The Philadelphia Phillies have been an October powerhouse, but their path to the Fall Classic has been anything but stress-free since April.

Local fans like Stanley “Porky” Szczecina, 80, of Summit Hill have taken that roller coaster ride right along with the team and will be hanging with every pitch when Aaron Nola toes the mound against Houston in Game 1 on Friday night.

Like many Phillies fans, Szczecina wasn’t overly optimistic heading into the season following a decade without a playoff appearance.

“They were losing, then Joe Girardi got fired and Bryce Harper got hurt and it was just, here we go again,” Szczecina said. “But they brought up a couple of kids who were filling in nice and they started winning some games. When the key players came back, they started really playing well and even looked like a team who could make the playoffs.”

Szczecina’s optimism grew and he let it show during his almost daily trips to John Gawlik’s auto repair shop across from Ludlow Park in Summit Hill where he banters with his buddies.

“A bunch of us old guys were hanging out and I decided I’d wear my 2008 Phillies world champions shirt,” Szczecina said. “John Gawlik looked at me and shook his head. No way, he said, they’re not going to make the playoffs.”

Only the Phillies did sneak in the postseason and Szczecina kept wearing his attire to the garage. The friendly ribbing, however, continued.

“First it was St. Louis and they said oh they’re never going to beat the Cardinals,” Szczecina said. “Then it was the Braves and they were the defending champs and won over 100 games so the Phillies were never going to win that series. Then came the Padres and the Phillies could never win a seven-game series. All of the sudden that Phillies shirt from the last World Series that I wore started making a little sense because they actually got there.”

How did Szczecina celebrate the Phillies’ National League Championship Series win? On a rainy Monday morning, he was outside his Summit Hill home in a Bryce Harper jersey holding an umbrella as he waved and greeted motorists passing by.

Heading into Game 1, Szczecina is walking with a confident swagger as he heads to Gawlik’s garage.

“I was just down there today and John asked what I thought about the World Series,” he said on Thursday. “I gave him the thumbs up.”

Like Szczecina, West Penn Township resident Brad Nevenglosky’s love of the Phillies stems from trips to games as a young man, a passion he’s handed down to his 17-year-old daughter Amaya. Nevenglosky and Amaya were in attendance at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday night when the Phillies clinched a trip the World Series.

“I’ve been to other Phillies playoff games, Eagles games the year they won the Super Bowl and Sixers games, but I’ve never been part of anything like Sunday night in that stadium,” Nevenglosky, who grew up in Summit Hill, said. “I tried to take a video after the last out and the phone was just shaking. The best part was being able to share such a euphoric moment with Amaya.”

Nevenglosky has paid his Philly sports fan dues, watching some of his first live baseball games with his dad from the famed 700-level of Veterans Stadium in the mid-1980s. He recalls cheering for guys like Tug McGraw and Mike Schmidt, who helped develop his passion for the Phillies.

“My dad would take me to games or I would sit at home with him on a Sunday afternoon watching the game,” he said. “To this day, I still try to take him down to at least one game a year.”

Three years ago, Nevenglosky took Amaya to a game at Citizens Bank Park and she instantly fell in love with the team and the sport.

The duo will be right back at Citizens Bank Park for Game 4 of the World Series, where they hope to make more memories.

“I’ve been a season-ticket holder for a few years and I was lucky enough to be chosen in the lottery to have the opportunity to buy World Series tickets at face value,” he said.

Hopes are high for Nevenglosky as the World Series kicks off tonight. He sees a lot of similarities between this team and the last one from Philly to win a championship.

“When the Eagles won, nobody gave them a chance against Tom Brady and I think the Phillies are facing some of that as well,” he said. “I think the Phillies are an amazing team and have a much better shot than people are giving them credit for. There is nobody hotter right now and I would want not want to be playing them.”

Dave Morgan of West Penn Township grew up in Philadelphia as an Athletics fan. When the Athletics moved to Kansas City, he changed to the Phillies.

As an elementary student, he ran home from school during the 1950 World Series to listen to the game on the radio. “We didn’t have a TV and all the games were played during the day then.”

He was at the 1980 World Series and collects all kinds of memorabilia, including a photo of the stadium with names of all the players through the years: Richie Ashburn, Lenny Dykstra, Darren Daulton and more.

“I’ve been through it all, with good teams and bad teams,” Morgan said.