RIDLEY TWP. – Casey’s Ridley Park was packed Wednesday night, with Ethan Pecko’s people filling the place, gathered around several televisions to watch the 2020 Ridley High graduate make his major-league debut for the Houston Astros.
Former classmates. Current and old buddies. Next-door neighbors. Cousins. His uncle. Former and current Ridley High coaches and teachers. Ridley showed out for their boy.
Every time the rookie right-hander took the mound to start an inning, Casey’s erupted in cheer.
“All right, Ethan!”
“Atta boy, Ethan!”
There was one guy, however, who wasn’t getting much love: Mike Trout.
Trout usually gets the hometown among Philly sports fans. Not Wednesday night at Casey’s, as he stepped in for the Los Angeles Angels against Pecko. The Ridley crowd had a new villain.
Trout singled against Pecko in the first inning, but Pecko worked his way out of trouble without allowing a run. When Trout came to the plate again in the third, Pecko buried a 93-mph sinker in on Trout’s hands. Pecko had just plunked Mr. Philly himself, Mike Trout.
The reaction from the Ridley faithful was immediate.
“Did he just hit Mike Trout?” one of Pecko’s supporters asked.
“That’s pretty funny, actually,” another said.
Casey’s Ridley Park was packed with Ethan Pecko’s family and friends Thursday night as they gathered to watch the Ridley product make his MLB debut with the Houston Astros. (MediaNews Group)
For Pecko the night was about much more than clipping a future Hall of Famer on the knuckles. It was a debut he could build on.
Pecko lasted 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out four. He got a no-decision as the Astros held on for a 3-2 victory.
There were some jitters, and the strike zone proved elusive at times. But Pecko kept competing. The No. 9 prospect in the Houston system threw 89 pitches, 49 for strikes, with his four-seamer averaging 94.1 mph and touching 95.9. He coaxed 12 swings and misses, six on his sinker.
Pecko had been scratched from his last Triple A start with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys as the Astros shuffled a pitching staff that has used a franchise-record 17 starting pitchers this year. His last outing was Aug. 9.
Pecko is the third Delaware County high school product to reach the majors this season, ending a drought that stretched back to Mike Costanzo’s (Archbishop Carroll) debut in 2012.
Bonner & Prendergast ‘s Kevin McGonigle has been with the Detroit Tigers since Opening Day and made the All-Star Game. Fellow Bonner product Nate Furman appeared in five games as an infielder for the San Francisco Giants this month before recently being optioned to Triple-A.
“It was pretty incredible,” Pecko told reporters after the game. “Words just can’t really describe it; you’ve just got to feel it. … It was a little sloppy, but I felt like I battled. I felt like I didn’t have any expectations, I just wanted to throw well, throw strikes. The command wasn’t there. It’s been a little bit since I threw, but overall I’m happy with it and I think there’s a lot I can work on.”
Back at Casey’s, nobody seemed interested in picking apart the rough edges. For the people who have known Pecko since he was a kid, this was simply Ethan doing what Ethan has always wanted to do.
Jess and Erica O’Brien, Pecko’s cousins, grew up around the corner from him. Their dad, Mike, a proud Army veteran, is Pecko’s uncle. They have watched the journey up close and believed for years this special night was coming.
“It’s surreal,” Jess said. “Ethan has worked so hard to get here, ever since he was a child. He never gave up, and he has always been the most dedicated player.”
Erica was feeling every bit of the moment.
“It’s definitely been a roller coaster of emotions, but we’re so excited for him,” she said. “I’m so nervous at the same time. He is just such a humble and great kid. He deserves it.”
Houston Astros starting pitcher Ethan Pecko throws during the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday night in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
There is the AT&T story that Erica likes to tell, which might be the most Pecko story imaginable..After he was drafted by Houston in the sixth round in 2023, Pecko stopped at an AT&T store to get something fixed on his phone. His screen saver had something to do with baseball.
The employee noticed it.
“Oh, do you like baseball?” the guy asked.
“Well, actually, I just got drafted,” Pecko replied sheepishly.
“But he was so humble about it,” Erica said. “That’s just Ethan.”
Jess remembers a younger Pecko doing what kids who love baseball do.
“I can remember him being outside every single day, throwing the ball against the wall in his driveway,” she said. “Always with a glove and ball.”
Kathy, Pecko’s mother, is Jim’s sister. The families grew up around the corner from each other, so baseball was always part of the routine.
And that meant travel games. Lots of them.
“I used to tag along with my Aunt Kathy, Ethan’s mom, because they don’t have daughters, and I would go along in the car rides to all of the travel games,” Erica said. “Ethan always loved the game of baseball and I can remember so many times just tagging along to watch his games.”
Ethan turns 24 next Tuesday. Jess turns 25. Jess was held back in school early on, in part so she could remain classmates with Ethan all the way through high school. Erica graduated from Ridley in 2015.
Now, years later, they were all sitting in Casey’s watching him pitch in the major leagues. When Pecko recorded a strikeout, cheers erupted around the room.
Erica turned toward the television.
“This is crazy, to see how far he’s come,” she said. “He’s made it. And we were all really proud of him.”
That pride extended far beyond the O’Brien family.
There were people at Casey’s who had known Pecko since elementary school. Old classmates. Friends. Neighbors. People who had watched him grow up and kept tabs on the baseball kid from Ridley.
“It’s amazing to see all of these people come out for him,” Erica said. “There are people here that he went to elementary school with. It’s just … amazing to see all of these people here for him.”
Pecko’s family was also spread across the country for the big night. Jess and Erica said their mom, Diane, Pecko’s godmother, was among the crowd at Houston’s Daikin Park to watch the debut. Pecko’s mom and dad, Kathy and Gregory, and his brothers, Greg Jr. and Marc, were also there.
But back home, Casey’s was doing its part.
Because, as Jess put it, that’s Ridley.
“In the best times and in the hardest times, Ridley shows up,” she said. “That’s what it means to us. We are a real community. We might not talk to some people for years, but people from Ridley will show up when it matters.”
On Wednesday night, it mattered. A Ridley kid was in the big leagues. And Ridley showed up.