From The Morning Call

Parkland stormed back from a six-run deficit 4 1/2 innings into the second 4A semifinal Thursday to stun No. 6 Northampton 8-6. Andy Brandstetter's two-run single in the bottom of the sixth brought home the winning runs for the Trojans, who scored four runs each in the fifth and sixth innings.

ANDREW KULP of Parkland has been voted The Morning Call's Varsity Web page player of the week. The pitcher improved to 7-0 by holding Emmaus to three runs as the Trojans won their third straight Lehigh Valley Conference baseball title. He received about two-thirds of the 2,076 votes in the unscientific poll.

Parkland High School defeats Emmaus 4-3 to win the Lehigh Valley Conference baseball title

COPLAY | Dan Klem dove to his right, gloved a hard ground ball, jumped to his feet and fired a strike across the diamond for the final out.

Parkland High School baseball coach Tony Galucy called it fitting that Klem, his senior shortstop who is a four-year starter and captain, was the hero of the Trojans' Lehigh Valley Conference championship game win.  Third-seeded Parkland opened a four-run lead and held on to knock off No. 1 Emmaus 4-3 Friday at Sammy Balliet Stadium.

The conference title is the third in a row for the Trojans, who improved to 16-6 entering next week's District 11 tournament.  What was an anti-climatic contest for five innings turned into a drama-fest for the final three outs.

Emmaus (17-3) scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning and put runners on second and third with two outs. No. 2 hitter Kyle Gable then cracked a hard ground ball into the hole at shortstop. Klem made an outstanding diving stab and then finished the play with a strong, accurate throw to get the speedy Gable by a step.  Game over.

"My first thought was to knock it down to stop the winning run from scoring," said Klem, who was 2-for-4 with an RBI batting out of the cleanup spot. "But once I got it cleanly and got up, I just thought, 'what the heck?'

"It's fitting because the last time we played Emmaus, I made two key errors and we lost the game late. So this is a heck of a feeling."

Galucy was especially proud of a player he described as "humble" and an all-around "great kid."   "That was a special play," the coach called it.

Senior Andrew Kulp started for the Trojans and was close to unhittable for five innings. Pitching with a 4-0 lead, he allowed a long fly ball to center field in the sixth inning that Ryan Korp struggled to pick up in the sun. Emmaus' No. 4 batter Dan Johnson ended up circling the bases for a two-run homer.

Kulp, the LVC's first-team pitcher, regrouped and recorded the first out in the seventh, then Matt Smith came in to get a strikeout and the groundout to shortstop after the Green Hornets' third run scored on a wild pitch.

"I had a lot of confidence in 'Squirt' (Smith)," Kulp said. "He pitched well against Emmaus last time. Yeah, I was a little nervous but coach made the right call because I was getting tired."   Klem and Mike Tenaglia both had two hits and an RBI for Parkland. Andy Brandstetter also contributed two singles.   Johnson led Emmaus with two hits, including the homer. Joe Groh started for the Green Hornets and suffered the defeat.

"The kid (Klem) made a great play," Emmaus coach John Schreiner said. "What are you going to do? It was a great game and congratulations to Parkland. They made the plays they had to."

Kulp, Gabriel and Brandstetter selected to First Team All Conference

Korp, Abeln, Miorelli and Klem receive Honorable Mention Selection.

From the Morning Call 5/14/2009. 

Casey Cooperman wasn't even sure he was going to pitch.  Now, his team is heading to the Lehigh Valley Conference championship game.  The Parkland junior tossed a complete game in an 8-4 victory over Liberty at Sammy Balliet Stadium in Coplay on Wednesday to send the No. 3-seeded Trojans into the finals.

Parkland will meet Emmaus, a 4-3 winner over Northampton, in the 7 p.m. final today at Balliet Stadium.  Parkland coach Tony Galucy wasn't sure Cooperman would be his starter, but felt confident going with him.  'We felt that Coop had pitched well his last few times out and it was his turn (in the rotation)' said Galucy. 'If we are going to go anywhere in the playoffs we are going to need more than one pitcher. He did a great job for us today.'

Cooperman allowed five hits and struck out nine. The only damage done against him was a game-tying three-run home run by Liberty's Scott Kalamar in the fourth inning.  Parkland squandered several opportunities early but rallied late, scoring its final five runs in the sixth inning.  'We capitalized late,' Galucy said. 'We cannot let teams off the hook like that tomorrow. In these games we've got to get the run in.'  The loss ends Liberty's seven-game winning streak.

Parkland will meet top-seeded Emmaus, which defeated Northampton 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning when Emmaus senior John Barr drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the winning run.  Emmaus took a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Northampton, but fell behind 3-1 after the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the fifth, the Hornets made their comeback charge.  Brandon Wilt and Kyle Gable hit back-to-back doubles. Dan Johnson followed with a single to score Gable and even the score. It would stay that way until the bottom of the seventh.  Northampton pitcher Mike Glassic gave up a leadoff triple to Wilt Glassic, intentionally walked the next two batters in order to set up a force play, but walked in Barr to end the game.  'That was how playoff baseball is supposed to be,' Emmaus coach John Schreiner said. 'We're going to have our hands full with Parkland tomorrow.'

The LVC final is scheduled for at 7 p.m. at Sammy Balliet Stadium.
Parkland 100 205 0 – 8 13 1
Liberty 000 310 0 – 4 5 2

Cooperman and Gabriel; Dwyer, Ortiz(6) and Lule 2B: P Abeln, Miorelli, Tenaglia HR: P: Abeln 1st, 0 on; L: Kalamar 4th, 2 on