Manager: Brian Fili (22nd season)

2024 Record: 17-6

Central League Record: 12-4, Second Consecutive League Championship

Playoff Results:

• Defeated Penncrest 5-1 in Second Round of PIAA District 1 5A tournament after BYE
• Lost to Marple Newtown in district semi-finals 13-2
• Lost in state playback game to Upper Dublin 8-0

Key Departures: Jake McDonough, Zane Malarkey, Matt Kane, Will Thompson, Jack Shuster

Key Returners: Luke D’Ancona, Rob Mattai, Caden Shuster, Ben Milligan, Eli Price, Matt Caputo

After trips to the state tournament in 2021, 2022, and 2023, including a state title game loss in 2023, Strath Haven got the harsh reality that it isn’t always that easy in 2024.

While they did repeat as Central League Champions following a 12-4 regular season, they suffered two blowout losses against Marple Newtown in the district semifinals, and Upper Dublin in the “playback” round of the district tournament to get to states.

So now what?

Well for starters, they still have one of the best pitchers in Delaware County in Luke D’Ancona, a senior captain and right-handed pitcher that is a Boston College recruit.

D’Ancona was a First Team All-Delco selection for us last year after he led the county in strikeouts with 93 while issuing just 15 walks in 60.1 innings pitched. He had a 1.51 ERA and will once again be the ace of the Panthers in his third season as a starter.

Joining D’Ancona once again in that rotation is Rob Mattai, who had a breakout 2024 season. The crafty lefty had a 1.26 ERA in 39 innings and was a Second Team All-Delco pick for us as the Panthers needed to find a replacement in the rotation after Alex Pak left for Penn State.

D’Ancona and Mattai certainly rank highly in Delco in terms of 1-2 punch in a rotation. After that, Caden Shuster will be asked to get some big outs as the third arm after a promising 2024 debut.

Shuster will be a major piece of the puzzle for the Panthers in 2025. The senior righty was third on the team in innings pitched with 27.2 last year, and had an ERA of 3.29. With two dominant arms at the top of the rotation in D’Ancona and Mattai, Shuster will likely need to get some big outs late in the game when the pitch count strikes. We’ll see who establishes themselves as the fourth arm, lefty Max Kotzen seems like a good candidate to do so.

“I think we’re better than we were last year, I think we have a more well-rounded team,” said D’Ancona. “All of our main pitchers were juniors last year so I think that’s really big to get that playoff experience, we’ve really been working hard in the offseason. I think Rob and Caden have been grinding a lot, they’re going to be top notch starters in the league and in the county.”

While there isn’t that much to be concerned about with the Panthers on the mound as a whole, the lineup is a bit more of question with the departures of OF Jake McDonough (First Team All-Delco in 2024) to Misericordia, C Matt Kane (Second Team) to Rowan, and SS Zane Malarkey (Second Team) as well. Jack Shuster and Will Thompson will need to be replaced in the outfield as well as McDonough.

McDonough, Kane, and Malarkey were a big part of the core of the state runner-up squad and not only had big offensive seasons in 2024, but were really the heart of the team emotionally.

“I think that we’re going to pitch well, we’re obviously going to play very good defense. We’re going to have to manufacture runs and win some close games for sure,” said Head Coach Brian Fili, who has been at the helm for the Panthers since 2003. “We do have some guys that can swing the bat a little bit, but we don’t have a ton of power. I think we’re going to have to be able to mold these players so that everyone that comes to the plate is going to give us a quality at bat and try and have a lot of pesky nine hitters up there.”

Fili is one of the longest tenured coaches in Delaware County with the recent youth movements that a lot of teams have seen like Austin Morgan with Penncrest, Anthony Greco with Conestoga, Tom Carey with Ridley and Toby MacCart with Marple Newtown among others.

Fili, who starred at Upper Darby and Villanova as a player, has won five Central League titles, including three of the last four years. The Panthers have also won three district titles, with 2021 and 2023 being the most recent.

The first name that will need to continue to ascend in this lineup to help the Panthers continue that trend is Ben Milligan.

The Dickinson recruit played second base last year, but will slide over to shortstop in 2025. Milligan was an Honorable Mention All-Delco selection for us last year, but really could have been higher if not for some great years around the area. He became a regular starter during his sophomore season, and now will be asked to continue to develop.

He’s also not the first one of his brothers to be a captain for the Panthers.

“Being a captain is something that I always wanted to do, because I watched my brother Sam be the captain of the team in 2023,” said Milligan. “Last year I was happy with the captains that we had and then to finally get that step up it almost feels weird because it feels like just maybe a week ago I was that sophomore on the team. Now to be able to be one of the oldest guys on the team and help lead the team is awesome.”

The Panthers could use a true breakout season from junior Eli Price, who is expected to take over catching duties with Matt Kane gone. Price was thrown into the starting lineup last season when Jack Shuster was injured, sliding into left field and hitting .280 in his 50 at bats. He struck out just nine times compared to eight walks.

Alex Seleverian is another player to watch, as the junior was sidelined for a lot of the season with an injury. He will look to be a big part of the outfield with Jack Shuster, Jake McDonough, and Will Thompson all graduated.

Senior Wolf Boswick and sophomore Patrick O’Connor both homered in Strath Haven’s scrimmage against Sun Valley, doing their best to try and crack this lineup.

Matt Caputo had a nice year at the hot corner last year, hitting .324 in his 37 at bats and he will likely get plenty of chances there, if not elsewhere around the diamond. Rob Mattai mostly pitched and played first base while being DH’d for last year, but will likely get more chances at regular at bats this year whether that be at first base when D’Ancona pitches or in the outfield.

“Everyone is competing hard right now, I really could not tell you who the outfield is going to be, who the second baseman is going be, who the third baseman is gonna be, and who is playing first base when Luke pitches,” said Fili. “What I do know is that our philosophy is still the same. We’re going to pitch the ball, we’re going to play good defense, and we just have to scratch out some runs and our goal is to try and win the league title and make the playoffs and see if we can go on another run.”

This feels like a vintage Strath Haven team. While it may be a different looking roster than we have seen over the last few years, it’s hard to bet against the two-time defending Central League Champions.