Parkland High School Baseball

Aj Palumbo took the hill on another unseasonably cold day at The Trojan Sandlot in this young season with battery mate George Jenkins behind the dish. The battery & Trojans D worked effectively to strand Northampton runners on base, & through five innings Palumbo finished his work without letting in a run while striking out 3 and giving up two hits. On Offense Joseph Webber led off the game with a single and was advanced to 3rd on a sac bunt and sac fly by CK Kinsley and Cullan Wadsworth respectively, but was not able to cross the plate. In the bottom half of the second Adam Mellinger was the lone Trojan on base via a walk. In the bottom of the 3rd the Trojans plated the first run of the game after Adam Smith singled and advanced to 2B on a George Jenkins sac bunt and 3B on a Joseph Webber sac fly. CK Kinsley then singled to CF scoring Smith for the first score of the game and a 1-o Trojan lead. Cullan Wadsworth then reached on a HBP but was LOB. 

Adam Mellinger led off the Bot 4 with a double to the LCF gap, advanced to 3rd on a Will Algard sac bunt and then scored on a wild pitch and a 2-0 Trojan lead. Matt Ervolina then BB and advanced to 2B on a ball in the dirt and moved to 3rd on a Adam Smith GO. George Jenkins then doubled twice down the LF line in the same AB (had to be there) scoring Ervolina to make the score 3-0. Jeremy Piatkiewicz then came in to run for Jenkins (2 2B's in the same AB can be exhausting) and scored on a Joseph Webber double to increase the Trojan lead to 4-0. CK Kinsley then BB and Cullan Wadsworth doubled to LF scoring Webber from 2nd and Kinsley from 1st and increasing the Trojan Lead to 6-0 thru 4.

Aj Palumbo and the Trojans D worked out of a jam in the Top of 5, and in the bottom of the frame Will Algard singled and stole 2nd but was LOB and the Trojans lead remained 6-0 over the KKids thru 5 innings of play. Collin Duff came on in relief in the sixth and with the help of a Cullan Wadsworth "Superman Web Gem" grab in CF allowed only 1 KKid to score while maintaining a 6-1 Trojan lead. CK Kinsley BB again in the Bot 6 but was LOB. Top of 7 the KKids looked to mount a rally against the Trojans and did plate a couple to make the score 6-3, however, Collin Duff induced a Ervolina to Kinsley to Algard DPlay (to be now known as an EKA) and a FO to J Webb (Joseph Webber) in LF to squash the rally & secure a 6-3 Trojan Victory over the KKids from Northampton!

Bad weather over the first couple of weeks created a delay for the official opening game. With many postponements the first game of the season turned out to be against rival Emmaus. It was decent weather but the winds played a big part in this high scoring game with seemingly obvious foul balls turning into hits and fly balls carrying further than expected. Pitching for the Trojans was a combination of Josh Miiller, Joe Algard and Luke Dauberman. Each showed some success and will be able to take the early season experience into the season. When the Trojan team came up in the bottom of the first and down 2 to 0, it didn’t look like much would happen after 2 quick outs. But successive walks to Nikhil Patel (1 hit, run scored), Josh Miller (double, run scored) and Parker Swartz brought to bat left fielder, Nick Ernst, who hit a nice line drive single to left knocking in 2 runs to tie the score. The next inning turned out to be a key inning as Parkland scored 3 runs to take a 5 to 2 lead. Drew Sorrentino, who had quite a game, led off with a home run that sailed over the centerfielder’s head. Drew’s speed helped him as he was able to round the bases prior to Emmaus getting the ball to the plate. Later in the inning, Freshman first baseman, TJ Khela, hit a nice line drive single to left field and got to 3b on a Chris Lessel single to right field. Vince Gerbasio got an rbi with a sacrifice fly to centerfield enabling Khela to scamper home. With 2 outs in the inning, Josh Miller then contributed with a line drive double sneaking inside the right field foul line to make the score 5 to 2 Trojans. 

The wind played a factor in the game as Emmaus was able to slowly claw back into the game. They actually made a not often seen triple play to take the Trojans out of a 4th inning rally. Joe Algard came into pitch in the 5th and looked impressive early. A nicely executed play by Joe’s battery mate, Jack Giovenco, stopped the tying run from being able to score when runners were on first and third with 2 outs in the 5th. The bottom of the 5th inning saw the Trojans extend the lead when Nick Ernst got on with a single to right and after a bunt by Jack Giovenco, there were 2 on when Joe Algard came to the plate. Joe hit a 2 strike pitch to the gap in left center scoring both runners and putting the Trojans up by 7 to 4. The final 2 innings got interesting and after Emmaus took the lead, the Trojans were able to take advantage of some walks that loaded the bases as Sorrentino got a double to knock in 2 and then Joe Algard got the rbi that turned out to be the winning run with a sacrifice fly. Luke Dauberman came in and got the save when Vince Gerbasio made a nice catch in Right Field with the tying run on 2b. It was good to finally see some baseball after the long winter as the Trojan JV Squad won a close battle 10 to 9. 

AJ Palumbo took the mound on Thursday against the Stroudsburg Mountaineers on an unseasonably cold spring day with battery mate George Jenkins behind the plate. The battery worked effectively and with the help of a solid Trojans defense Palumbo fanned 7 and scattered 4 hits over 4 innings keeping it close but the Trojans trailed the Mountaineers 2-0.

Through the first 5 innings Joseph Webber (Single), Cullan Wadsworth (Single) Adam Mellinger (ROE) Will Algard (ROE) and Adam Smith (FC) were the only Trojans to reach base as the offense started as cold as the temperature. Collin Duff came on in relief in the Top of the 5th fanned a batter and held the Mountaineers in check for the balance of the game. In the Top of the 6th Duff got a pitchers best friend in the form of a Matt Ervolina to CK Kinsley to Will Algard inning ending double play.

In the Bottom of the 6th CK Kinsley led off with a BB followed by a Cullan Wadsworth single and a Dylan Miller BB to load the bases for Adam Mellinger who promptly singled driving in Kinsley and Wadsworth to tie the score at 2-2. In the Top 7 Duff induced another Ervo to Kinsley to Algard inning ending twin killing to keep it tied. The Trojans worked as a unit in the bottom of the 7th starting with Adam Smith reaching on a HBP to start the inning, moving to 2nd on a George Jenkins Sac Bunt and then 3rd on a Joseph Webber Sac Fly to RF. CK Kinsley stepped to the plate with 2 outs and Adam Smith on third and promptly singled to LF to score Smith and secure the 3-2 Trojan victory.