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As the new kids on the Public League scene, the Prep Charter baseball team could have easily spent its rookie year adjusting to varsity competition.
But the Huskies decided they’d rather win.
After spending last season in junior varsity as a transition, the Division C squad has surprised opponents by playing its way to a 9-2 record and contending for a playoff spot.
The mark includes Tuesday’s 21-12 win over University City.
The Huskies have to finish third or better in Division C to make the postseason cut. The local squad currently holds the third spot with three games left. A May 15 contest against first-place Dobbins, which holds a one-game edge over Prep Charter, will be the most crucial. The Huskies, who play their home games at 25th and Jackson, also will face Engineering & Science today and West Philadelphia on Monday.
Coach Shawn Magee is urging a cautious approach for his players.
"We can’t get too excited," he said.
Still, the players have been pretty confident about their chances from before the start of the season.
"We had to prove to people that we could win in this league," said junior catcher Lenny Cavalieri, who had an RBI single in Monday’s 6-3 win over Southern. "[The nine wins are] about what I expected. Coach Magee set high standards."
Strong pitching has helped boost the Huskies’ record. On Monday, junior Matt Brydges allowed just three hits while striking out 13 Southern batters. Brydges, who also struck out 13 in last month’s win against Overbrook, is one half of what has become a scary rotation for opposing hitters. His fellow pitcher, freshman William McGovern, struck out 13 in last month’s 10-3 win over King, and 12 in a 12-1 victory over Strawberry Mansion.
"Things are going great," Magee said. "I couldn’t expect anything more after moving up from junior varsity to varsity."
The baseball team is the third Prep Charter athletic squad to join the Public League since the school opened in September 1998. Two years ago, the boys’ basketball team became the Public League’s first charter school member. A girls’ basketball squad followed, and even qualified for the playoffs in its first season.
Prep Charter’s baseball team started its Public League admission process three years ago as an intramural program, which restricted the players to afterschool practices. In 2001, the Huskies became an extramural squad, allowing them to schedule scrimmages against other teams. The final phase came with last season’s junior-varsity schedule, which Prep Charter finished with a 5-4 mark.
Eight returning players joined the roster when the Huskies broke into Division C this season. All new teams enter the league through the lowest division and have to work their way up. Prep Charter opened the season with a 10-0 win over Ben Franklin on March 24.
Winning has since become an addiction. Magee said he can sense the athletes’ focus when they take the field.
"In the beginning, everybody was silent," he said. "Now they are talking to each other and becoming a team."
Magee, who is also a Prep Charter teacher, likes the fact that the squad is creating hallway buzz. During last Friday’s second annual career day at the school, students made sure they pointed out the baseball players to classroom visitors.
The Huskies could move up to Division B next year, but not surprisingly, the tougher level of competition doesn’t scare them. The coach believes his players are championship material.
"We are going for everything," Magee said. "I want to be the first person to bring a baseball title home to Prep Charter."
Digneo breaks hits record
Stephanie Digneo has 251 career hits, a Lehigh University and Patriot League record.
Whenever Stephanie Digneo is part of a softball team, she tends to leave an impression.
By the time she graduated from St. Maria Goretti (’99), she had compiled a lengthy list of individual honors that included Southern Division MVP, South Philly Review Female Athlete of the Year and Philadelphia Inquirer Softball Player of the Year.
Now a senior in college, the 22-year-old shortstop is leaving her mark as the Lehigh University and Patriot League career hits leader (251). The old record (247) belonged to assistant coach Kim Miller, a ’96 grad. Digneo, of the 2800 block of South Beulah Street, tied the record on April 23 by going 4-for-6 in back-to-back wins over Rider. The player broke the record three days later in Lehigh’s two wins over Holy Cross.
"[Breaking the record] wasn’t a pressing issue," the local athlete said during a phone interview. "I just wanted to get it done and over with."
Digneo, who opened the season with 200 career hits, is a lot more concerned with winning the Patriot League championship, which would earn Lehigh an automatic bid to the NCAA regional tournament. As in high school, the athlete has proven herself a versatile asset to the team. She entered the week ranked second in the Patriot League in batting average (.396), hits (57) and triples (six), while her 33 runs scored stood third.
Lehigh’s Mountain Hawks are the early playoff favorites after closing out the season with a school and league record 19 wins. Although she is playing her last season with the team, Digneo plans to stay at Lehigh another year to earn her master’s degree in elementary education.
The First Team All-Patriot League selection already is starting to reflect on her many achievements, particularly breaking the hits record.
"It is definitely something I would’ve never imagined when I came in here," Digneo said. "It’s a big honor to have that, but it’s not as big as winning a Patriot League championship would be."
–by Bill Gelman
Public League Division C Standings
(Through Tuesday)
Dobbins 10-1
Kensington 9-1
Prep Charter 9-2
Franklin 7-4
Gratz 6-3
Lamberton 6-3
Southern 5-4
E&S; 4-5
Germantown 4-6
Strawberry Mansion 4-6
West Philadelphia 3-6
King 2-7
University City 1-9
William Penn 1-10
