Announcement
Trojans Show Grit, but Can't Hold Off Nazareth Bats
The Parkland Trojans showed grit and tenacity against the Nazareth Blue Eagles on a windy Friday afternoon, but came up short in a tough 6 – 3 loss. Sophomore AJ Palumbo (4 IP, 3H, 2 ER, 2 K, 1 BB) took the mound in the divisional matchup, scattering 3 hits and keeping the Blue Eagles off balance with a solid mix of speeds over 4 innings.Neither team could get much going early, but it was the 3rd inning that saw Nazareth strike first for one run. Kyle Novobilski (1-3) answered with a single to left-center, then Andrew Roth (1-3, 1R) reached on an infield error and moved Novobiliski into scoring position, but the runners were left stranded. Nazareth added another run in the 4th after a double by their lead-off batter and a sacrifice fly to deep center to put the score 2-0 moving into the bottom of the 4th.
It was in that bottom of the 4th where the Trojans got on the board after Tyler Bruno (1-3, 1R) hit a laser to right-center for a double, Austin Mueller (1-3) reached base on a fielder’s choice, and Kyle Friebolin (1-3, 2 RBI) put the ball in play to score Bruno from 3rd to cut the lead in half. Moving into the 5th inning, Isaac Neal relieved Palumbo on the mound where Nazareth then loaded the bases on an infield error and two tough walks. Freshman Adam Smith, now in relief, and the Trojan defense picked up their teammate by limiting the Blue Eagles to only one run. Parkland went down in order in the bottom of the 5th, as did Nazareth in the top of the 6th.
In the bottom of the 6th the Trojans showed their resiliency and fight when Roth led off with a single and Mueller hustled out an infield single. John Amato entered as a courtesy runner for Mueller, and used his speed to score behind Roth from first on Friebolin’s clutch, 2-run single to right-centerfield to tie the game at 3 apiece. With the momentum swung to the Parkland bench, Nazareth answered impressively in the top of the 7th, scoring 3 runs on 5 hits to take a commanding 6-3 lead. The Blue Eagles then got the Trojans out in order in the bottom of the 7th to end the game.
