergs, young Zack had a built-in coach in his older brother Josh.  

 

The Middle Child

“We spent our time and treasure playing baseball,” said Randall Von Rosenberg. “But we knew that when our boys were playing ball they were not getting into trouble doing other things.”   There are five boys in the Von Rosenberg family and Zack is number three.  

 

Zack Von Rosenberg, second from left, holds a trophy with his brothers Grant, an eighth grader and assistant manager, Gabe, a freshman on the team, and his half brother Assistant Head Coach Josh Corman after Zachary High School won its third 4A State Championship.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ top management is amazed that their new young player’s name is Zachary and he is from the town of Zachary and he played championship high school ball at Zachary High School.

 

Ironically the Von Rosenberg’s are from Lake Charles.   They just moved to Zachary a little less than four years ago so Crystal Von Rosenberg could accept the challenge of building a new nursing program at the number one school in the state.  

 

“Zack was the only one on the team with his first name on the front of his shirt and his last name on the back,” said Crystal Von Rosenberg. “He is also an 18-year-old high school graduate which is a little strange. After talking with a couple of his grammar school teachers we decided to hold him back a year simply because he was the youngest child in his class by a couple of months.   Zack had no problem with it, and looking back I really think it helped him a lot.”

 

Detroit Tigers

The more recent Zack Von Rosenberg story begins with a visit to the east coast for a Detroit Tigers camp last summer.   “That was the first thing that happened,” said Crystal Von Rosenberg.   “Next came a tryout in Jackson, Mississippi this spring for the East Coast Professional Showcase in Lakeland, Florida.”   Zack and his friend Brodie Colvin from Lafayette were both selected to attend the one-week camp in Lakeland.

 

“That is when it really started,” said Randall Von Rosenberg.   The family has had 23 teams through their living room because Zack kept saying: “I want to do it this year and see how we stack up.”

 

The trip to Lakeland was a family affair.   “When Zack got up there to pitch there were 200 men with speed guns trained on him seated to my left,” said Crystal Von Rosenberg.   “I could only see the numbers on one of the guy’s guns.   The first pitch he threw was 93 miles per hour and the next one was 94. He was through for the day after just a few more pitches because there was a rain delay.”   Colvin threw after the rain and he also hit the 90’s.   He recently signed with the Philadelphia Phillies for $600,000.

 

Cold Feet

“After we returned home I began to get cold feet,” said Crystal Von Rosenberg.   “I mean Zack’s room was filled with LSU Tiger stuff and his big dream was all about playing for LSU and Coach Maneri.   But those men kept coming up and giving us their cards and coming to our house and I cooked for them all.”

 

“We’re people of faith,” said Randall Von Rosenberg.   “At about that point we said a rosary and asked the Lord to please send what was best for Zack.”   Interestingly, the Pirates were not among the teams that met with the family.   They were playing a waiting game according to their scout Jerome Cochran.  

 

Next Zack Von Rosenberg and Brodie Colvin took off for Omaha with very little money in their pockets and every reason to see what ultimate college baseball success looks like.   “They definitely saw the other side,” said Crystal Von Rosenberg.   “They stood in line for hours to get their tickets and they ate at King Kong Burger every day because that was all they could afford.   I had helped Zack pack so I knew what he was wearing and I was able to pick them out in the stands when we watched the games on T.V.”

The Zachary High Baseball Team forms a dogpile after winning its third 4A State Championship title in a row.

 

It was about then that Zack Von Rosenberg’s grandmother told her daughter to: Let him figure it out.   Don’t tell him what to do, because he will come back and tell you it was your fault if he makes a decision that turns out badly.   Something can happen that can make either decision wrong.

 

“It’s his life to live,” said Randall Von Rosenberg.   “Our best bet was just to pray that God would send what was best for him.”  

 

The Problem

So Von Rosenberg and Colvin had the problem.   One day they made the decision that they were going to LSU and the next day they were not. Finally they made the firm decision to go to LSU, their dorm rooms were all lined up and they took off on a fishing trip.

 

And then at 10 p.m. on August 7, a Friday night, Greg Smith of the Pittsburgh Pirates called the Von Rosenberg’s home and said he was in a meeting with the top four people in the Pirates organization and they could not get Zack to answer his cell phone.   They needed to talk with him just as soon as they possibly could.  

 

Randall Von Rosenberg called his son and before long he called back.   “Well mom,” he said, “they named the number I have been thinking about since the beginning.”

 

“I just told him to do the best he could,” said Randall Von Rosenberg.   “There are steroids and women and all sorts of crazy stuff to think about, so I urged him to stay grounded.   When he got back the next morning we were all a little sad because he had decided to go to LSU and we were happy with that decision.”  

 

Coach Manieri

Pretty soon the time came for the young man to call Coach Manieri.   “There were tears,” said Crystal Von Rosenberg.   “Coach Manieri thanked Zack for calling and said he was disappointed because he was really looking forward to coaching him.”

 

Finally Randall Von Rosenberg said “The only thing I told Zack was that he had made his decision and it was the right decision.   I told him not to look back.   Only look forward and to do his best.”

 

Randall Von Rosenberg said “All in all it was a good thing because we all grew and I came to see my son maturing throughout the process.   I was disappointed that he was not going to LSU because that would have been such an honor and such a good thing.”

 

“But Zack reminded us that going to play professional baseball is a good thing too,” said Crystal Von Rosenberg.   “This is a mature young man.   Both he and Brodie matured through this process and they could see things that even we could not see.”

 

“I just hope the Pittsburgh Pirates made what turns out to be an excellent investment in Zack,” said Randall Von Rosenberg. “There is nothing I would rather see than them winning big and getting their money’s worth.”