Parkland High School Baseball

Connor Higgins is the 2015 Morning Call Pitcher of the Year.  Higgins had an outstanding year on the mound for the Trojans earning a record of 10-0.  The ace of the Trojan pitching staff, Higgins led the team to their record breaking season of 27 wins that included two championships, the 2015 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Champions and District XI Champions, as well as a semifinalist in the PIAA state playoffs.  His ten wins is the all-time single season record for most wins by a Parkland pitcher.  The Pitcher of the Year award caps off a tremendously successful season for Higgins that adds to his list of honors for his dominant 2015 performance.  In addition to also being named to the Morning Call’s All-Area 1^st Team, he was selected to the Express Times/Lehighvallylive.com All-Area 1^st team, and he was named to the 2015 EPC All-Conference Team by the EPC coaches. 

With his 0.71 ERA and 72 strikeouts, both third on the Trojan all-time single season leader board, Higgins was nearly untouchable all season.  He pitched 4 complete games along with two shutouts.  He tossed 59.1 innings during the season and faced 237 batters, yet only allowed two hits for extra bases.  He started 20 of those 59.1 innings with a lead off strikeout and had 25 innings where he retired hitters in order in 1-2-3 fashion.  If that wasn’t impressive enough, opponents batted a mere .148 when Higgins was on the hill this season. 

Higgins had several notable performances on the mound this season and he wasted no time leading the team to victories when the season finally got underway in April after weeks of inclement weather in March.  In the season opener against Dieruff, Higgins was part of a no-hitter with his teammates Evan McAndrew and Alec Bartholomew.  Higgins struck out the first six batters of that game and went on to toss five no-hit innings with 12 strikeouts.  He was essentially perfect through his first five innings of work on the season as the only hitter to reach base was due to a Parkland fielding error.  Against Pleasant Valley, he pitched four scoreless innings with 7 strikeouts, and Higgins pitched a four-hit complete game shutout against Easton with 11 strikeouts.

Higgins continued pitching in dominant fashion into the Parkland postseason.  He was 3-0 during the postseason and was on the mound for key playoff games.  He pitched a complete game with six strikeouts for the win in the District XI championship game against Easton for Parkland’s third consecutive District XI championship.  Not only did Parkland win three District titles in a row for the first time in school history, but Higgins had the unique experience of playing a pivotal role in winning two of those championship games.  In addition to his complete game victory in this year’s game, he pitched 2 and 2/3 innings of shutout relief with four strikeouts to earn the save in the 2013 District XI championship win over Whitehall.  In the PIAA State quarterfinal this season, Higgins pitched a complete game with six strikeouts for the win against Council Rock North, holding a powerful lineup to only one run on three hits. 

For his varsity career, Higgins is the Parkland all-time leader in strikeouts and ERA with 152 K’s and an impressively low 0.66 ERA in 117.1 career innings pitched.  His 16 career wins on the mound is second best all-time for Parkland.  Connor will continue his baseball career at Arizona State University.