Will McCausland, a former Souderton High ace, aims to follow Jamie Moyer’s path to the majors

On July 14, Will McCausland received one of the most important phone calls of his life.

The Cleveland Guardians were on the line, calling to let the right-handed pitcher know the organization had selected him in the seventh round of the draft.

McCausland is a graduate of Souderton Area High School. The last Souderton alumnus to make it to the big leagues? Former Phillie Jamie Moyer, who pitched in the majors until he was 49.

“I’ll be honest, [draft day] was pretty stressful, but it was awesome,” McCausland said last week. “I was outside with my dad, and I basically just told him that this is an opportunity I’m going to get, and I want to take it.”

McCausland’s path to getting drafted was anything but certain. During his freshman year at Souderton, the Big Red won the state championship, but McCausland played on the freshman team. The next year, he was named the only sophomore varsity starter before the season was wiped out because of COVID-19.

His streak of tough luck didn’t end there. Before McCausland’s junior year, he won one of the team’s two starting pitcher spots only to miss half the season after contracting COVID.

“At that point, it honestly just becomes the love of the game,” McCausland said. “If you have any doubt in your mind whether you really do love baseball or not, you’re probably not going to be able to get through it.”

But McCausland’s patience paid off as a senior. He was virtually unhittable on the mound, pitching to a 0.69 earned run average over 60 innings. More than 60% of McCausland’s outs came via strikeouts.

“Development-wise, I made a jump from my junior to my senior year,” McCausland said. “I was able to be one of the captains on that team, and from there, I learned a lot of leadership skills, which I carried into my time at college.”

“Anytime [Will] stepped on the mound, we were very very confident that we were going to pull off a win that day,” added McCausland’s high school coach, Mike Childs.

» READ MORE: Phillies use 13 of their 20 picks in the MLB draft on college pitchers: ‘It was a good year for it’

McCausland stayed local for college, committing to St. Joseph’s, where Moyer also starred. During his first two collegiate years, he made 29 starts for the Hawks, compiling a 5.09 ERA. While the Souderton alum enjoyed his time at St. Joes, he couldn’t pass up an opportunity to play baseball for a national program.

“To go to the SEC, I know was a goal of his, and he did it. You know, every goal in my opinion that he set for himself, he has made, and to have a kid set those goals and reach them, is very rare,” said Childs. “It just tells you what kind of kid he is, his work ethic, and his determination to meet his goals.”

But it wasn’t always Ole Miss, said McCasuland.

“Ole Miss honestly came into the picture a little bit late in the transfer portal because they were in the process of hiring their pitching coach, Joel Mangrum,” he said. “And I’ll be honest, it took one phone call to be like, I have to play for this dude.”

Transferring to Ole Miss didn’t just constitute a move south for McCausland, it meant a move to the bullpen.

“We had three guys come back, which we didn’t know were going to come back, that ended up being our three starters for the entire year,” McCausland said. “And I told [Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco] that, ‘Hey, don’t think that I can only be a starter because that’s what I did the last two years.’ I just want the ball in the biggest situation.”

During his lone season at Ole Miss, McCausland led the Rebels in appearances with 24. He also posted the fourth-best ERA on the team, ending the season at 4.32. But McCausland’s favorite part of pitching for Ole Miss was the fans.

“At Swayze Field we packed 12,000 a game. It was honestly the coolest experience I’ve ever had playing baseball,” he said.

Although McCausland is leaving Ole Miss to chase his MLB dreams, there will be a good amount of familiarity within the Guardians system. Mangrum worked for the Guardians for six years before joining the Rebels in 2024. Also, McCausland’s St. Joe’s roommate, left-hander Ryan DeSanto, was drafted by Cleveland in the 12th round this year.

“I got a sneak peek last year with Joel,” McCausland said. “But now I have all of these extra resources that a major league team has that honestly just aren’t there in the college game.”

McCausland isn’t certain whether he’ll begin his career with the Guardians as a starter or reliever, but as he sets out to match Moyer’s big league success, he’s ready for either.