Former Ches-Mont League players enjoying NCAA Tournament ride with West Chester

WEST CHESTER - When things come together seamlessly and produce much success they say it is a marriage made in heaven. That adage could aptly describe the West Chester University baseball team and the seven former Ches-Mont League players on its roster.

The Golden Rams have already had a wildly successful season with a 41-10 record and winning the NCAA Division II Super Atlantic Regional Championship and are headed to the College World Series beginning Friday in Cary, NC. They were named the top seed and will face the University of Indianapolis.

The former Ches-Mont League players have played a big part in the success and head coach, Mike LaRosa, a former Bishop Shanahan star, talked about having the local players represent the Golden Rams.

"My coach here at WCU years ago, Chris Calciano, set the precedent of putting a box around Chester County," LaRosa said. "He made sure the talent in our backyard stays here. This has been a recipe for success here for a long time and our staff has taken pride in upholding that way. The baseball in the area is so strong that these guys have played tough competition since they were in Little League, until now.

"So we knew they have played in pressure settings and have competed for championships. Plus, we like to have a family environment within our program, so the ability for our players to have their parents, grandparents, siblings, friends and teachers in our stands at home games is important to all of us. Lastly, because these local guys are cut from the same cloth, they get along great with one another and help to achieve the team chemistry we want year in and year out."

One of the former Ches-Mont players is former West Chester Henderson standout pitcher Nick Cugino, who spent his first two years at Rowan University, but now is a big part of the Golden Rams' success.

"It is just awesome to come home and play college baseball in front of my parents and my grandparents can come to the games also," Cugino said. "It is very cool to play with the guys we competed against in Little League and then in middle school and high school. We may have had a little beef with each other in high school, but now we have come together for the same team and the same goals. It is a very close knit group of guys. We all get along and pull for each other since we have known each other for so long."

The coaching staff also has a local flavor as pitching coach John Fleming is a former head coach at West Chester East and assistant Brian Lindros was on the West Chester Rustin staff. His son, Ben, is a starting second baseman for Downingtown West.

Recruiting coordinator Charles Cooper is a Coatesville graduate and is also the Director of the West Chester Adult Baseball League, where many of the team play their summer baseball.

"This is a very tight knit group," Cooper said. "It goes through the whole team. Winning and culture are the two things we really preach here. The local Ches-Mont guys help with bringing everyone together. They are local to the area and help our guys from father away really feel like home. We love our Ches-Mont guys and hope to keep bringing more guys from the league in the future."

Other players from the county include Nick Noga and Caleb Strawhecker from Avon Grove, Ben Jones of Coatesville and Kennett's Ben Bolhouse.

Also on that list is West Chester Rustin pitcher Kyle Kearns, who started his collegiate career at James Madison University, but is now a junior with WCU.

"It is awesome to see this group of guys win together like we have," Kearns said. "We all get along so well and it is a cool thing to see the younger guys grow. We have Landen Rozich from Oxford here as a freshman and he is my guy. To see the guys again after high school is a great thing. This is the closest team I have ever been around.

"The last couple of years we have not been able to win a game in regionals and to see it finally click and for us to be going to the World Series with guys we sort of grew up with is a really neat experience."

WCU will be looking for more glory in the Division II World Series. They have accomplished this with hard work, commitment and talent. And they were smart enough to look right in its backyard for the boost they needed.

A marriage made in heaven indeed.

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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 9:23 PM.