Parkland High School Baseball

Connor Higgins struck out six batters today to increase his 2015 season total to 70 strikeouts, but the most important three strikeouts of the year came in the 6th and 7th innings of today's PIAA state quarterfinal matchup against the Council Rock North Indians.  Clinging to a 2-1 lead in the 6th inning, Higgins found himself with the bases full of Indians with one out.  Higgins struck out the next two batters to leave the bases loaded and get out of the jam.  With the same score in the top of the 7th inning, Higgins proceeded to strikeout CRN's dangerous lead off hitter for his third strikeout in a row.   The Trojans got the final two outs in that inning for the 2-1 victory and now move on to the PIAA state semifinals on Monday with a matchup against Wyoming Valley West.

Higgins finished his complete game performance allowing one run on three base hits and five walks and improves his season record to 10-0.  In addition to the 6th inning jam, he worked out of another jam in the third inning when the first two batters of the inning reached base on a walk and bunt single.  However, Higgins retired the next three batters on flyouts to strand the base runners. 

The Trojans jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Justin Afflerbach (1-2, BB, 2R) ended up on second base after a swinging bunt and throwing error.  Chris Rabasco (2-2, BB, RBI) then lined an RBI  single to right-center to score Afflerbach.   The Trojans only managed four base hits in the game with Rabasco collecting his second hit of the game with a two-out single in third inning.  Austin Mueller (1-2, BB) had Parkland's other base hit when he singled with one out in the fourth inning.  Parkland did take advantage of five base on balls.  Parkland had a chance to open up the game in the 4th inning.  They loaded the bases with one out with Mueller's single and two walks that forced CRN to go to their bullpen.  After getting a strikeout for the second out, Jeff Strisovsky laced a line drive that was caught by the diving shortstop of CRN to end the inning.

CRN scored their lone run of the game in the 5th inning and threatened to put more runs on the board if not for another terrific defensive play, this time by the Trojans' shortstop.  A lead off walk followed by a sacrifice bunt put an Indian runner on second base with one out.  After getting the second out, CRN's lead off hitter was intentionally walked.  The next CRN batter singled up the middle to tie the game at 1-1.  With runners on first and second with two outs, a hard ground ball up the middle appeared headed for centerfield.  Shortstop Rabasco made a diving play on the ball behind the bag at second base and flipped the ball from his knees to second baseman Tyler Bruno for the inning-ending force out at second base. 

Even though CRN tied the game in the 5th inning, the momentum shifted in favor of the Trojans after that run-saving defensive play.  With base hits hard to come by, the Trojans regained the lead in the bottom half of the 5th inning without any base hits in the inning.  Afflerbach and Rabasco walked to start the inning and Bruno sacrifice bunted to put Trojan runners on second and third base with one out.  Evan McAndrew (0-2, sac fly, RBI) then drove a fly ball to right field for a sacrifice flyout to score Afflerbach and give Parkland a 2-1 lead.   

Higgins made the new lead stick.  After dodging the 6th inning bases loaded jam, he went on to retire the Indians in order in the top of the 7th for the win.  Higgins did it all in the 7th inning.  After striking out the lead off hitter, he snagged a hard line drive that had eyes for centerfield for the second out, and then fielded a ground ball comebacker for the final out of the game.

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Third time's a charm!  For the past two consecutive seasons the Parkland Trojans played in the first round of the PIAA state playoff games at Easton High School.  Both in 2013 and 2014, the Trojans lost in heartbreaking fashion losing each game by a one-run margin in low scoring games.  In 2015, the Trojans found themselves again at Easton High School, this time playing Owen J. Roberts (OJR) in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs.  However, unlike 2013 and 2014 where the Trojan pitching shined while the offense struggled to put runs on the board, the 2015 Trojans finally put it all together.  This time, along with another outstanding pitching performance, the Trojans put up 10 base hits and more importantly got the clutch hits that were missing in the 2013 & 2014 playoff games.  Seven of Parkland's nine batters collected at least one base hit in the game, while both Tyler Bruno and Evan McAndrew enjoyed multi-hit games.  Bruno (3-3) had three singles and McAndrew (2-3, 2 RBI) had two singles with two RBI's.

Rhett Jacoby pitched his 6th complete game of the season, improving his record to 7-1, to lead the Trojans to their first PIAA playoff victory since the 2009 team.  The 2009 Trojans made it all the way to the PIAA championship game where they lost to North Penn.  Jacoby allowed three runs (two earned) with seven hits.  Jacoby had six strikeouts and did not walk a batter.  OJR took an early 1-0 in the top of the first inning with two base hits, but Parkland answered quickly with a run of their own in the bottom of the first inning.  Justin Afflerbach (1-2, 2B, BB, 2R) walked and with two outs in the inning, the Trojans wasted no time getting clutch two-out hitting.  Bruno singled for his first of three hits in the game, then McAndrew followed with his own two-out base hit with an RBI single that scored Afflerbach to tie the game at 1-1. 

OJR scored an unearned run on two Parkland fielding errors in the second inning to take the lead again, 2-1.  Parkland answered again, this time in the bottom of the third inning when Jeff Strisovsky (1-3, R) led off the inning with a single.  With two outs in the inning and Strisovsky still on first base, the Trojans again got clutch two-out hitting, and again it was Bruno and McAndrew.  Bruno singled and then stole second base to put runners on second and third base with two outs.  McAndrew came through with another two-out RBI single to tie the game again at 2-2.  Bruno tried to score from second base on the play, but was tagged out at the plate.

Jacoby took command after the OJR unearned run in the second inning.  Jacoby proceeded to retire OJR batters in 1-2-3 fashion in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings.  In fact, after allowing a single in the second inning, Jacoby retired the next 11 OJR batters in order before allowing a one-out single in the top of the 6th inning.  Not only did Jacoby (1-3, RBI) take control in the mound, but he also used his bat to give the Trojans their first lead of the game.  In the bottom of the 4th inning, Austin Mueller (1-3) got things started with a line drive single.  Cullan Wadsworth (0-2, sac) sacrifice bunted courtesy runner EJ Brandt to second base, and then Jacoby followed with an RBI single to give the Trojans their first lead of the game, 3-2. 

Parkland added an important insurance run in the bottom of the 5th inning when Afflerbach hit a one-out double.  Chris Rabasco (1-3, RBI) then drove in Afflerbach with an RBI single to put the Trojans up by a score of 4-2.  OJR closed the gap in the top of the 6th inning when they scored a run on a single followed by a double.  With Parkland clinging to the 4-3 lead in the top of the 7th inning, OJR did not go quietly.  After Jacoby recorded the first out of the 7th inning with a strikeout, the next two batters reached base with a hit-by-pitch and single.  Jacoby got the next batter to line out to centerfield for the second out of the inning.  With two outs and a runner on first and the tying run second base, the next OJR batter hit a slow roller over the mound.  Shortstop Rabasco charged the ball and made a nice play on the run for the 6-3 out to end the game.

The Trojans will not have much time to savor the victory as they will play again tomorrow.  Inclement weather earlier in the week has forced back-to-back games on consecutive days.  The Trojans will face Council Rock North at Immaculata University in the PIAA quarterfinal round.   

No matter what part of the country you are from, or which team you play for, or which position you play on the field, every kid that grows up loving the game of baseball has at least one thing in common.  They all have that same dream that repeats itself over and over again, year after year, from the days of T-ball to high school ball.  The dream has numerous variations, but has the common theme where they step into the batter's box in the bottom of the 9th inning of the seventh game of the world series with the game tied, the count is 3-2, and then whack.....a long fly ball to the deep outfield.  The crowd roars and as the ball clears the fence for the walk-off homerun that wins the world series, you jog around the bases as everyone screams with euphoria, and then your teammates rush the field and mob you as you reach home plate.  Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays knows that dream well, and now so does Jeff Strisovsky.

Strisovsky played out his own variation of that dream as the Parkland Trojans faced the Easton Red Rovers in the 2015 District XI championship game at Coca-Cola Park on Tuesday night.  The Trojans were playing for their third straight District championship, a feat never accomplished by a 4A high school team in Pennsylvania.  The Trojans were playing in front of a much larger crowd than a typical regular season high school game, and the atmosphere was surreal as the game was played at a professional ball park while being broadcast live on two TV channels. 

With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 7th inning the Trojans had a runner on second base with one out.  Strisovsky stepped into the batter's box and drove a line drive to centerfield for a single that drove in the game-winning, walk-off run to give the Trojans the 4-3 victory and their third straight Distict XI title.  "I was excited.  I was a little anxious," Strisovsky said of his feelings when he came to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning. "I just told myself to calm down, just have fun and stay loose, and do the best I could."

Jeff has been a consistent bat for the Trojans all season in the lead off spot of the batting order.  He is batting .307 and has scored 22 runs.  He leads the Trojans with 10 stolen bases.  Jeff is also a top defender in the outfield and has made several outstanding defensive plays this season.  For his heroics in the District XI championship game, The Morning Call, in conjunction with Coordinated Health, selected Jeff as their Athlete of the Week.  Coordinated Health has awarded Strisovsky with a $1,000 scholarship.

CONGRATULATIONS TO JEFF!

Chris Rabasco was honored by the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference (EPC) today as the 2015 scholar-athlete for baseball.  Rabasco is the first Parkland baseball player to receive conference-wide scholar-athlete recognition since Brandon Rosenblatt was honored in 2004.  At a luncheon held at the Stroudsmoor Country Inn in Stroudsburg, 15 seniors from the EPC were recognized from the winter/spring seasons as scholar-athletes.  Joining Rabasco at the ceremony were five other Parkland scholar-athletes; Cali Wojciechowski (Cheerleading), Alexandra Bodner (swimming), Anthony Coates (swimming), Matthew Kiser (volleyball), and Ben Zager (lacrosse). 

The EPC scholar-athlete award is based on academic achievement (40%), athletic performance (40%), and extracurricular activities (20%).   Jeff Sodl, Stroudsburg High School principal and EPC chairman, was the master of ceremonies and stated “the credentials of these kids say it all.  Academically they are unbelievable, athletically they’re second to none.  It’s just an honor to be around these types of students.”  CONGRATULATIONS TO CHRIS!