Baseball

Kelly Montague ‘25

Contributor

The Strath Haven varsity baseball team is unstoppable this season, taking the Central League crown by shutting out Harriton in a 5-0 game on May 5, but even more recently taking home a District title against Upper Dublin on May 31.

In the past three years, the Panthers varsity team has won two Central League titles, two District titles, and went to state playoff games.

On May 16, Haven had their Senior Night against Interboro. They celebrated seniors Alex Pak, Sam Milligan, Nick Corritore, Noah Green, Jack Edwards, Bobby Fooskas, and Joe Natale.

Despite their efforts, the team’s biggest challenge seems to be making contact and hitting the ball, so it’s been a focal point for the season. Sophomore pitcher and first baseman Luke D’Ancona commented on their hopes for the playoffs.

“I hope that we start hitting,” D’Ancona said. “And if we don’t start hitting, I hope that our pitching is up to where it’s been.”

That afternoon, senior Alex Pak and junior Jake McDonough scored home runs, with other runs scored by junior Matt Kane and seniors Noah Green and Bobby Fooskas, racking the final score up to 8-5, taking victory over the Buccaneers.

Haven’s overall record so far is 19-4, with their conference record being 14-2, only losing to only Upper Darby and Ridley (within the conference). So far, they’ve scored 135 runs, and have allowed only 63 to get by.

On May 24, they hosted Phoenixville for the second round of playoffs, shutting them out with a 5-0 win. Next, Haven won an 11-5 victory in the third round on May 26 against West Chester Rustin at home.

Momentum was built towards a rematch of last year’s district final against top-seeded Upper Dublin at Villanova Ballpark on Tuesday, May 30, hoping to seek revenge after their loss last year.

It all came down to the final inning, when Haven brought it home with a final score of 7-4 against the Cardinals. The Panther Pack—the nickname of Strath Haven’s student section—came to the field to support, dressed in black, and stormed the field at the conclusion of the game.

D’Ancona was on the mound with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the bottom of the 7th, only one pitch away from taking the district championship..

“The energy was incredible and everyone was just

Senior recaps her gymnastics experience so far as her high school years come to an end.

Jillian Thomas ‘24 SportsEditor

On Friday, May 12, senior and Level 10 gymnast Lauren Wright won the Eastern US All-Around Championship title in Oklahoma—her final achievement as a high school club gymnast.

This championship, previously called the Junior Olympic Nationals, is referred to as the culmination of the competitive gymnastics season, and hosts “the best up-andcoming gymnasts in the country.”

This fall, Wright will compete at the collegiate level at North Carolina State University, a Division I school.

Wright started competing at age six, but gymnastics was not love at first sight.

“I started in a summer camp, the day after I turned five. My parents just dropped me off on their way to work, and I hated it at first,” she said. “But then I was put back into summer camp the next year and loved it.”

A coach at Wright’s summer camp saw her talent, and recommended that she be put into gymnastics classes, so she began at AJS gym in West Chester. She competed here for six years. Now, she competes for Stallone Gymnastics and identifies the most challenging parts of gymnastics.

“The most challenging part [is] getting over injuries, and knowing everything always happens for a reason…Another challenging thing is I don’t get to hang out with my school friends, because I am always at practice… getting over not having the high school experience [is challenging],” Wright said.

However, Wright’s career has provided opportunities for extremely rewarding experiences, as well.

“Getting to travel to different places with my best friends. I am with them every day in the gym for four hours,” Wright said.

As she goes on to compete in college, Wright considers what she thinks is going to be the highlight of collegiate competition.

“Probably the team aspect. Club gymnastics is kind of an individual sport, and the team kind of comes second,” she said. “But college gymnastics is for the team, and it is more team-oriented.”* knowing that we were one pitch away,” he said. “Everyone knew what had happened last year, and we knew it wasn’t going to happen again. I was getting chirped the whole game by the other student section, so I was just thinking about shutting them down and silencing them.

GOLD MEDAL SMILE • Senior Lauren Wright celebrates her all-around gold medal at the Development National Championships in Oklahoma City, May 12-14.

“We’ve wanted this moment since the last inning of last year, and it’s incredible to see all of the hard work that the team put in in the off-season and during this season, and seeing it all pay off makes everything worth it.”

D’Ancona threw the pitch and the pop-up hit was caught by sophomore second baseman Ben Milligan, ending the game and securing the District 5A trophy. On Monday June 5, the Panthers will challenge District 3’s fourth-place team in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A tournament. The game will happen at Neumann University, and Strath Haven is the sole team from Delco to qualify for a PIAA tournament.”

Saveliev hopes to educate and prevent injuries in weightroom.

Matthew Chen ‘23 Editor-in-Chief

Junior Daniel Saveliev’s greatest attribute in the gym isn’t his powerlifting. It’s his ability to improve others’ strength.

One day before the activities fair this school year, Saveliev brought his proposal of starting a Lifting Club to English teacher Mr. Kevin Haney.

He wanted to educate students on weightlifting so they can improve their personal records (PR) and also not get injured.

“I just think it’s really great seeing people improve and seeing the happiness they get when they get a new PR, or when they feel something feels better and doesn’t hurt anymore,” he said.

With beginners, Saveliev starts by having students use a bar with no weights or a PVC pipe. He then ensures that all the motions look perfect before incrementally increasing the weight.

“I think there have been five examples of when I’ve just had a full fifth block one on one with someone,” he said. “One of the kids that just passed here— I taught him how to squat. And now his PR is a full 90 pounds higher than it was then.”

Apart from one on one coaching, Saveliev has a Weightlifting Learning Resource which is posted on the Haven Lifting Club Google Classroom.

While there are no set requirements during club lifts, students often do similar workouts and trade advice with one another. Juniors Adam Ibrahim and Carter Law are some of the other students who teach powerlifting.

Saveliev stressed that everyone is welcome at the club— regardless of gender, age, or weightlifting experience.

Club lifts in Room 212— aka the weightroom— are usually filled with energy and loud yelling.

“It’s just like really high energy and when they finally [finish the rep], everyone feels happy for them,” Saveliev said. “They feel happy. It’s just a great bonding and community experience.”

Sophomore Nathan Lin is a track and football athlete who is a regular at the weight room.

“It’s a lot of fun and we get to push each other to our limits,” he said. *