PHILADELPHIA -- David Miller still talks about La Salle the way you talk about something you lost too soon.
When the Explorers’ baseball program was eliminated after the 2021 season, Miller felt like a team that was just beginning to matter was suddenly erased.
“We were at a point where we were really building something special,” Miller said. “We were there. And then it was taken away. And that sucks.”
That 2021 season was the best of his tenure — a school-record 32 wins and a tie for the program’s high-water mark in Atlantic 10 victories. Miller was named A-10 Coach of the Year. His roster was filled with players who would soon reach professional baseball.
He still lists them from memory.
“Tatum Levins went in the eighth round to Seattle and now he’s in big-league camp with Tampa,” Miller said. “Ethan Pecko went to Towson and was the Astros’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Frankie Ellis was drafted by the Mets and just got traded. Tommy Molsky throws 100 now. We had guys everywhere.”
Then there were no more games to coach.
“So in my mind, it was always unfinished business,” Miller said. “The people that made those decisions, they’re not here anymore. But I would love to sit them in a room and ask them, ‘What were you thinking?’”
Instead of walking away from the game, Miller kept building.
He spent a season at Penn State Abington and led the Nittany Lions to a program-best 33–11 record. One of his players, Ryan McCarty, became a Division III National Player of the Year and the first MLB signing in program history.
From there, Miller moved to Manhattan and guided the Jaspers to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship appearance in his first season.
Still, La Salle never stopped feeling like home.
“It’s where I got my start as a head coach,” Miller said. “I’ll always have deep gratitude for this place.”
So when La Salle reached out and told him baseball was coming back, Miller didn’t hesitate emotionally — but he did hesitate structurally.
“I just wanted to know that La Salle was in a good place and that baseball was going to be here to stay,” he said. “Not just come back and disappear again.”
The assurances came with blueprints.
“They told me, ‘You’ve got a year. We’re going to help fundraise. We’re going to build you a new stadium. We’re going to build you a new indoor hitting facility and a pitching lab,’” Miller said. “And here we are. The stadium is almost complete. The indoor facility will go up this summer.”
With that foundation in place, Miller turned to recruiting.
He described his pitch to players as both honest and modern.
“My pitch now is, what’s your dream school?” Miller said. “Kids say Vanderbilt. Well, Vanderbilt’s not attacking high school kids the way they used to. Mid-majors have become the minor leagues for big schools.”
So he reframed the process.
“I tell them, ‘Give me two years of your life. Let me develop you. And if you’re ready, I’ll call that coach personally and hand you to him on a silver platter.’”
It worked — fast.
“Not only did we have the 19th best recruiting class in the country, we had one of the top portal classes in the country,” Miller said. “I think we sped that five-year plan up quite a number of years.”
Some of the roster is built on loyalty.
One of those players is Chase Swain, who followed Miller through multiple stops and ultimately returned because La Salle was still the dream.
“He called me and said, ‘Coach, this is going to sound crazy, but it’s always been my dream to play at La Salle,’” Miller said. “Next thing you know, I have a .300 hitter coming back to play for me.”
Others came from UConn, College of Charleston, North Carolina, Hartford CC, and overseas. Miller laughs now about the unintended consequences of success.
“You’ll never understand what it’s like being a head coach until you have to replace baseballs,” he said. “They’re $10 a piece. We start with 120 and end with 30 because guys are hitting them onto rooftops. That’s a great problem to have.”
When he thinks about opening day, Miller’s voice softens.
“It’s full circle,” he said. “Grateful. I don’t think anyone ever stopped believing La Salle was going to come back. The alumni have been unbelievable.”
He knows the moment will overwhelm him.
“I hope there aren’t cameras on me,” Miller said. “Because it might be a sad sight seeing a 6-foot-5, 240-pound guy sobbing.”
La Salle baseball returns with a new field, a rebuilt roster, and the same coach who once led it to its peak — now older, more emotional, and determined to finish what was started.
“This is bigger than La Salle,” Miller said. “I’m trying to get Philadelphia to embrace this.”
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