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Penn Cambria graduate Mason Ronan went undrafted in last week's Major League Baseball Draft, but he didn't have to wait long to find his next shot at playing the game he loves.
"My agent called me after the draft was over," Ronan said. "He told me he got me a deal with the Phillies."
The left-handed pitcher, who spent this past spring pitching for the State College Spikes after previously pitching at Pitt, reported to the Philadelphia Phillies camp in Clearwater, Fla.
"We did some medical testing like physicals today, and tomorrow we'll do strength and range-of-motion assessments," said Ronan Friday evening. "Sunday we're off, and we start a minicamp on Monday for a couple weeks."
Ronan didn't cheer for either the Phillies or Pittsburgh Pirates growing up, but he's excited by the thought of pitching near his hometown.
"My dad and grandpa were Yankee fans, so I was kind of just automatically a Yankee fan," Ronan said. "But I'm obviously super happy to have an opportunity to maybe play in my home state someday."
Despite not being drafted for a second time (Ronan was selected in the 29th round in 2018 by the Boston Red Sox out of high school but did not sign), Ronan is itching to get started.
"I'm super excited, and it's obviously a dream come true," Ronan said. "To go to the Phillies too, kind of a hometown team, is super exciting. I can't wait to get started and have another opportunity to keep playing baseball. I'm really excited to get after it."
Ronan was a multiple first-team high school baseball all-star while pitching at Penn Cambria.
He struck out 73 batters in just 30• innings during his senior year.
Ronan had Tommy John Surgery but fully recovered and proved he still has the ability to miss bats by putting up impressive strikeout numbers during his time with the Spikes in the Major League Draft League over the past couple months.