PC Softball Coach Earns 400th Win

Penn Charter softball coach Donald "Doc" Mittica earned his 400th win with the Quakers in a 4-2 victory over Springside Chestnut Hill on May 7. At the conclusion of Friday's home game, PC players and assistant coaches presented Mittica with a celebratory banner and posed for team photos to mark the occasion.

Mittica, a practicing chiropractor based in Lafayette Hill, has been head coach of PC's softball program since its inception in 1992. During that time, he has led the Quakers to nine Inter-Ac League championships and five Pennsylvania Independent School Athletics Association (PAISAA) state championships, accruing an overall record of 401-174-1 with the team.

Assistant coach Gab Tareila cites Mittica's decades-long experience, knowledge of the game and rapport with players as foundational to his success as a coach. "He really gets to know the girls, so he understands their personalities and their strengths and weaknesses. He helps the whole team fit together."

Mittica's connections to Penn Charter run deep, with two sons who graduated from PC in the early 2000s and two grandchildren currently enrolled in the Lower School. Mittica himself has made appearances in PC science classes from pre-K to Upper School, guest lecturing on anatomy and physiology. Outside Penn Charter, Mittica coached softball for a USA Softball travel team in the early 2000s and at Conestoga High School, where he taught biology in the 1970s.

After a 2020 season lost to the pandemic, the Quakers returned to competition this March for the first time since a fiery 2019 season in which they won the Inter-Ac undefeated and took home the PAISAA state title. The team is 5-4 overall and 4-2 in the Inter-Ac so far this season, led by senior captains Abby Brown, Neilee Koslosky and Averie Schnupp.