Parkland High School Baseball

The JV Squad played the tough Liberty team for the 2nd time this year at Parkland’s home field.  The day could not have been any nicer weather- wise and the fans were ready for a pitching dual between Liberty’s Ace and Parkland’s Joe Algard.    With sunny weather and smells of pork egg roll in the air (could this be a new specialty at the coke wagon?) it certainly was a nice day to enjoy a good game. Although the game started differently than expected with Liberty’s leadoff hitter getting a double on the first pitch of the game, Algard got out of the inning after giving up 2 runs in the first.   From there, Joe Algard was impressive in the next innings striking out the number 2 hitter in the 2nd inning on a 9 pitch at bat.  After the 2 singles in the first inning, Joe did not give up another hit until the 6th inning.   In fact, he was fooling the ‘Cane batters with his mix of pitches and high heat.  In the 5th inning he struck out the side.   Parkland on the other hand had trouble getting hits off of the slender, fast pitching Liberty pitcher.   Other than singles by Taiki Horiguchi, Luke Meehan and an infield single by Joe Algard, the Trojans could not muster much damage.

Only a grounder rbi by Owen Lehr to plate CenterfielderTaiki Horiguchi and a deep sacrifice fly rbi by Jake Donmoyer to score the scampering Evan Brandt from 3rd was the only scoring for the Trojans.   When Algard exited the game, he had 6 strikeouts and the game was tied at 2.  Ultimately a couple of key hits and bunts by Liberty created back to back crooked number innings to make the final score 7 to 2.   There was some really nice defensive plays by second baseman James Miskanic.   There was also some nice catches in the outfield by Horiguchi, Donmoyer and Lehr.     In the end, Liberty got the best of the Trojan JV Squad this year but the young Trojan team will look to rebound against Dieruff on Thursday.

The Parkland JV fans definitely agree that it was definitely a pleasant experience at Pleasant Valley as the young JV squad put on one of the best games of the year.  The game started with the thought that maybe the experience wouldn’t be so pleasant when Jake Donmoyer ripped a line drive but the centerfielder didn’t have to move.   One batter and one out.   The Trojans were not able to score in the first.   Starting Pitcher Bryce Ratliff was able to pitch out of a jam in the first with Owen Lehr making a nice running catch in Right Field and then 3b Kevin Santos making the final out on a ground to 3rd.  The Trojans looked like they might start a rally in the 2nd when Owen Lehr ripped a 1 out pitch to left field.   A walk to eagle eyed Joe Algard and then a fielders choice put Lehr at 3b and Andrew Keller at first.  However a close play at first on a grounder by AJ Carpenter ended the inning.  The bottom of the 2nd inning was not as kind as the top of the order for Pleasant Valley could flat out hit.   After 3 runs by the Bears of Pleasant Valley, the Trojans knew that they had to make a comeback if they were to be victorious.   And a comeback it was with one of the better innings of the year for the visitors from Parkland.

Donmoyer laced a ball into centerfield and ran the bases effectively with Taiki Horiguchi at bat.  Then Taiki walked for the 2nd time in 2 at bats followed by a Bryce Ratliff lining another single into centerfield plating Donmoyer and allowingTaiki to get to third.   After a groundout the strong Kevin Santos was able to get nicked by a pitch loaded the bases again.   Owen Lehr then utilized his discerning eye to work an rbi bases loaded walk to score another run.   The crowd was getting excited and the players were hooping and hollering.   Joe Algard then came to bat.   Joe has been a total team player all year playing wherever needed.   In this game he started at Shortstop but then moved to Center when he was called.  When he was asked to make an impact at bat with the bases loaded, he didjust that.   He made sure the pitch by the Pleasant Valley pitcher create some sort of impact with him as the ball ever so lightly touched him creating another rbi for the young slugger.   Did it hurt Joe?   We don’t know,  but we know he felt good running to first with the game tying rbi!   The inning wasn’t over as Freshman second baseman Andrew Keller had his breakout game ofthe season    After a first at bat where a sharp line drive barely missed the foul line for an rbi, Andrew got a clutch line drive single to left center that drove in another run.   With the infield now playing up, the wise AJ Carpenter strategically hit the ball just to the left of the 3rd baseman and Owen Lehr was able to score.    Finally, leadoff batter Jake Donmoyer hit a fly to center for the 2nd out, but the speedy Algard, who quickly recovered from being hit by a pitch easily outran the throw to home from the centerfielder…..and wow, Parkland just scored 6 runs to take a 6 to 3 lead.

James Miskanic came in the game to pitch and he ended up pitching the 5 final innings.   He was really effective as he mixed up his pitches and Pleasant Valley was not able to see the slow curve ball from Miskanic after a fastball from the young hurler.   Miskanic ended up with 6 strikeouts and only 2 earned runs in his 5 innings of pitching.    Parkland needed James to nail it down and he did because after the 6 run inning in the 3rd, only singles by Lehr and Keller in the next 2 innings were the only hits given up by the PV Starter.   Andrew Keller ripped his 2nd shot of the game to centerfield but a well played grab by the shortstop provided a 6 to 4 to 3 double play, hence the rally ended quickly.  The 6th inning showed how their hustle in recent games was going to be a difference maker.   When Ratliff hit a texas league like ball to short right center, Bryce took off for 2nd base which caught the PV team by total surprise.  The crafty running by Ratliff enabled Parkland to score again as Luke Meehan’s line drive slicing double to left center scored the 7th and final run for the team.  The ball was a screecher that surprised the leftfielder as it 2 hopped to the fence. After that, for the most part James was able to pitch effectively withthe strikeouts as well as fielding his position well.    A couple of really nice running catches bythe gliding Joe Algard in Centerfield helped to thwart any chance of a Pleasant Valley rally.   In the 7th AJ Carpenter roped a ball to left center for a double but was unable to score.   Miskanic then got the Bears to go out 1…2…3to help Parkland get a win in Pleasant Valley.  It was a nice game for the Trojans with some timely and line drive hitting, some solid defense and some great hustle.   The win made the long bus ride home a lot more fun and the hoagies and chips tasted a lot better.   Next game is Northampton as the Trojans lookto stay hot at the Northampton field at 1pm on Saturday.  

The Mountain Division leading Pleasant Valley Bears made the long trip to Allentown to take on the Skyline Division leading Parkland Trojans.  The game ended up being a pitcher’s duel with Parkland’s Alex Oliver getting the win and Josh Miiller finishing up for the save as the Trojans shut out Pleasant Valley 3-0.   Oliver was impressive in his first start of the year as he struck out four and allowed only three hits over 5.1 innings.  Miiller didn’t allow a hit and struck out two over the final 1.2 innings.

A first inning RBI single my Matthew Ervolina drove in Blake Barthol, who doubled, to open the scoring for the Trojans.  In the second inning, George Jenkins singled and eventually scored on a passed ball after advancing to third on an Adam Smith single and Phil Schoch flyout. Smith scored on some sloppy defense and the Trojans would finish the scoring for the day in the second inning.

Barthol and Ervolina each had two hits for the Trojans on a day where they could only manage eight total hits.  The Pleasant Valley pitcher was effective on the day, striking out five Trojans and allowing only one earned run while pitching a complete game. 

In an early start to the 4pm game at Freedom, many fans were still evaluating whether they should take Rt 22, Rt 378 or a combination of Schoenersville, Linden or any other number of ways as the first pitch was thrown.   Thank goodness for WAZE as the arrivals started to come in clusters.  As the Trojan fans came they were delighted when they saw a bright “5”on the scoreboard for the visitors.  “What Happened” people asked?  Well, they could not have started any hotter.   A Jake Donmoyer single to left started it all, followed by hard hit ball down the 3rd base line by Joe Algard that was unable to be cleanly fielded that 3rd baseman and the rally was just beginning.   A perfectly placed bunt down the 3rd base line by Bryce Ratliff got the bases loaded.   The kids were energized, hollering enthusiastic applause for their Trojan Teammates.   After a couple of outs, there was concern.   Would this potential big rally die too quickly?   Well Owen Lehr worked a bases loaded rbi walk to get things started.  Then the tall first baseman, AJ Carpenter slashed a single to left field knocking in 2 more runs.  Then the clutch hitting of Taiki Horiguchi occurred as he casually placed a ball halfway between the center and right fielders to plate 2 more Trojans.   There you have it….5 runs in the first.  

With one knowledgable parent reporting that Owen Lehr was feeling good prior to the game, the first inning could not have gone better.   Even with an unusually low pitching mound, Owen was able to fool the leadoff hitter into a grounder to first and that play by Carpenter who nicely flipped the ball to the Pitcher while in stride was a good predictor of how the game would go.   A 1….2….3 inning was a good start for the Red and Gray.   However, the offense couldn’t do much more and the 2nd inning had some unmagical things happen with each batted ball taking unusual directions to fool the Parkland infielders and Pitcher.   3 runs were ultimately scored when no hit ball went further than the middle of the infield dirt, but slightly deflected gloved balls gave Freedom the momentum they were hoping for in this battle.    The 5 to 3 score stayed on the scoreboard for each of the succeeding innings.  It started to feel like Parkland Baseball as the weather started getting nice and the team was starting to play some really good defense.   A pitchers best friends are the double play combination behind him.    In 2 innings, Lehr was able to induce double play ground balls that Bryce Ratliff flip to James Miskanic and a strong throw to AJ Carpenter was a thing of beauty to end each inning.    The kids were getting excited with positive vibes being heard throughout the stadium.   However, the only clean hit by Parkland in the final 6 innings was a sharp line drive to left center field by Luke Meehan. 

There were many key plays made by all the players in the game and catcher Luke Meehan was solid behind the plate.   With the close game, each hit ball became a key play in the game.   After 5 successful innings pitched and no earned runs Owen Lehr would root for his teammate in the final 2 innings.  He pitched well with more than 70% pitches for strikes  Although Mariano Rivera had the most multi-inning saves in the last 3 decades with 109, Trojan JV hurler, Ty Tremba got his first in just his 3rd outing this year.   Tremba was magnificent in getting all 6 batters out in the 2 innings he faced for the multi-inning save.   Ty was lights out as his fastball had some extra zip against the 8 win and 2 loss Freedom Patriots.

The team looked good, the players were energized and it was a nice win for the young Trojan team, trying to find their stride!

Can you say Streak?  Well, after a game where it looked like Parkland was going to take the lead versus Easton until the weather stopped the game prior to it being declared complete and after a nice win against the high scoring Freedom team, the Trojans knew that they were in for a battle against highly rated Hazleton.    The lefty from Hazleton had some good publicity about him and he looked like he would be difficult to hit against.   However, the game turned out to be one of the more enjoyable games of the year.   Starting pitcher Bryce Ratliff pitched as if he had a “fast pass” to get through each inning.   His low pitch count for the beginnings helped to drive this magical performance.  Bryce was constantly around the plate and let his strong defense cast behind him make all the plays.   Ratliff pitched the entire 7 innings on this fast paced game.   He only gave up 2 hits and 0 earned runs in Parkland’s resounding 9 to 1 win over Hazleton.   The game started off as it would be a tight game as the hard throwing lefty from the Mountain City was almost out of the inning with 2 outs and one walk.  However, Luke Meehan was a hitting machine today.   I don’t know if is that Luke’s bat gets hot when the weather gets hot or that he just hits well against lefty’s but h echanged the complexion of the game with a shot to right center field to score the swift Taiki Horiguchi.    One run was nice, but Kevin Santos wanted more and his line drive to right put 2 runners on board with the hope for more.   A walk toTy Tremba followed by a single to left by Will Meeker gave the Trojans a comfortable 3 to 0 lead.   The way that Ratliff was pitching, this is all he needed.   

Just about every starter for Trojans got at least one hit with several getting 2.  Tremba, Donmoyer, Meeker, Ratliff (2 hits with a double), Santos (2 hits), Meehan (2hits) all having nice games  After 3 innings of play they knocked out the lefty so Hazleton went to the bullpen and then the team really kept on hitting.  Luke Meehan crushed a ball over the left fielders head and not many parks could contained this hit.   Several notable observers said that the ball would have gone over the Varsity fence.    Others said that only Yellowstone and the JV field could have contained this shot to left.    The hit got the team excited.   The 3rd ball he hit was further but the leftfielder was playing so deep he was able to easily track the next deep ball that the freshmen hit.    The defense was really solid as right fielder Andrew Nguyen made 3 nice catches and Taiki Horiguchi controlled everything in center.  Left Fielder Jake Donmoyer controlled left and caught a ball as well as  driving in a run late in the game.    The team was hotter than they have been all year and the team looks to be gelling as the season hits its prime.

The Trojan 9 is starting to look good, have fun and win some games.   With 4 games next week, it will be another competitive week for the Trojans.