Parkland High School Baseball

The 2015 Parkland Trojan baseball season came to an end today as the Trojans fell to Wyoming Valley West by a score of 5-1 in the PIAA state semifinal played at Pine Grove.  Despite the disappointment of the loss, the 2015 Parkland baseball team has plenty to celebrate as the team amassed a record of 27-2, shattering the all-time record for most wins by a Parkland high school baseball team.  In addition, they won the inaugural Eastern Pennsylvania Conference title for their second conference championship in a row, and they won the District XI championship for the third consecutive year.

The Trojans struggled early in the game against WVW today collecting only one base hit through four innings of play.  They did have plenty of opportunities in the last three innings of the game, but could not get the clutch hits when needed.  On the other side, WVW batters hit the ball well up and down the lineup.  After taking a 1-0 lead in the 2^nd inning, WVW got a 2-run homer in the 3^rd inning to take a 3-0 lead.  WVW tacked on two more runs in the 5^th inning for a comfortable 5-0 lead putting the Trojans' backs up against the wall heading into the 6^th inning.

Justin Afflerbach (1-4) singled in the first inning, but the Trojans would not collect another base hit until the 5^th inning when Evan McAndrew (1-3) singled and the Trojans showed a little life.  Rhett Jacoby (0-2, BB) then walked to put runners on first and second base with one out in the inning.  However, the Trojans could not take advantage of the situation and stranded both base runners.  The same thing happened in the 6^th inning when the Trojans again put runners on first and second base with one out after Afflerbach reached base on an error and Chris Rabasco (1-3) singled.  Again, another missed scoring opportunity. 

Starting pitcher Jacoby worked five innings allowing 5 runs on nine base hits and no walks, while striking out two.  Connor Higgins came on to pitch in relief in the 6^th inning and retired all three batters he faced, including two by strikeout. 

Down 5-0 in the top of the 7^th inning with two outs and no runners on base, the Trojans refused to die quietly.  Pinch hitter Harrison Rabenold (1-1, R), down 1-2 in the count, singled to left-center to keep the Trojans alive.  Andrew Roth (0-2, BB) then took a 4-pitch walk to put runners on first and second.  Jeff Strisovsky (1-4, RBI), who made a diving catch to end the 4^th inning and prevent another WVW run from scoring, came to the plate and lined a single to centerfield to score Rabenold and cut the WVW lead to 5-1.  With the tying run on-deck, the Trojans could not keep the rally alive as a ground out off the bat of Afflerbach ended the game for the 5-1 loss.  Congratulations to the 2015 Parkland Trojan players and coaches on a very successful season!