Parkland High School Baseball

Is the weather bad?  Do we have practice? This is the place to check for any schedule changes, game updates, and team communications.

If the icon "NEW" is seen on the HOT CORNER webpage title there are new up to the minute event updates.  That icon will  remain for 24 hours only and will reset. 

Parkland Baseball is lucky. It was lucky to have Tony Galucy as its head coach for the past 13 years. Two hundred and forty-two victories, twenty conference, league, and district titles are certainly impressive on field accomplishments. More impressive are the number of players’ lives that were touched by his influence. Many of his players went on to play ball in the college ranks but, more importantly Coach Galucy spoke of two goals he had for his players and Parkland Baseball. “Work to get better every day” and “to look back after graduation and say they enjoyed playing baseball at Parkland.” I think it is unquestioned that those goals were met. The Parkland Baseball family thanks Coach Galucy and just as importantly his wife Lori, and his children, Stephen, Madison, and Mackenzie for sharing their husband and dad with us for more than a decade.

October 21st marks another lucky day for Parkland Baseball. Assistant Coach Kurt Weber was approved by the Parkland School Board to become the seventh head baseball coach in Parkland High School history. While he enters his 18th season on the Parkland High School baseball coaching staff his experience is far greater than one would imagine. He led North Parkland’s Junior Legion baseball program to greater than 500 wins. He coached both baseball and football for the North Parkland Athletic Association for 25 years. In 2012 he was inducted into the Pennsylvania American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame. While his coaching records speak for themselves it has been cited that Coach Weber got involved with coaching for unselfish reasons. He cared about his community and wanted to use sports as a tool to teach life lessons that could help shape kids into fine young men. “I love baseball, but what got me hooked me on coaching is the number of lives you touch”. Please welcome Coach Weber as Parkland’s new head coach and his wife, Shannon, and daughters Alexa and Samantha into the Parkland Baseball family.

When hearing that Coach Galucy was stepping down of course it was sad news for Parkland Baseball. As they say, luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Coach Galucy did a fine job preparing players but, he also put together a coaching staff during his time at Parkland that was also well prepared. Coaches Randy Baer, Matt Merkle, Eric Spadt, and Kurt Weber each have impressive baseball credentials. Each were rumored to be a possible successor to Coach Galucy.

Harsha Bollu and Tyler Bruno are the latest Trojans to verbally commit to continue their baseball careers at the college level.

 

Bollu, a rising junior pitcher and shortstop, has committed to attend the University of Pennsylvania.  Each time Bollu takes the mound you can see what the Quaker coaches covet, an intelligent, talented pitcher, who seems to be at his best in big games.  Two signature wins of highly touted teams highlight his 2015 high school season.  He controlled Hazleton by striking out eight while allowing only one run.  The Pennsylvania State Tournament Champs, North Penn did not fare much better as he again allowed only one run in the Parkland victory.  His season earned run average (ERA) was a minuscule 1.02 and he averaged one strikeout for each inning he pitched.  It will be exciting to watch his next two high school seasons and beyond as his potential seems limitless.   

 

Harsha in his college search noted that he held finding a fit at a top academic school his priority.  Of the number of schools that showed interest, The University of Pennsylvania, The University of Pittsburgh, and Virginia Commonwealth University were the most serious contenders.  Penn was the first school his visited and a strong relationship was built with Coach Santello.  When they offered a spot on the team as a pitcher and in the Wharton School of Business, the decision was made. 

 

Bruno, a rising senior middle infielder, has committed to attend Villanova University. Bruno's junior season was filled with highlights much too long to list here but, his five triples in 2015 are a Parkland High School season record, his batting average (BA) of .414, and on-base plus slugging (OPS) of 1.055 are truly outstanding.  To put that into perspective only two 2015 major league players have an OPS greater than 1.000, Paul Goldschmidt and Bryce Harper. The Wildcats' coach’s eyes undoubtedly saw in him that rare combination of being a quick, slick fielding, middle infielder, who can hit for both average and power. He returns for his senior season to lead the Trojans in their 2016 campaign.

 

Please join the Parkland baseball community in congratulating Harsha, Tyler, and their families on these exceptional academic and athletic accomplishments.  Further details on their journey to follow.