28 • Fall 2015

Andrew Amaro OPC ’11 and Kenny Koplove OPC ’12 are wearing

the Fightin’ red and white and hoping to lead a Phillies revival.

By Mark F. Bernstein OpC ’79

the Show

sIx Pc aTHLeTes sIgn To PLay dIvIsIon Iapproximately 20 percent of each Penn Charter graduating class is recruited

to play sports in college. Currently, alumni are competing in the ACC, Ivy, Patriot,

Centennial, NESCAC, CACC, SCIAC, SoCon and Big 10 conferences. PC expects more

athletes to sign at the February and April 2016 deadlines.

With parents, extended family, coaches, friends and teachers watching, six PC student-

athletes signed letters of intent in November to play their sport in six Division I schools.

naMe univerSiTy SPorT

ken bergmann University of Connecticut Baseball

drew gallant University of Massachusetts Lacrosse

Jean gleason Drexel University Crew

Sean Mckee Fairfield University Lacrosse

emily Smith Elon University Track and Field, Cross Country

Sally Stanley University of North Carolina Crew

More photos on flickr.com/photos/penncharter/sets.

The Crosscutters are the Phillies’ short-season rookie league team, one of the lowest rungs on the long ladder that, for a talented few, will someday lead to Citizens Bank Park. And the PC pair are eagerly climbing it, having both been selected by the Phillies in last summer’s amateur draft, Koplove in the 17th round, Amaro in the 35th.

Amaro entered PC in the sixth grade; Koplove was a lifer. Although they played side by side for four years – leading Rick Mellor OPC ’69’s squad to the 2009 Inter-Ac title along the way – they have been competing against each other for as long as they can remember in AAU ball.

Koplove was a star pitcher and shortstop for the Quakers, a three-time all-state and first team all-Inter-Ac selection. “Kenny was born to be a baseball player,” Mellor said. As a freshman, Koplove was named the Southeast Pennsylvania Rookie of the Year, and as a senior he was named the Gatorade/ESPN Pennsylvania Player of the Year. But Duke University, which recruited him, wanted him to play only shortstop. Though he pitched just two innings for the

slightly older young men chase their dreams at Susquehanna Bank Park, home of the Williamsport Crosscutters of the New York-Penn League. This summer, that team included two players familiar to Penn Charter fans: Andrew Amaro OPC ’11 and Kenny Koplove OPC ’12.

Approaching from the south, the road into Williamsport, Pa., goes right past Howard J. Lamade Stadium, home of the Little League World Series. On a warm August afternoon, it is packed with young people chasing their dreams.

A few miles to the north, a group of

two for

29Fall 2015 •

30 • Fall 2015

Blue Devils as a freshman and none as a sophomore, Koplove still wanted to pitch. Before last season, his manager agreed to let him try. Koplove proved so good that he was able to hold down both positions, setting a team record with 11 saves while hitting .275 as the team’s regular shortstop.

That brought Koplove to the attention of major league scouts. In June, he was sitting by the computer in his parents’ house in South Philadelphia when his agent called. The Phillies wanted to draft him, but first they needed to know if he would sign a contract if they did. Koplove and his parents had a quick decision to make. Signing meant leaving Duke before he had earned his degree, but the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream to play professional baseball – and for the Phillies – made the decision easy.

“Your hometown team, you can’t do any better than that,” he explained. After buying himself a new glove, Koplove put the rest of his signing bonus in the bank. He intends to finish his studies once his playing days are over.

The choice to sign with the Phillies was also a no-brainer for Amaro. He was an all-Inter-Ac second baseman who was as hot on the base paths as he was at the plate; as a senior,

he stole 16 bases and hit .400. The Phillies drafted him in the 47th round in 2011, but he decided to attend the University of Maryland instead. After his junior year, Amaro transferred to the University of Tampa and led the team to the NCAA Division II playoffs.

Even so, it was not certain that he would be drafted. In order to avoid hanging on every selection during the three-day draft, he decided to stay off the Internet. He learned of his selections during a pickup basketball game when his phone began to buzz with congratulatory phone calls. One might think that Amaro’s uncle, Ruben OPC ’83, then the Phillies’ general manager, would have tipped his nephew off, but he played it close to the vest.

Both Koplove and Amaro have had strong family support. In addition to Amaro’s uncle, his grandfather played for the Phillies in the 1960s, while his father, Dave OPC ’80, played briefly in the Chicago Cubs organization. Koplove’s older brother, Mike, a Chestnut Hill Academy alumnus, played in the majors for seven years and is now a scout for the Los Angeles Angels; and sister Erica OPC ’08 was a three-time All-Inter-Ac softball pitcher for PC and had an ERA of under 2.00 on two championship teams.

we’re PsycHed!Sports writer Ted Silary oPC ’69, retired from a 36-year career

at the Philadelphia Daily News, will be on campus several days a

week writing about and photographing PC athletics. His work

will appear online at penncharter.com/sportszone.Silary will continue to publish TedSilary.com, his popular website

about high school sports.

Silary has covered high school sports in Philadelphia since December

1975, first for two years for the old Philadelphia Bulletin, then from December 1977 through

August 2013 for the Philadelphia Daily News. At Penn Charter, he wrote for The Mirror and, as a

senior, wrote a weekly wrapup on PC sports for the now-defunct Germantown Courier. A lifer

at Penn Charter, he played varsity football and basketball.

On his website, Silary explains that he had opportunities to “move up” to college or

professional beats at the Daily News, but politely declined. “Why would I give up the best job at

this paper? There’s nothing more enjoyable than reporting on the triumphs of young people.”

(Previous page) Andrew Amaro OPC ’11 at bat for the Williamsport Croscutters. (Above) Kenny Koplove OPC ’12 in action for the Williamsport Crosscutters.

31Fall 2015 •

Koplove recalls one particular welcome-to-the-minors moment this summer, when he surrendered his first professional home run. Holding a 7-1 lead against the Vermont Lake Monsters, Koplove fell behind in the count to the first batter he faced leading off the seventh inning.

“It was the [ninth] hitter [in the batting order],” he explained, “so I said, ‘I’m just going to throw a fastball down the middle and whatever happens, happens.’” That may have worked in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but not in the New York-Penn League. The batter launched a towering home run over the left field wall. It taught Koplove (who won the game anyway) a valuable lesson: “Well you can’t do that anymore. Every single pitch, you have to be locked in.”

Amaro played off the bench for the Crosscutters but says he does not feel overmatched by life as a professional. “It’s similar to college ball except we’re getting paid,” he explained. “The adjustment has been not drastic at all. You sleep in, lift weights, spend eight hours at the park, and then repeat every day.” It’s what he loves to do.

“Andrew is going to be a baseball lifer,” Mellor predicted. “He’s going to coach somewhere.”

The pair performed well in their debut seasons. Koplove finished with a 2-3 record, striking out 27 batters in 34 innings. Amaro hit .218 playing first base, right field and designated hitter, and was sent up briefly to play for the Phillies’ minor league affiliate in Lakewood, N.J. The old high school teammates often make it a point to sit together on the long team bus rides.

Both say they are thrilled to be chasing their boyhood dreams, but in almost any situation it is easier to get Koplove to do the talking.

“I’m playing a child’s game, and it’s awesome,” he gushed. “I get to watch nine innings of baseball every night against future big leaguers.”

Who knows? Maybe those future big leaguers will include two OPCs. For legions of hungry Phillies fans, they can’t get there fast enough. pC

donald J. Mittica is known to his players and his patients –

he is a licensed chiropractor with a practice in Lafayette Hill

– as Doc.

Doc started the Penn Charter softball team from scratch

in 1992 and has built an impressive program and record of

achievement. He has a 308-141 record in 24 seasons, with the

300th win coming on May 1, 2015. In those seasons his teams

have won seven Inter-Ac titles and, just last season, one state

independent school title. He is the only head coach our

softball program has had since its inception.

Mere stats do not define or represent what Doc strives to

accomplish as a coach. This is not to say that Doc has not pushed and coached his girls to

victory, but to him there is more to coaching than a win or a loss.

To Doc, the true success of a coach is determined by how much an athlete grows as an

individual. Doc coaches softball, and he coaches about life.

Mikayla Cimino OPC ’15 recalled that one of Doc’s life lessons is that skill and talent

will only take one so far, but that heart and passion will make one great. “Doc was always

reminding us that we were in the driver’s seat and that if we wanted to do big things, we

have the talent to do so, but we need to find the heart and energy in order to come out

on top,” Cimino said.

Doc teaches respect, said sophomore Ciara McGee, and confidence: “One of my

favorite things that he said to us this season was to respect everyone but fear no one.”

Doc tops 300Doc Mittica, a founder and architect of PC softball, has been racking up the stats over the years, including a milestone 300th win.

By Ben skinner OpC ‘15