Quite An Ending For Cherokee’s Litsky

by Marc Narducci | Jul 18, 2025

Recent Cherokee graduate Josh Litsky is a study in perseverance. Litsky was a pitcher on the consensus No. 1 team in South Jersey. That was a Cherokee team that was led by two first-team all-South Jersey pitchers, Brett Gable, who is headed to Harvard and Henry Radbill, who will attend Rutgers.

Those two combined to pitch 110.2 innings for the 28-3 Chiefs.

Litsky pitched 15.2 innings and was highly effective, with a 2.23 ERA and 27 strikeouts, with only two walks.

It’s not a stretch to suggest he could have been a No. 1 pitcher on several South Jersey teams.

“Josh is a very good pitcher and he was scheduled to throw so much more than he actually threw for us, but whether it was game got canceled or teams didn’t want to face us, we got backed up and you don’t skip a Gable or Radbill start,” Cherokee coach Marc Petragnani said. “He is really good but was limited in his opportunities.”

Litsky got an opportunity to pitch in the Carpenter Cup for the Burlington County team. Gable was unable to throw because he was pitching in the state tournament for Cherokee. Radbill only made one Carpenter Cup appearance and nobody from Northern Burlington, which was competing in the Group 3 state tournament in which the Greyhounds won, played in the Carpenter Cup.

So while not originally picked for the Carpenter Cup team right away, Litsky was added when replacements were needed.

It turns out that Petragnani was an assistant coach on the Carpenter Cup team, working with the pitchers.

“I pushed hard for Josh Litsky to be a member of this team because he deserved it,” Petragnani said.

Litsky proved it with his performance

He appeared in two Carpenter Cup games and went 2-0 with 0.77 ERA. (Carpenter Cup rules stipulated a pitcher couldn’t throw more than two innings per game).

Litsky earned the win in Burlington County’s 4-0 championship victory over Chester County, played last month at Citizens Bank Park.

In two innings he allowed one hit and struck out one.

“It is awesome and it feels amazing,” Litsky said after the win.

The fact that he pitched in the Phillies home stadium during the championship game, only added to the experience.

“This place is beautiful, the mound is perfect,” he said. “Everything was amazing and just a great job by our entire staff.”

Litsky also took a mature position when asked about his limited use during the high school season.

“You ought to be grateful for what you get,” he said. “We won the whole thing, and you have to be happy, it was an awesome experience and I’m grateful for everything.”

Nobody was happier at his Carpenter Cup performance than Petragnani.

“I feel incredible for him,” Petrangnani said. “I apologized to Josh at the end of the season and said you deserved more than you got; circumstances held you down a little bit, but your talent is immense. and I can’t wait to see what you do at the next level.”

That next level is La Salle, which is bringing back a baseball program for the 2025-26 season.

“I had a few options, but the coaching staff there, they were amazing guys, they are going to be able to develop me,” Litsky said.

And as Litsky showed in his limited work during the high school season and during the Carpenter Cup, there is a lot to work with, a pitcher with the right repertoire and attitude.

Photo: Josh Litsky / Marc Narducci

Article continues below

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Author: Marc Narducci

Quite An Ending For Cherokee’s Litsky

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