Over the year, John Pushkar has been a consistent hitter for the Catasauqua baseball team.

This season, Pushkar is struggling with his hitting and looking for answers. In turn, the Rough Riders were off to a 0-6 start with a young team with Pushkar one of the elder statesmen on the team.

After the team’s 4-3 loss to Lehighton last Saturday, Pushkar was in a 0-for-12 slump and hitting .111.

“This never happened to me before,” reflected Pushkar. “I’m taking it pretty hard. I think I am seeing the ball well, but I have been having some trouble with my hands on the bat, and that might be it.

“At this point, it’s in my head.”

Pushkar also is on the front end of the Roughies’ pitching staff. He has pitched eight innings in two games and had a 0-2 record with a 5.25 ERA. He throws a four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, and curve, as well as working on a changeup.

“I don’t think I am throwing the ball that badly,” he said. “I liked what I did against Saucon (Valley) in a game that we lost 3-0. I plan on working on my off-speed stuff.”

Head coach Steve Bradley knows his player will battle through any issues.

“John is a solid player who takes a lot upon himself,” said Bradley. “He will get through his slumps and have a good year. He is a good leader on this team.”

A senior, Pushkar was impressed with his team’s showing in the Lehighton loss after they hadn’t played in 11 days.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “At first it looked like we weren’t going to play, and then we did.

“We got a couple of runs early, and then we had one bad inning. But we really pushed each other, and I think our bats will start to come around. Some of our young guys are starting to step it up.

“We hope a game like this can change this for us. We didn’t have any errors (in the Lehighton game). That’s a good team, and we were able to hang with them. If we can that same mindset, we can beat any team.”

Pushkar credited pitching coach Dan Lopez – a former Roughies’ standout – for his work with the pitching staff. His son, sophomore Reece, and senior Ray Estecumber have been helping along some of the younger arms on the Roughies’ staff.

He stated that his father, John, has been the biggest influence in his career, being his coach for 12 years among being his Connie Mack coach.

“My dad and I would talk about the game on the way home,” said Pushkar. “He knows me inside and out. If we ever have any differences, we put them aside once we get to the field.

Pushkar plans to attend Northampton Community College next fall, and he will look into playing baseball. He plans to pursue a career as a police officer.

“There are some military personnel in my family,” said Pushkar. “That helped me lean toward this career. I think there are a lot of opportunities in that career, and I would like to be able to help people.”

Over the past four years, Pushkar has done his share to help the Catty baseball team.