Parkland High School Baseball

Due to poor weather conditions, the JV Trojans played Friday evening’s game on their home field but as the away team.

The Trojans scored two of their three runs in the second inning. With one out in the inning, Ty Conrad walked, stole second, moved to third ono a groundout, and scored on a Dylan Snyder single. Snyder stole second and scored on an Alex Oliver single. The Bulldogs answered with a run in the bottom of the inning, with the Trojans leading 2-1 after two.

The score remained the same until the 6th inning. With one out, Will Algard singled and was replaced on the bases by pinch runner, Joe Webber. Webber stole second, stole third, and scored on a Bulldog throwing error giving the Trojans a 3-1 lead. Wilson West Lawn threatened in the 7th, loading the bases with no one out. The Trojans turned a double play on a suicide squeeze attempt, holding the Bulldogs to just one run in the 7th, for the 3-2 win. Collin Duff pitched a complete game, striking out 8 over 7 innings.

In a critical EPC Skyline Division matchup between two first-place teams in Whitehall, the Parkland Trojans, winners with a score of 8 – 1, put together one of the more dominant performances of the season so far thanks to timely hitting, clean defense, and a stellar pitching performance by Michael Jenkins. Jenkins (7 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 6 K, 1 BB) used a tailing fastball and knee-buckling curve to keep the Zephyrs off balance, taking a no-hit bid into the 7th inning. Sharp defense all around, highlighted by excellent catches by Matt Mellinger at 1st base and Cullan Wadsworth in right field, helped support Jenkins’ efforts.

The Trojan offense put 2 runs on the board in the 2nd inning with Mellinger (1-2, 2 R) leading off with a single, stealing second base, and getting knocked in by an RBI single off the bat Kyle Novobilski (4-4, 2 R, 1 RBI). Jenkins (2-4, 1 RBI) singled to move Novobilski into scoring position, who then scored on an RBI single by Andrew Roth (2-4, 2 RBI, 2SB). Jenkins proceeded to put down 6 of the next 7 batters, bringing the 2 – 0 game to top of the 4th inning where the Trojans posted 5 more runs after Austin Mueller (1-3, 1 R), Novobilski, and Jenkins all singled to load the bases. Roth knocked Mueller in on a fielder’s choice out, Wadsworth (0-3, 1 R, 1 BB) walked to reload the bases, and Tyler Bruno (0-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB) worked another walk to score Novobilski. Kyle Friebolin (1-4, 3 RBI) stepped to the plate and cleared the bases with a double to deep left field, stretching the lead to 7-0.

Jenkins continued to keep the Zephyr offense at bay, sitting then down in order in the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings. In the top of the 7th, Parkland added another run when Mellinger reached on his second hit batsman, EJ Brandt (1-1, 1 R) singled, Novobilski singled to load the bases, and Jenkins drove in a run off of a fielder’s choice out. Whitehall batters broke the no-hit, no-run effort with a hard hit double to right center just out of the reach of Roth, and an infield single up the middle. Jenkins would not flinch, securing the last out with one of his 6 strikeouts, and ending the game with an 8 – 1 Parkland victory.

The Trojans got off to a rocky start, allowing 3 runs off starting pitcher Will Algard (5IP, 3H, 4BB, HPB, 3K) , while the Trojans went down in order in the bottom of the inning.

Neither team scored in the second or third innings but Whitehall added another run in the top of the 4th, fueled by an error and two hits. The Trojans battled back in the bottom of the 4th, with Ty Conrad (2 for 4, 2R) hitting a lead-off single and stealing 2nd. Collin Duff (3 for 4, 2B, Rbi, R) followed with a double, scoring Conrad, cutting the Zephyr lead to 4-2.

After shutting the Zephyrs down again in the 5th, Adam Mellinger (4 for 5, 3B, Rbi, R) tripled to start the Trojan half of the inning. Julian Colon sacrificed, scoring Mellinger. Conrad singled and again, stole 2nd and Dylan Snyder singled to drive in the game-tying run. Duff singled and Dylan Miller walked to load the bases but all were left stranded and the inning ended with the score knotted at 4.

Relief pitcher Mark Leiby (3IP, 2H, 2BB) got a quick out to start the 6th inning but the Zephyrs threatened with a walk and a single. A groundout moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd but Leiby confidently struck out the next batter, keeping the score tied. The Trojans had their own scoring chance in the bottom of the inning when Mellinger singled with one out. He moved from 1st to 3rd on a passed ball and a wild pitch, while Colon walked, putting runners at 1st and 3rd. The inning ended with a strikeout and a groundout with both left on base.

Whitehall led off the 7th inning with a walk, but a fly-out and a double play ended the inning and quieted their dugout. Miller singled with two outs in the home half of the inning and reached third on a stolen base and throwing error but the Trojans were unable to score, sending the game into extra innings. Whitehall’s leadoff batter doubled but Leiby struck out the next two batters. With two outs, Duff robbed the Zephyrs on a ball hit up the middle, cutting down the would-be go ahead run, with a perfect throw to catcher George Jenkins who dove to tag the runner out at home. Matt Ervolina led off the bottom of the 8th inning with a single for the Trojans. Pinch runner Joe Webber stole 2nd and continued to 3rd as the catcher’s throw sailed into center field. Webber scored on Mellinger’s 4th hit for the walkoff win.

Facing the defending state champion North Penn Knights, Parkland would need another day of clean defense and timely hitting. In a 5 – 2, loss, the Trojans provided neither of the two. A J Palumbo ( 4 IP, 1 ER) took the mound in the non-conference game, scattering eight hits over four inning that saw North Penn post 5 runs, with only 1 of them earned. North Penn opened the scoring in the top of the first after an error in the field with two out. The Trojans responded with 1 run in the bottom of the 2nd after Kyle Friebolin (0-1, 1 R) was hit by a pitch, Matt Mellinger (2-3, 1 RBI) hit a single, and Nate Markowicz (1-3, 1 RBI) knocked in Friebolin with a fielder’s choice.

North Penn recaptured the lead for good with one run in the top of the 3rd inning, and three more in the top of the 4th to post a 5 – 1 lead. Parkland responded again with one run of their own in the bottom of the 6th after Austin Mueller (1-4, 1 R) hit a one-out double to right center field, pinch-hitter Ethan Imler (1-1) singled to right center and advanced the runner to third, and Mellinger notched the RBI with a fielder’s choice.

Adam Smith ( 3 IP, 0 R) came on in relief and held North Penn scoreless over the last three innings. With the score 5 – 2, Parkland tried mounting a comeback with a leadoff singles by Markowicz and EJ Brandt (2-3), and a walk to Kyle Novobilski ( 0-0, 1 BB) to load the bases. However, the Knights got the final three outs with no damage, and ending the game with a final score of 5 – 2.

After two scoreless innings of play, North Penn drew first blood, scoring a run in the top of the 3rd inning on a lead-off triple and a passed ball. The Trojans left two runners on base in both the 1st and 3rd innings, but finally answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the 4th. With two outs, Dylan Snyder singled. Anderson Hummer followed with another single. With two on and two out, Julian Colon hit an Rbi single scoring Snyder to tie the game at 1-1.

North Penn would put up two more runs in each of the 5th and 6th innings with the Trojans mustering only 3 baserunners over the final 3 frames, falling to the Knights 5-1. Starter Carson Fracas and reliever Phil Schoch shared the pitching duties.