Ron Kopcho’s value as a baseball player outweighed what any trophy or banner could have accomplished.
The recent graduate of Camden Catholic High School always pitched the big games and always logged the extra hours in practice as a shortstop. It wasn’t always so the Irish could win a particular game that week. It was to help a high school baseball program build to the future.
“It was fun at Camden Catholic,” Kopcho said. “Obviously there was a learning curve. We played good baseball. Through three years … you just look back and see all these young guys and notice that you are learning more than you think.”
It was the same lesson Kopcho learned early on in his high school career. Kopcho had run track and field as a freshman but showed up well-prepared for his sophomore year on the diamond once baseball resumed in 2021 after a year canceled by the pandemic. His coaches took notice of Kopcho’s hunger, and they plugged him into the lineup at shortstop on opening day. He never left.
“I really didn’t think I had any potential until sophomore year,” Kopcho said. “I got to start shortstop as a sophomore, which doesn’t happen all that much. Junior year, I had another good year with a lot of ups and downs. This year wasn’t my year exactly. I got hurt, and I wasn’t able to throw for four weeks.”
Kopcho still managed to bat .310 this year despite the injuries, following a junior year when he hit .356. He also became a mentor on the field, as he was surrounded by six sophomores in the Irish’s starting lineup. The Irish struggled to find wins against tough competition with a 6-15 record, but they made strides in maturity.
“Besides being a great player, he has tremendous knowledge and leadership skills,” Camden Catholic coach Lou Marshall said. “It was like having another coach on and off the field.”
Marshall noticed. So did the coaches at Alvernia University in Reading, Pa., where Kopcho is committed to pitch the next four years. Academically, he will take part in Alvernia’s 3+3 program.
“I’m going as a 3+3 physical therapist major,” Kopcho said. “I can graduate college in three years, and after three more years, I’ll have my doctorate.”
Seems like no sweat for Kopcho, who was a steady honors student during his time at Camden Catholic and received many accolades for his work in the classroom. He also received one final acknowledgment for high school baseball, as Kopcho was selected to represent Olympic-Colonial in the 37th Annual Carpenter Cup Baseball Tournament, which is hosted by the Philadelphia Phillies. Kopcho threw a clean nine-pitch 1-2-3 ninth inning on June 17 at FDR Park in South Philadelphia to help Olympic-Colonial defeat Berks County, 9-0, and earn a trip to the semifinal round, which will be played at Citizens Bank Park on June 26.
Kopcho is enjoying the experience playing alongside guys from Bishop Eustace and Paul VI, who are normally considered rivals. “It was a lot of fun,” he said after his team’s first-round win over the Philadelphia Catholic League on June 14. “Me and [Bishop Eustace’s Matt Augustin] were talking the entire game. It was fun to look back and say that sophomore year, ‘Auggie’ struck me out, and then my next at-bat, I got a single off him. It becomes a big family even after all these rivalries. We all rushed out on the field together after the win and celebrated.”
He hopes someday Camden Catholic players will rush out onto the field to celebrate together. It would be an experience he helped lay the foundation for.
“The program is on the way up,” Kopcho said. “This year, we had six starting sophomores, and all of them had pretty good years. One of them deserves to be here [at the Carpenter Cup] instead of me. Charlie Neal … he came up big. Hitting wise, he was the seven-hitter and learned to be a leadoff guy. This year, I saw their potential growing. My job was to grow their potential the best I could. I just wanted to lift them.”
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