Before He Played for Pay . . . Phil Gosselin

This story concerns Malvern grad Phil Gosselin ('07), who
was promoted to the Atlanta Braves on 8/16/13. It was written
in June '07 after Phil played in the Carpenter Cup Classic. He
starred in college at Virginia and was tabbed by Atlanta in the
fifth round (No. 164) of the 2010 draft.

Gosselin too busy to stew over loss in Carpenter Cup

By TED SILARY silaryt@phillynews.com

He never gets his Phil of baseball.

Good thing, too, because Phil Gosselin , a recent Malvern Prep graduate bound for the University of Virginia on scholarship, is pretty much married to the game already.

Yesterday afternoon, Gosselin thought long and hard, and then even did some extra pondering, and came to this conclusion: He had played in a baseball game every day for 2 consecutive weeks.

"In fact," he said, "the first time we played here, I had another game that night. "

Here was the University of Pennsylvania's Meiklejohn Stadium, site of the first two rounds in the Phillies-sponsored Carpenter Cup Classic for high school all-star teams from the tri-state area.

There was no other game to rush to. And there'd be no further 2007 CCC appearances for the 6-foot, 175-pound Gosselin and his Inter-Ac/Independents teammates.

In wickedly hot weather, I-A/I dropped a quarterfinal to Lehigh Valley by a score of 5-3.

Gosselin was prominent among those who were able to depart while flashing a hint of a smile, having provided the unchallenged highlight in the form of a two-run homer.

It came in a pinch-hitting role in the visiting fifth. With one out and Tommy Coyle (Germantown Academy) on first base, following a fielder's choice, Gosselin sent an impressive drive to exact left-center. The ball appeared to thump off the right portion of the scoreboard, about halfway up.

"It was a 2-0 count. I was looking for a fastball and he threw it right down the middle. I put a good swing on it," Gosselin said. "As soon as I hit, I knew it was gone. You just know when you hit one out. You get that feeling. I hit it right on the barrel. A rising liner. "

Gosselin at first declined to admire his handiwork.

"I just started running to first," he said. "I didn't watch because I knew it was gone. But when I did look up and saw the ball bouncing on the field, I wasn't certain. 'Maybe I didn't get it all. ' I was a little worried. Then I saw the ump twirling his index finger.

As Gosselin rounded third and trotted toward home, he was headed toward his parents and brother, Matt, a former Malvern basketball player (class of 2001). They were seated directly behind the plate.

He opted for the aw-shucks approach. He put down his head and did not show a hint of emotion until his teammates created a swarm.

This kid's so nice, he won't even use the homer to his advantage in who's-the-better-athlete discussions with Matt, who played college hoops at Bloomsburg.

"He's my biggest fan," Phil said proudly. "He took a half-day off from work so he could be here today. "

Gosselin's position, like always, was shortstop. He made a nifty, across-the-bag play on a tapper up the middle and his other plate appearance resulted in a groundout to shortstop.

As the game ended on a hard one-hopper to first by Coyle, Gosselin, representing the tying run, was fidgeting in the on-deck circle. And dreaming of the chance to provide more heroics.

"Our motto for Malvern is always, 'Get the next guy to the plate,' " Gosselin said. "I was hoping Tommy would punch one through. Doesn't always work out like you want. Seems like we're snakebit in trying to get to Citizens Bank Park [site of the semis and final]. "

I-A/I finished with six hits and frosh outfielder Jon McAllister (Chestnut Hill Academy) was the only guy with two. Another young buck, frosh first baseman Slater McCue (GA), collected the other RBI on a sixth-inning single that plated Malvern's Matt McEndy (double/error combo).

Soph lefty Tim Cooney (Malvern) allowed two unearned runs in his three-inning stint. The fifth was largely unsightly, but junior Chris Cowell (Malvern) came on to get the last two outs and then rang up uneventful sixth and sevenths.

Lefty Mark Adzick (Penn Charter), a recent 18th-round Phillies draftee and a Wake Forest signee, concluded his high school days with a 1-2-3 eighth.

Gosselin is playing American Legion ball for West Chester, as well as in that community's adult league.

"I'm used to [demanding schedules]," he said. "For Malvern, we always play about 40 games. Unless it rains, we're playing pretty much every day.

"It really helps you get in a zone. Getting at-bats every day. Seeing groundballs every day. When you go out on the field, you're really comfortable. "

Just about now, it's probably hitting Gosselin, also a basketball sub, that his Malvern days are history.

"It's been awesome," he said. "This tournament was great because I got to play one last time with the guys. I've been playing with Matt McEndy since I was 9 years old and against and then with Pete Greskoff since I was 10. They've been some of my best friends for a long time. "

They enjoyed watching the long drive, too.