Parkland High School Baseball

If hitting is indeed the hardest thing to do in sports then pitching is a close second and in this young season if there is one thing the Trojans have seen plenty of, that is gutsy pitching from its starting pitching staff game after game. On this night the Trojans & Mike Jenkins took a tough loss, in spite of, Jenkins throwing a complete game and certainly pitching well enough to get the Trojans a win. Offensively thru the first three innings the Trojans saw only 3 men on base, Austin Mueller and Mike Jenkins via single and Dylan Miller who reached via error. Emmaus was set down in order in the Top of the 4th and the Trojans went down in order in the bottom half of the inning.

The top of 5 saw the Trojans set Emmaus down in order again. The bottom of the 5th and CK Kinsley was the lone Trojan to reach base after a single. To this point through 5 innings both the Trojans and Green Hornets had yet to have a runner cross the plate. The Top of the 6th ended up being the decisive inning for Emmaus after they started the inning innocently enough with an infield single, and then were able to sandwich some singles around defensive miscues by the Trojans and take a 3-0 lead to the bottom of the 6th.

Cullan Wadsworth promptly answered the bell by doubling to start a Trojan rally and crossed the plate with the first run of the day for the Trojans on a Adam Mellinger single. Jenkins and the Trojans made quick work of Emmaus in the Top of the 7th on a pop out, K and then Jenkins picking off the runner on 1st that had reached on error. The Trojans mounted a rally in the bottom of the 7th but fell short after only Ethan Imler was able to score after being HBP and advanced to second on a fielder’s choice and later scoring on an Austin Mueller single.

If it were not for the newly instituted pitch count rules this year Ryan Giovenco would likely have gone the distance for the Trojans on Tuesday night at Sammy Balliet Stadium in Coplay. As it turned out AJ Palumbo had the Trojans and Giovenco’s back as he came in with 2 runners on and a 3-2 Trojan lead in the balance and got the final Central Catholic hitter to pop out to first baseman Matt Mellinger in the bottom of the 7th shutting the door on a come from behind rally attempt by the Vikings. Giovenco finished his day with 6 strikeouts going 6 2/3 for Parkland.

Offensively for the Trojans the first 3 inning were uneventful with the exception of a Matt Mellinger double in the second and also a CK Kinsley single in the third. The Top of the 4th saw the Trojans put their first run on the board afte a Matt Mellinger triple to CF, a Ethan Imler walk and a single to LF by Dylan Miller. Giovenco and the Trojans retired the side in order in the Bottom of the 4th. Austin Mueller was the lone Trojan to reach base in the Top 5 after drawing a walk. The Bot 5 saw the Vikings threaten but Giovenco and the Trojans held and after 5 innings led 1-0. Ethan Imler singled in the sixth as the only Trojan to reach base and the Trojans and Giovenco worked around a single in the Bottom of the 6th to still hold the lead 1-0.

The Top of 7 saw the type of Selfless inning as a lineup that will take this Trojan Squad a long way if continually repeated as Will Algard walked and was moved to 2nd on a CK Kinsley sac bunt, Austin Mueller then singled and Mike Jenkins and Cullan Wadsworth were both HBP’s and then a Matt Mellinger walk hafd led to a 3-0 Trojan lead. It would turn out that the insurance runs in the top of the inning were needed as Central mounted a rally in the bottom of the seventh but after scoring two and Giovenco and the Trojans getting the first two outs of the inning. AJ Palumbo came in and got the final out with runners on first and second, preserving the 3-2 Trojan win.

On a cool and overcast Saturday the Trojans journeyed to Lansdale and lost to North Penn 6-1. North Penn owner of 3 State Titles with the most recent coming in 2015 have a long track record of success to rival the Trojans and on this day they executed better and spoiled Harsha Bollu’s anticipated return to the mound for the Trojans. George Jenkins got the start behind the dish and although there was some traffic on the bases neither team scored through the first 2 innings.

In the Top of 3 the Trojans took the early lead 1-0 after singles by Mike Jenkins and Cullan Wadsworth and Jenkins scoring when Matt Mellinger reached on an error. In the bottom of the 3rd the lead quickly disappeared after the Knights scored 4 times to lead 4-1 after 3. Top of 4 saw Ty Conrad and Jeremy Piatkiewicz and draw walks but were stranded on the base paths. The Knights then promptly scored another 2 runs in the bottom of the inning taking a 6-1 lead.

In the Top of the 5th Mike Jenkins singled and Adam Smith ROE but were left on base. Matt Mellinger came on in relief in the Bottom of the 5th with Will Algard taking over first base duties and Ethan Imler in to play LF. The Knights got a couple runners on but a Smith to Piatkiewicz to Algard DP and Mellinger strikeout ended the threat. In the Top of the 6 a Piatkiewicz single and a Mike Jenkins single put runners on base but the Trojans did not score.

The JV Trojans made quick work of North Penn on Saturday behind the efficient work of Rodriguez and the Trojan Defense. Rodriguez struck out 2 and only threw only 73 pitches in 7 innings losing a no hit bid in the last inning. At barely over 10 pitches per it speaks to how well the JV Trojans performed as a unit behind Rodriguez.

Offensively the Trojans got on the board in the Top of the 1st withJared Kucharczuk (1B) and Austin Brockel (1B) & Matthew Ervolina sac bunt with Kucharczuk scoring on a Hani Kitaballa ground out. Mitchell Marciniak doubled in the top of 2 but was left there. The Trojans went in order in the third, an Alex Oliver single the only hit in the 4th. Jared Kucharczuk singled again in the fifth but was the lone Trojan to reach base. The Trojans were 3 up and 3 down in the sixth. Jared Kucharczuk, Austin Brockel, Phillip Schoch and Joseph Webber all had singles in the seventh as the Trojans scored 2 more in the seventh to Top off the 3-0 Victory!