After Broadway, Rams senior enjoying pitching presence

Howard “Tate” DeRias has always enjoyed the big stage. And there’s none bigger than Broadway.

The Gloucester Catholic High School senior has a booming presence on the baseball mound as the Rams’ ace pitcher who is committed to play at the University of Miami. But he has an earlier history of gracing the spotlight as a child actor in musicals in New York City.

“Yeah, I acted when I was younger, but then I got tall and had a real squeaky voice,” said DeRias, who is now 6-foot-4. “I started to not be able to get parts because I couldn’t fit in many kid roles because I was taller than some of the parents in the plays.”

DeRias may have literally grown out of acting and singing, but he learned quite a bit from his experience in plays like the Broadway Children’s Production of “James and the Giant Peach.” The confidence and calmness he exudes in baseball can often be credited to performing under immense pressure in front of thousands of people.

“There’s a lot of nerves, so there was a point when I was really nauseous before I got on the stage,” DeRias said. “But once I got going, it was pretty cool looking out into the crowd and seeing all these people watching me. I’m the only one talking in this whole place.”

Video of 9-year old DeRias singing “The Prayer

DeRias started off performing at Grand Theatre in Williamstown, where he recalls his first role as the bully in “A Christmas Story” at 8 years old. He moved on to the Levoy Theatre in Millville, taking lead roles before he started auditioning for Broadway plays. His parents, Howard DeRias and Terah Naumchik, were incredibly supportive of the youngster’s acting dreams. However, the commute to New York was wearing on the family a bit, and at the same time, DeRias was finding his way in baseball. At age 12, it was decision time.

“At that point, we said, ‘We can’t keep riding up to New York,’” Howard DeRias said. “The traffic. … I was like, ‘What’s it going to be?’ He said baseball, and we were thrilled.”

Not all was lost with acting and singing. DeRias learned a lot about confidence.

“The reason we had gotten him into acting was for the presence,” Naumchik said. “He had always played baseball since he was a little boy. The mound presence is what he learned.”

DeRias found his stage career was also tough to leave in the past with several YouTube clips still floating around. In fact, as tradition at Gloucester Catholic baseball games, music plays loudly at home games as the Rams step up to the plate. It was to DeRias’ surprise when he heard himself during a game in his sophomore year. All of the sudden, DeRias’ 12-year-old voice singing “Friend Like Me” from the movie “Aladdin” was pumping through the speakers as he waited to bat.

“I was so embarrassed,” DeRias said. “There was a mound visit when they played it, so it was like three minutes long. But it’s on YouTube, so everybody knows about it. It’s funny and I like to make people laugh.”

In fact, it energized him. DeRias got the last laugh as he roped a double into the outfield during that at-bat. 

Video of 12-year old DeRias singing “Friend Like Me”

It’s been all baseball all the time for DeRias since he became a teenager, but it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Last season, DeRias was unable to pitch due to a sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm. He did, however, play first base and contribute at the plate, as Gloucester Catholic won the Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic and Non-Public B state championships. 

“I was still in the lineup and it was great,” he said.

This season, the Rams’ victory tour is off to a racing start, winning the first seven games through April 14. In his first two starts, DeRias has been nearly untouchable, throwing 11 innings in two starts without allowing an earned run. He allowed just three hits in a 5-1 victory over Haverford (Pa.) on April 4 before tossing his first high school no-hitter in a five-inning 10-0 win over Williamstown on April 10. He’s also batting .389 with eight walks so far. DeRias is looking forward to getting the ball in some big games moving forward.

DeRias said he plans to study business at his “dream school” of the University of Miami, but plans could shift if his name gets called in the Major League Baseball Draft in July, which is a strong possibility as he can throw in the mid-90’s.

“That’s the goal, and it’s looking achievable right now,” he said. 

DeRias’ parents said their son doesn’t sing around the house anymore, but if the right song comes on at the right time, he just can’t help himself.

“When I get in the car alone, I’ll do my thing,” DeRias said with a smile. “But even when someone does ask me to sing, it’s hard to go full-out because it can be a little embarrassing. I don’t have the voice that I used to have. Now I fine-tune my arm instead of my voice.”