Parkland High School Baseball

The Trojans are once again the Champions of the EPC after a 6-3 Victory over Liberty in the EPC Finals. For this type of occassion it is best for the reporting to be left to the professionals and the breakdown below is an exceprt by Stephen Miller of the Morning Call from 5/19/2017 with the full article able to be found via the link:

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-epc-baseball-final-2017-20170519-story.html 

Pitching on the shortest amount of rest he has had this season, Michael Jenkins lacked his typical command. He threw well enough to help Parkland return to the EPC summit. Jenkins tossed five solid innings, cracked two hits and drove in a run, and ended the sixth inning with a defensive gem at third base. Christian Kinsley and Matt Mellinger also had a pair of hits as the second-seeded Trojans beat No. 1 Liberty 6-3 in the EPC baseball final at Hackett Park. Friday's win gave Parkland (16-7 overall) its third league championship in the last four years. The Trojans won the first EPC title in 2015 and the final Lehigh Valley Confer-ence title in 2014.

Jenkins started Friday on three days' rest after firing a three-hit shutout Monday against Northampton in the EPC quarterfinals. He walked two batters in his five in-nings, matching his season total in 54 innings before Friday.Jenkins also limited Liberty to four hits and struck out six. Once he gave the Trojans their second lead with a third-inning sacrifice fly, they stayed ahead to the finish. "I felt good," Jenkins said. "I just wasn't able to locate as best as I have. But you have those days. You just have to rely on your defense, which I can do. They're a great de-fense behind me. They played well today and all year." Mellinger doubled twice and scored a run for Parkland. Kinsley had a single, a double, a run scored and an RBI. The Trojans finished with 11 hits against Liberty pitcher Sam Kraihanzel and Alex Laudenslager.

Parkland senior Harsha Bollu threw two scoreless innings in relief to earn the save and deny Liberty (20-3) a championship. The Hurricanes went 15-1 during EPC regular-season play and carried a 12-game winning streak into Friday. They couldn't string to-gether enough hits to beat the Trojans. "We give credit to them," Liberty coach Andy Pitsilos said. "They played better than us tonight. It's a credit to Parkland." Jenkins said losing to Freedom in last season's EPC semifinals drove Parkland to this point. The Trojans endured some uneven stretches during the regular season, losing three of four games in one span that extended into early May. Parkland also played its typical challenging schedule, with nonleague matchups against Wilson West Lawn and North Penn among the highlights. The Trojans won the EPC Skyline, the area's top division, to prep them for their EPC tournament run this week. "It feels amazing, especially after missing out last year and losing in the semifinals," Jenkins said. "We remembered that loss to Liberty earlier in the year. They're a great club. We really wanted to get them again, and we got them this time." samiller@mcall.com