By Sam Bernardi | Posted May 22, 2025
John Donahue, the Seton Hall commit, is a star on the mound and at the plate for the Montgomery High School Varsity team. He has been a team member since his freshman year, and recently broke the school Record of 148 Career Strikeouts!
John Donahue in action on the pitcher's mound.
John and his four brothers and sisters were also blessed with the athletic genes from their parents. He is the son of two former Montgomery standouts and collegiate athletes. His father, Steve, played basketball for Providence, and his mother, Logan, played soccer for Columbia. Both of his older siblings play college basketball, too. His sister, Kay, is at Lafayette College, and his brother, Steve, is at Franklin & Marshall.
That’s not to mention the younger ones, Tim and Anne, who are strong athletes in their own right.
“We play pickup basketball, backyard football, whiffle ball, any sport,” Donahue said. “And I actually have a really good amount of cousins in the town, as well.” “My whole family competes,” Donahue added.
The sports-fueled family has paved the way for Donahue’s success in baseball, where he was once regarded as one of the top catchers in the state. However, Donahue converted from catcher and has been nearly unhittable as a pitcher. He has a career 2.68 ERA and an impressive 120 to 55 strike-out-to- walk ratio.
“One step ahead of the batter is the best place to be,” Donahue said. “I feel like being a former catcher also helped me become a better pitcher.”
John Donahue.
He is no slouch at the plate, either. Through 175 at-bats, Donahue is hitting .314 with a .497 slugging percentage and has added four home runs and 32 RBIs. As a freshman, he absorbed leadership strategies from his older teammates and has grown into one of the most important figures in the program. His understanding of the game has helped him dominate in every facet, and he passes this knowledge down to his younger teammates.
Coach Pete Mueller cherishes Donahue's high-80s four-seamer and devastating knuckle curve. “We’re a young team,” Mueller said. “He’s guiding them on how we do things. How to act, how to handle adversity. He gets them motivated.”
Advertisement
While Donahue is a fierce competitor, he can also become the team’s biggest cheerleader. The way Donahue takes on responsibility for the underclassmen is a testament to his caring demeanor and desire to make everyone around him better.
“He takes a lot of guys into the [batting] cages and works with them independently,” Mueller said. “I’ve seen him there before practice. I’ve seen him there after practice.”
As Donahue closes in on the school strikeouts record, he continues to work on his craft and tries to get the most out of his high school baseball experience. He also plays travel ball, but there is something about that Montgomery camaraderie that makes this final season all the more special. “[The strikeout record] would be great to beat, but I really think less of that. It’s just the big idea of helping my teammates succeed and helping the team succeed,” Donahue said. “I’m sure anybody on my team would also say the same thing.” Even when he could have praised his own resumé and talked about the future at Seton Hall, Donahue deferred to his team and remains focused on the greater good.
