Parkland High School Baseball

The Parkland Trojans wasted no time in getting the offense rolling against the Dieruff Huskies in Allentown on Friday afternoon. Andrew Roth (4-5, 3R, 2B) singled to lead off the first. Cullan Wadsworth followed with one of his two bunt singles (3-5, 2R), and Tyler Bruno (1-3, 3R, 3 RBI, 1 HR) loaded the bases after getting hit by a pitch. Kyle Friebolin (1-3, R, RBI) knocked in the first run with a sacrifice fly. After Austin Mueller (2-3, R, 2RBI, 3B) walked, Matt Mellinger (1-4, 2RBI) roped a single to drive in another run. Christian Burgos (1-4, RBI) kept the train rolling by knocking in a 3rd run with a fielder’s choice ground out.

Taking the mound with a 3- run lead, Ryan Giovenco (4 IP, 2 ER, 9 K) established himself early by striking out the Husky lead-off hitter. Dieruff flashed some hitting power though and scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st to tighten the score.

Christian Kinsley (1-2, R, BB) got a base hit to start the 2nd inning, and later scored on a wild pitch. Roth singled and later scored on Bruno’s RBI fielder’s choice groundout, posting a 5-2 lead for the Trojans. The Huskies replied with another run in the bottom of the 2nd to cut the lead to 5-3.

Neither team scored in the 3rd, but the top of the 4th proved well for Parkland when Wadsworth led off with a beautifully placed bunt single. Bruno followed with a moonshot to deep right field for a 2-run home run. With the score at 7-3, Giovenco navigated through a second-straight, no-run no-hit inning.

Adam Smith (3 IP, 0 ER, 2 K, 0 BB) made his varsity debut on the mound, taking the ball from winning pitcher Giovenco in the 5th. After giving up an unearned run, Smith remained composed enough to retire 8 of the last 9 batters he faced, and securing the save.

The Trojan offense was not finished, however, as Bruno led off the 6th with a walk and stolen base. Friebolin moved the runner to 3rd with a base hit. Mueller proceeded to drive in Bruno and Ethan Imler (courtesy runner) with a stand-up triple to deep right-center field. Mellinger knocked in Mueller with an rbi field’s choice to make the score 10-4. In the 7th, Parkland capped off the scoring when Roth doubled down the line in left and scored on Wadsworth’s rbi single to right.

Congratulations to Coach Weber on his first win as varsity coach of the Parkland baseball team!