Prep Baseball Falls to The Haverford School in Season Opener

HAVERFORD, PA. – St. Joseph’s Prep fell to The Haverford School 1-0 on Saturday.

The game was 0-0 through six innings before Danny Getz knocked in a walk-off run while the bases were loaded to push the Fords to victory. While the Prep had one more hit on the day than Haverford, Gabe Danisi was able to prevent any runs from the Prep in the early frames, while Matt Borden held the Hawks off in the final two innings. 

As the Hawks took the field, questions arose about the Prep. The biggest: How would star pitchers Cole Kuhn ‘27 and Chris Grasso ‘27 do with all the eyes on them? 

Despite Duke commit Kuhn, Miami commit Grasso, and St. Bonaventure signee Mihretu Repurtus ‘26 all being on the Hawks’ roster, Head Coach Bobby Muth ‘04 gave the ball to Danny Matthews ‘26 for the Prep’s season opener.

Matthews played 18 games for the Prep last season, while hitting .194 in 37 plate appearances. Matthews has not pitched much over the last few seasons, but finished with nine strikeouts in six and a third innings on Saturday. 

“Danny’s consistent as it comes. He did pitch on JV, not so much last year because we needed his bat. But, [he’s a] lefty, he works fast, and he looked great for us in Spring training, and we were comfortable going back to him,” Muth said about his decision to start Matthews. 

While many love to talk about Kuhn, Grasso, and Rupertus, Matthews put together an impressive performance vs. Haverford, throwing himself into the mix as a possible fourth starting option for the Prep moving forward.

“I think he’s going to have a pivotal role in the bullpen. Maybe even the starting position when we have non-league games. Pitching is not a shortage. Danny is known as a lefty specialist, that's where we’re gonna rely on him.”

The Prep also used first-year Varsity player Shane Meisler ‘27. While he did give up the winning run, Meisler showed flashes of being a key contributor to the team this season.

After falling to 1-0, the Prep will look ahead to their PCL season opener vs. reigning champion Bonner-Prendie on Wednesday at 4:00 PM. Haverford will take on West Chester Rustin on Tuesday at 4:00.