When Gabe Mosser took the mound at Coca-Cola Park last Thursday night, it was not the first time he had pitched from that mound.

As a high school pitcher with the Parkland Trojans, Mosser pitched in a district championship game and two regular season games at the home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

This time, though, Mosser had even more on his mind than a district title as he made his third Triple-A start with the IronPigs, who he signed with during the offseason.

“I wouldn’t say it was as much nerves as it was excitement,” said Mosser of Thursday’s start. “I had a lot of family in attendance, so it was pretty cool. I was excited to get out there.”

After being a Trojan, Mosser moved on to be a Raider at Shippensburg University. The San Diego Padres kept an eye on Mosser and put him through a couple of pre-draft workouts. After the first day of the draft, the Padres called Mosser and told him to get ready to hear his name on day two.

It took until the 27th round, but the Padres finally selected Mosser.

The next step was to become a Dust Devil when he was assigned to Tri-City in the Northwest League.

Mosser continued to move up through the Padres system but hit a pair of obstacles because of COVID in 2020 and needing Tommy John surgery in 2022.

“It was kind of a ticking time bomb,” said Mosser of the elbow issues. “I had PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma therapy) in 2019 for a partial tear, and then in 2021 I was on and off the IL. It was a long time coming, so I was prepared for it. It was a grind to go through, but you just have to trust the process.”

After returning from the surgery, Mosser continued his ascent through the system, and reached Triple-A El Paso last season, going 7-7 with a 5.40 ERA. Following the season, Mosser became a minor league free agent, which opened the door for him to join the Phillies organization.

“My agent reached out to them, and they were interested, and I thought it was a good spot for me to go from being on the west coast the whole time. It gave me the chance to come back east and be able to stay at home, so it was a good pick for me,” said Mosser of the decision to join the Phillies organization even though it meant starting the season with Double-A Reading.

In his first two starts with Lehigh Valley, which came on the road, Mosser allowed six earned runs in nine innings.

Mosser allowed a single and a home run to the first two Worcester hitters but settled in from there to retire the next six batters. After a double and a one-out walk in the third inning, the 29-year-old got a double play and again set Worcester down in order in the fourth and fifth innings.

Mosser opened the sixth inning with back-to-back walks before retiring Vaughn Grissom and ended his day after 82 pitches — 50 of which were strikes.

Looking back at his time with Parkland, Mosser remembers those days well and has stayed in touch with some of his teammates. The Trojans won district championships in his junior and senior seasons, but Mosser didn’t get much offensive support and lost 1-0 and 2-1 games in the opening round of states in successive seasons.

Looking ahead, Mosser does allow himself to think about what might be down the road for him.

“Of course, it’s (pitching in the majors) always in the back of my mind, but you have to stay in the present,” noted Mosser. “God has a plan for everything, so you just have to stick with the process.”

BUSY BUDDY … Buddy Kennedy was a busy man in Saturday night’s game. IronPigs pitchers got 17 ground ball outs with nine of them being hit to Kennedy at third. Not only did Kennedy handle all nine, but made a pair of highlight plays in the eighth inning to prevent extra base hits.

FOUR AND GO … The Phillies are preparing Andrew Painter for the rigors of pitching in a major league rotation, so for the first time in his career, the 22-year-old pitched on just four days rest rather than five — or more. It’s likely that Painter will make his next start against Rochester at Coca-Cola Park on Friday. Painter threw 72 pitches – 47 strikes – in five innings of work and allowed just one hit and two walks while striking out six on Sunday.

M*A*S*H … The IronPigs trainers have been busy. Justin Crawford missed seven games with a quad injury before returning on Saturday. Garrett Stubbs left Tuesday night’s game early after taking a foul ball to his groin and also sat out Wednesday night’s game before returning Thursday. Outfielder Cal Stevenson missed a game after crashing into the fence in the finale in Charlotte last Sunday. Pitcher Austin Schulfer was placed on the IL with shoulder discomfort as well.

THE COUNTDOWN … Scoreboard watching is popular these days for Lehigh Valley (46-23) and Jacksonville (43-26). The two teams are battling for the first half championship in the International League. The first-half champion gets to host all three games of the IL championship in September against the second-half winner with the victor in that series advancing to the Triple-A Championship in Las Vegas. Currently, the magic number for the IronPigs to clinch stands at four with six games left to play. Jacksonville beat Rochester on Sunday to sweep its six-game series and hand the Red Wings their 12th straight loss. Jacksonville has swept three six-game series in the first half. Rochester visits Lehigh Valley this week for a six-game series.