Announcement
The Parkland JV fans definitely agree that it was definitely a pleasant experience at Pleasant Valley as the young JV squad put on one of the best games of the year. The game started with the thought that maybe the experience wouldn’t be so pleasant when Jake Donmoyer ripped a line drive but the centerfielder didn’t have to move. One batter and one out. The Trojans were not able to score in the first. Starting Pitcher Bryce Ratliff was able to pitch out of a jam in the first with Owen Lehr making a nice running catch in Right Field and then 3b Kevin Santos making the final out on a ground to 3rd. The Trojans looked like they might start a rally in the 2nd when Owen Lehr ripped a 1 out pitch to left field. A walk to eagle eyed Joe Algard and then a fielders choice put Lehr at 3b and Andrew Keller at first. However a close play at first on a grounder by AJ Carpenter ended the inning. The bottom of the 2nd inning was not as kind as the top of the order for Pleasant Valley could flat out hit. After 3 runs by the Bears of Pleasant Valley, the Trojans knew that they had to make a comeback if they were to be victorious. And a comeback it was with one of the better innings of the year for the visitors from Parkland.
Donmoyer laced a ball into centerfield and ran the bases effectively with Taiki Horiguchi at bat. Then Taiki walked for the 2nd time in 2 at bats followed by a Bryce Ratliff lining another single into centerfield plating Donmoyer and allowingTaiki to get to third. After a groundout the strong Kevin Santos was able to get nicked by a pitch loaded the bases again. Owen Lehr then utilized his discerning eye to work an rbi bases loaded walk to score another run. The crowd was getting excited and the players were hooping and hollering. Joe Algard then came to bat. Joe has been a total team player all year playing wherever needed. In this game he started at Shortstop but then moved to Center when he was called. When he was asked to make an impact at bat with the bases loaded, he didjust that. He made sure the pitch by the Pleasant Valley pitcher create some sort of impact with him as the ball ever so lightly touched him creating another rbi for the young slugger. Did it hurt Joe? We don’t know, but we know he felt good running to first with the game tying rbi! The inning wasn’t over as Freshman second baseman Andrew Keller had his breakout game ofthe season After a first at bat where a sharp line drive barely missed the foul line for an rbi, Andrew got a clutch line drive single to left center that drove in another run. With the infield now playing up, the wise AJ Carpenter strategically hit the ball just to the left of the 3rd baseman and Owen Lehr was able to score. Finally, leadoff batter Jake Donmoyer hit a fly to center for the 2nd out, but the speedy Algard, who quickly recovered from being hit by a pitch easily outran the throw to home from the centerfielder…..and wow, Parkland just scored 6 runs to take a 6 to 3 lead.
James Miskanic came in the game to pitch and he ended up pitching the 5 final innings. He was really effective as he mixed up his pitches and Pleasant Valley was not able to see the slow curve ball from Miskanic after a fastball from the young hurler. Miskanic ended up with 6 strikeouts and only 2 earned runs in his 5 innings of pitching. Parkland needed James to nail it down and he did because after the 6 run inning in the 3rd, only singles by Lehr and Keller in the next 2 innings were the only hits given up by the PV Starter. Andrew Keller ripped his 2nd shot of the game to centerfield but a well played grab by the shortstop provided a 6 to 4 to 3 double play, hence the rally ended quickly. The 6th inning showed how their hustle in recent games was going to be a difference maker. When Ratliff hit a texas league like ball to short right center, Bryce took off for 2nd base which caught the PV team by total surprise. The crafty running by Ratliff enabled Parkland to score again as Luke Meehan’s line drive slicing double to left center scored the 7th and final run for the team. The ball was a screecher that surprised the leftfielder as it 2 hopped to the fence. After that, for the most part James was able to pitch effectively withthe strikeouts as well as fielding his position well. A couple of really nice running catches bythe gliding Joe Algard in Centerfield helped to thwart any chance of a Pleasant Valley rally. In the 7th AJ Carpenter roped a ball to left center for a double but was unable to score. Miskanic then got the Bears to go out 1…2…3to help Parkland get a win in Pleasant Valley. It was a nice game for the Trojans with some timely and line drive hitting, some solid defense and some great hustle. The win made the long bus ride home a lot more fun and the hoagies and chips tasted a lot better. Next game is Northampton as the Trojans lookto stay hot at the Northampton field at 1pm on Saturday.
