Announcement
Parkland Wins LVC North Division Title; Shuts Out Nazareth 7-0
The Parkland Trojans claimed the LVC North Division Title with a 7-0 shutout victory over Nazareth in the regular season finale. This is the eighth shutout victory for the Trojan pitching staff this season. Parkland now moves on to the LVC playoffs slated to begin May 13.
Three Trojans pitchers combined for the one-hit shutout with a total of ten strikeouts. Starting pitcher Connor Higgins worked four innings for the win, allowing the lone Nazareth base hit while walking two batters and striking out three. Gabe Mosser pitched the 5th and 6th innings retiring all six batters he faced in order, including striking out the last five batters in a row. One of those strikeouts did reach first base on a dropped third strike, but Mosser quickly erased the base runner with a pick off. Mosser reached a varsity career milestone with his 100th strikeout. Chris Rabasco pitched the 7th inning and retired the three batters he faced in order, including two strikeouts.
Trojan hitters collected 11 hits today, including 5 doubles. Parkland jumped to a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning of play. Alex Flynn (2-for-2, two 2B, 2 BB, RBI, 2 runs) and Jeff Strisovsky (0-for-2, BB, run) reached base on back-to-back walks. Rabasco (3-for-4, two 2B, RBI, run) doubled to right field to score Flynn. Back-to-back sacrifice flys by Zach Miiller (1-for-3, sac fly, RBI, run) and Zach Merkle (2-for-3, 2B, sac fly, 3 RBI) plated Strisovsky and Rabasco for the 3-0 lead. In the 4th inning, Flynn hit an RBI double to make it 4-0. Parkland added two more runs in the 5th inning when Miiller singled followed by an RBI double by Merkle. Hudson Rabenold (1-for-2, BB, RBI) then singled to drive in pinch runner Andrew Roth for the 6-0 Parkland lead after five innings of play. Parkland added their final run in the 6th inning when Flynn hit his second double of the day and later scored on a Merkle RBI single. Rhett Jacoby was 1-for-2 at the plate today with a walk and Harrison Rabenold added a pinch hit single in the 7th inning. The Trojans end the regular season with a 15-5 record.
