From a DIY pitcher’s mound to Harvard, Pennsbury’s Callan Fang got his groove back

Callan Fang looked hesitant on the mound. His pitches weren’t up to snuff. Then, midway through a preseason scrimmage in Myrtle Beach, S.C., he let loose.

It was only the second time the Pennsbury senior had stepped onto a mound in a live game since his freshman season.

“It’s kind of like you’re releasing your breath after holding it for so long,” Pennsbury coach Joe Pesci said. “You see the switch kind of flips where maybe he’s not throwing as hard, then all of sudden, you see him turn up the volume and let go a little bit. It’s just a total exhale where you could see all his confidence flushing back.”

Fang played his final high school game Monday, a 9-6 loss to La Salle in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament. After four years absent a dull moment, Fang is committed to play at Harvard in the fall.

The 6-foot-3 right-hander arrived at Pennsbury in the fall of 2018 having already made a name for himself.

At 14 years old, he won the MLB Pitch, Hit & Run national competition, tearing through his age group (13-14) from the local level and sectionals to represent the Phillies at the 2018 All-Star Game at Nationals Park in Washington.

The annual contest gives kids a chance to tally points by hitting off a tee, pitching at a target, then running the length of two bases.

“That experience was pretty surreal,” Fang said. “It was a crazy experience at such a young age, but I’m grateful for it. The winners were recognized [on the field], then we got to shag fly balls for the Home Run Derby.”

While Pesci was excited about Fang enrolling at Pennsbury over a local private school, he remembers the freshman pitching only one varsity inning.

Fang joined the Philly Bandits travel team that summer. Harvard’s pitching coach took notice of him at a tournament in Flemington, N.J., inviting him to a camp in January 2020. Fang committed to the Crimson 10 months later.

He was vying for chances to work on his three-pitch arsenal — a fastball, changeup, and curveball — as a college-committed sophomore without a season because of the pandemic.

Rather than constantly driving to find an open field, he and his father, Jeff, who pitched at Johns Hopkins (1989-92) and later was inducted into its athletic Hall of Fame, took matters into their own hands. A bit of internet research and handiwork led to a do-it-yourself pitcher’s mound in their backyard.

“We got wood from the store and cut it sort of like a sandbox so there are walls on each side,” Fang said. “Then we filled the bottom layer with dirt and bought baseball mound clay to layer on top. It’s pretty legit.”

The at-home mound afforded the chance to throw several times a week with his father sitting on a stool wearing a catcher’s mask and glove.

Fang’s next live outing came against New Hope-Solebury on March 29, 2021. He threw one inning, and, in Pesci’s words, it “went really bad.”

Doctors later diagnosed Fang with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. The injury did not require surgery but relegated him to being the Falcons’ designated hitter for the remainder of his junior season.

“It wasn’t a severe injury, but he was never really injured before,” Pesci said. “It was enough of an injury that nobody wanted to risk doing more damage. So it made a lot more sense to shut him down.”

Fang struggled with the mental challenges of being limited to the DH — mainly how much time he spent on the bench between at-bats. That didn’t stop him from making the 2021 All-Suburban One League first team, one of two Pennsbury representatives along with outfielder Charlie Evans.

But he was back pitching as a senior, and last month, in picking up a win against Souderton at districts that clinched a berth for Pennsbury to the state tournament, he struck out 14 batters over 6⅔ innings.

At his camps with younger players, Pesci loves discussing the success of his Pennsbury players and those planning to play in college.

“Callan is going to play baseball and go to the most famous college of all time because he’s a really smart kid and took care of business academically,” he said. “So I get to use him in that capacity for my own program, but he’s an incredible kid.”

Fang said baseball has always been about enjoying the small moments with his team, away from fanfare — particularly as he approached his final high school outing.

His favorite story involves a superstitious routine with Pesci’s 9-year-old son, Mac, who’s the team’s batboy.

“My son brings three snack bags of Goldfish and has to share them with Callan,” Pesci said. “So really my wife is buying Goldfish for Callan Fang, and my son is just the delivery boy. But I’ve never met somebody who had a negative thing to say about him.”