Wells Guardians baseball star Cody Roletto is a player even opponents love

Rivals can't help but appreciate Roletto's personality and charisma — even as the senior is ripping base hit after base hit against them

Wells senior Cody Roletto heads to first base on his second-inning single in Friday’s game at Wells High School. / Dan Brood

PORTLAND — With two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning of Friday’s Portland Interscholastic League baseball showdown at Wells High School, Guardians senior Cody Roletto ripped a line-drive double to the gap in left-center field.

Roletto, who hit a single earlier in the game, celebrated and yelled toward the home team’s dugout after the big hit.

Unfortunately for Roletto and the Wells squad, he was left stranded on second base as the inning ended.

As Roletto took his position at first base before the top of the fifth inning, one of the Grant coaches in the first-base dugout yelled at Roletto, “Hey, Cody, what are hitting against us — about .600?”

“I’m 8 for 12 now,” a smiling Roletto yelled back, likely talking about his career batting statistics against the Generals.

“I love playing against Grant. I love hitting at your field.”

Wells senior Cody Roletto smacks a second-inning single during the Guardians’ Portland Interscholastic League game with Grant on Friday. / Dan Brood

Even though the stakes were high in Friday’s game — the winner would clinch at least a share of the PIL title — Roletto wasn’t going to let anything stop him from enjoying the game and enjoying baseball.

Throughout the contest, he was constantly talking with Grant players who reached base, talking with the first-base umpire and, of course, having a conversation with the coaches in the Generals dugout.

“Absolutely, that’s great,” Grant senior Brady McCarthy said of Roletto. “He’s very charismatic, and that’s awesome. It makes it so much more fun. You don’t like it when the teams butt heads. I bet they’re happy for us, and we’re happy for them. PIL teams, at the end of the day, we’re all one league. We all want everyone to succeed.”

Grant won Friday’s showdown, 3-0. Although disappointed with the loss, Roletto was still smiling after the game, even joking with some of the Grant players who were still hanging around as he was doing some postgame field maintenance.

“I think it was a good game. I think both teams’ energy was high up, competing for that PIL title, or now, hopefully sharing the title,” said Roletto, a catcher/first baseman/outfielder for the Guardians. “I think Wells and Grant are more a type of cheerful rivals. We’ve always been the stronger teams in the PIL, so I think we’ve kind of bonded.”

Wells senior Cody Roletto celebrates on second base after his fourth-inning double during the Guardians’ game with Grant on Friday. / Dan Brood

As a junior the 5-foot-8, 190-pound Roletto was a first-team all-Portland Interscholastic League selection and a second-team Class 6A all-state pick as an outfielder.

In 27 games last year, he batted .438 (35 hits in 80 at-bats) with 11 doubles, three home runs, 25 runs and 39 RBIs as he helped the Guardians go 21-7 overall and 15-3 in PIL games, good for second place behind Lincoln in the league standings.

This season, Roletto’s numbers are even more impressive.

Through 24 games, Roletto is batting .482 with 41 hits in 85 at-bats. He has team-high totals of 12 doubles, three home runs and 38 RBIs and an OPS of 1.300 to go with 21 runs and three triples. Roletto has eight stolen bases and has struck out only three times.

“I think it’s going pretty good,” Roletto said. “I think just working out and putting in the effort to try to get better has paid off this season. It’s really showing on the stats and winning games.”

Roletto and the Guardians have done plenty of winning. After Friday’s game, Wells sits 17-7 overall with an 11-2 mark in PIL games, which puts the Guardians a game behind Grant, which moved to 12-1 in PIL play with Friday’s victory. Wells can claim a share of the league championship with a win at Grant in Monday’s rematch between the league’s top two squads.

“We want it bad, seeing that we don’t have a (league championship) board at our field for about 12 years (since 2013), and I feel like we’ve been a strong contender the past few years,” Roletto said. “This year, we can definitely contend for it. We’re going to try to give it our all on Monday.”

Wells senior Cody Roletto (5) meets with his Guardians teammates on the mound during the team’s game with Grant on Friday at Wells High School. / Dan Brood

Monday’s contest likely will mark Roletto’s final high school game at the Grant High School baseball field where he loves hitting so much.

Roletto is quick to point out that Wells’ success Monday — and beyond — doesn’t depend just on him.

“I think we have a lot of people on our team who contribute a lot,” Roletto said. “We’ve got some younger talent and some good older veterans. Our sophomores and juniors are really going to excel next year.”

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