Into the Big Leagues

by Marc Narducci | Jul 15, 2024

Imagine being a high school baseball coach and having three players on your roster who would one day play in the Major Leagues. Bishop Eustace head coach Sam Tropiano knows the feeling as his 2013 Bishop Eustace squad became the second team in South Jersey history to make that claim according to South Jersey historian Chuck Langerman.

Tyler Phillips, a 2015 Bishop Eustace graduate, made his MLB debut with the Phillies in a 6-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves on July 7. It was quite a debut, as Phillips allowed just one run in four innings and struck out seven. Last week he had his first start and first MLB win in the Phillies 11-5 win over the Oakland A’s.

Phillips, along with fellow pitchers Devin Smeltzer and Zac Gallen were all on that 2013 Bishop Eustace squad.

“There is a reason we won a lot of games with those guys,” said Tropiano, who contacted Phillips, congratulating the right-hander prior to his debut with the Phillies.

According to Tropiano, Phillips, who was a sophomore, didn’t pitch much on the 2013 team, but he was on the roster. The Crusaders went 21-7 and won the Joe Hartmann Diamond Classic that season, with Gallen emerging as the winning pitcher and staff ace.

Gallen of the Arizona Diamondback has enjoyed the most success of the trio. He has finished in the top 10 of the National League Cy Young award voting three times and last year earned his first All-Star berth.

Smeltzer, a 2014 graduate, has appeared in the Major Leagues with Minnesota and the Miami Marlins. He is currently with Miami’s Triple-A team in Jacksonville.

The only other South Jersey team to have three future Major Leaguers on the roster was the 1944 Burlington City squad, according to Langerman. The Burlington City trio consisted of Barney Schultz, Sam Calderone and Eddie Miksis. Langerman notes that the Burlington City team went 7-1 and was ranked No. 1 in the USA by Max Preps.

Schultz, according to Langerman, was a knuckleball relief pitcher who played for all or parts of seven seasons between 1955 and 1965 for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Calderone was a reserve catcher playing three MLB seasons with the NY Giants and Milwaukee Braves.

Mikis debuted in the Majors at the age of 17 and went on to have a 14-year career as a utility infielder with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds.

What is interesting is that the Bishop Eustace pipeline to the Major Leagues may not be finished.

Justin Hagenman, who was a sophomore on that 2013 team, is currently pitching for the Boston Red Sox Triple-A team in Worcester. Left-hander Anthony Solometo, the 37^th overall player selected in the 2021 draft, is pitching with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Double-A team in Altoona.

Eustace had two other players who competed in the Major Leagues in Mike Moriarty and Blaine Neal. Moriarty played briefly with the Baltimore Orioles in 2002.

Neal, a righthander, played parts of five MLB seasons with Florida (now Miami), San Diego, Boston and Colorado.

It’s no surprise over the years that Eustace has been among the top programs in South Jersey with this type of Major League pedigree.

Photo of Tyler Phillips / Courtesy of the Philadelphia Phillies

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Author: Marc Narducci

Into the Big Leagues

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