Parkland High School Baseball

The Parkland Trojans baseball team accomplished what no other Class 4A team has ever done in Pennsylvania by winning three consecutive District XI championships with a 4-3 dramatic victory over Easton in tonight’s 2015 championship game at Coca-Cola Park.  With the game tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the 7^th inning, senior Jeff Strisovsky laced a one-out line drive single to centerfield that scored Andrew Roth from second base to send the Trojans into a frenzy and bring home Parkland’s third District trophy in as many years.  This was Strisovsky’s second walk-off base hit during Parkland’s postseason playoff run.

The District XI championship game got going right from the first pitch of the game off the arm of Parkland starter Connor Higgins.  Easton’s lead off hitter dropped the first pitch down for a bunt single.  The next batter sacrifice bunted the runner over to second base.  After Higgins walked the next two batters to load the bases with one out, the District championship game was off and running.  However, as quickly as the Red Rovers loaded the bases in the first inning, the Trojan defense just as quickly snuffed out the rally when a ground ball up the middle was turned into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play. 

The Trojans took the momentum from that double play and answered by scoring two runs in the bottom half of the inning.  After two consecutive one-out walks to Justin Afflerbach (0-1, BB, sac, R) and Chris Rabasco (0-2, BB, R), Tyler Bruno (1-3, 2B, RBI) doubled down the first base line to score Afflerbach.  Evan McAndrew (0-2, sac fly, RBI) then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Rabasco and give the Trojans a 2-0 lead after the first inning of play.

Higgins settled down nicely after the first inning setting down the Red Rovers in 1-2-3 fashion in both the second and third innings.  Higgins retired eight batters in a row before Easton put a runner on base with a one-out single in the 4^th inning.  Higgins struck out three in the 5th inning working around a one-out double in that inning.  The Trojans added a run in the 4^th inning when they hit three consecutive two-out singles.  Rhett Jacoby (1-3, R) and Roth (2-3, 2B, R) started the two-out rally with singles.  Dan Zaccaro (1-2, RBI), swinging the bat for the first time after missing 14 games due to a thumb injury, singled up the middle to score Jacoby and increase Parkland’s lead to 3-0. 

Just when Higgins looked to be in cruise control through five innings of play, the Easton Red Rovers showed why they were playing in the district final game.  With just five pitches thrown in the 6^th inning, Easton scored two runs to close the gap to 3-2 and the tying run was suddenly standing on third base with no outs.  After two consecutive singles to start the 6^th inning, the next Easton batter tripled to deep left-center to plate their first two runs of the game.  After getting the next two batters to ground out with the drawn in Trojan infield, Higgins looked in good shape to get out of the inning with the lead intact and strand the tying run on third base.  A wild pitch allowed the runner to score from third base and the game was tied 3-3.

After the Trojan bats went down quietly in the bottom of the 6^th inning, Higgins collected another 1-2-3 inning by setting down the Red Rovers in order in the top of the 7^th inning.  Leading off the bottom of the 7^th inning, Roth could not have picked a better time to get his first extra base hit of his varsity career.  Roth drove a hard ground ball down the third base line for a double, and with the Trojan’s fastest runner standing on second base with no outs, everyone began to feel the excitement in anticipation of what might be possible.  When Easton recorded out number one of the inning on a strikeout, the stage was set for Strisovsky (2-4, RBI).  With a 0-1 count, Strisovsky drove a line drive to centerfield and Roth easily scored from second base for the 4-3 walk-off victory and give the Trojans the 2015 District XI championship. 

Parkland’s offense was led by Strisovsky and Roth who each collected two base hits.  On the mound, Higgins allowed three runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out six, for the complete game victory.  Parkland will now prepare for the first round of state playoffs set to begin Monday June 1, 2015.

After the first three innings of play in today’s District XI semifinal matchup between Parkland and Northampton the game was scoreless and the Trojans could not catch a break.  On defense ,they had to battle to keep the Konkrete Kids off the board as Northampton put runners on base and threatened to score in each of the first three innings.  At the plate, the Trojans managed two base hits through the first three innings of play, but several outs were hard hit balls to the outfield, including being robbed of an extra base hit on a diving catch in the gap by Northampton’s centerfielder.  The fourth inning was a different story.

Northampton loaded the bases with one out in the 4^th inning on a base hit, a bunt fielder’s choice, and a hit batter.  A single then scored the first run of the game to break the scoreless deadlock and give Northampton the 1-0 lead with the bases still loaded with one out.  With the Konkrete Kids threatening to put a crooked number on the scoreboard, a ground ball to first baseman Evan McAndrew was turned into a 3-2-3 inning-ending double play.  This was the key defensive play for the Trojans and the turning point in the game.

Energized by their defensive play, the Trojan bottom half of the 4^th inning started with back-to-back singles by Chris Rabasco (2-3, R) and Tyler Bruno (2-3).  In what seems to defy odds and happen more often than it should in the game of baseball, a player making a key defensive play in one inning, comes up to the plate in the following inning to get a big hit.  This is exactly what happened for the Trojans as McAndrew (2-3, 2B, R, RBI) drove a line drive down the right field line for an RBI double to score Rabasco and tie the game at 1-1.  With runners now on second and third base with no outs, Austin Mueller (1-2, BB, 2 RBI) hit an RBI ground out for a 2-1 Trojan lead.  Later in the inning with runners on first and third with two outs, a routine ground ball hit to the shortstop off the bat of Andrew Roth (2-3, RBI) looked to surely end the inning, but it became another key play for the Trojans.  Roth sprinted out of the box and down the first base line to beat the throw for an RBI base hit to score a very important insurance run and put Parkland up by a score of 3-1 after four innings of play.

Trojan pitcher Rhett Jacoby was in command the entire game as he pitched a complete game for the win.  Jacoby scattered eight base hits and did not allow a base on balls.  Jacoby collected three strikeouts.  Whereas the Konkrete Kids puts runners on base in every inning through four innings of play, Jacoby made sure that trend would not continue.  With the Trojan defense, offense and hustle giving the Trojans the 3-1 lead in the 4^th inning, Jacoby proceeded to retire the next six Northampton batters in a row to cruise through the 5^th and 6^th innings. 

Parkland’s offense was led by Rabasco, McAndrew, Bruno and Roth as they each collected two base hits apiece, accounting for eight of Parkland’s total of nine base hits in the game.  Parkland added another run in the 5^th inning.  Rabasco and McAndrew both singled to reach base and then an RBI single by Mueller scored pinch runner EJ Brandt for a 4-1 Trojan lead heading into the 7^th inning.  Although Northampton scraped together a run in the top of the 7^th to close the gap to 4-2, Jacoby never allowed the Konkrete Kids to mount a serious threat and secured the 4-2 Trojan win. 

Parkland heads to the District XI championship game for the third year in a row.  The two-time defending District XI champions will face Easton on Tuesday night at Coca-Cola Park for the 2015 championship.

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Connor Higgins pitched 5 1/3 innings allowing only one run to Pocono Mountain East, while at the plate his 2-RBI single in the bottom of the 4th inning got Parkland on the scoreboard and ignited the Trojans on their way to a 7-1 victory in the District XI quarterfinals.  

Higgins finished his work on the mound allowing six base hits and two walks while collecting seven strikeouts.  Two PME singles in the first inning gave PME the quick 1-0 lead, but Higgins kept the Cardinals off the board for the remainder of his outing.  After allowing a one-out single in the first, Higgins retired the next eight batters in a row. 

With the score still 1-0 in the bottom of the 4th inning, the Trojans mounted a two-out rally.  After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Rhett Jacoby (1-2, BB, R) and Andrew Roth (2-2, BB, 2R) hit back-to-back singles that put runners on the corners.  Roth stole second base to put runners on second and third with two outs.  Higgins (1-2, 2 RBI) then singled to right-center to drive in Jacoby and Roth and give the Trojans the 2-1 lead and the Trojans never looked back.  Courtesy runner EJ Brandt stole second base and then advanced to third base on a wild pitch.  Jeff Strisovsky (1-3, sac bunt, RBI) then hit a line drive RBI single to left to increase the Parkland lead to 3-1. 

In the top of the 5th inning, two singles by PME put the tying runs on base with one out in the inning.  Jacoby took the mound in relief of Higgins and a single loaded the bases for PME with one out.  Jacoby was able to work out of the jam with two ground outs to preserve the 3-1 lead.  Jacoby worked 2/3 of an inning allowing no runs on one hit.

 In the bottom of the 6th inning the Trojans broke the game open scoring four runs.  Roth got things going with a walk and a stolen base.  Evan McAndrew (1-1, R, RBI) singled home Roth.  Justin Afflerbach (2-4, R, RBI) added an RBI single and after a walk to Chris Rabasco (1-2, BB, HBP, R), Tyler Bruno (1-3, 2B, sac bunt, RBI) hit an RBI double to deep right field that scored Afflerbach.  Austin Mueller (0-4, RBI) rounded out Parkland's scoring with an RBI groundout.  McAndrew pitched a scoreless 7th inning, allowing no hits and one walk, to finish out the game.  Cullan Wadsworth (1-4) added a single to the Trojan offense.  

The Parkland Trojans won the 2015 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Championship tonight with a hard fought 4-2 win over Stroudsburg at Hackett Park in Easton.  The Trojans beat Stroudsburg ace and MLB draft prospect Mike Nikorak for the second year in a row in a championship game.  Last year the Trojans won the District XI title against Stroudburg.  This is also the second year in a row that Parkland has won the conference championship and tonight's championship marks head coach Tony Galucy's 6th conference championship in the last nine seasons. 

Senior pitcher Evan McAndrew worked five strong innings on the mound for the win allowing two runs (1 earned) on five hits with two walks.  At the plate, the Trojans were led by junior second baseman Tyler Bruno (3-3, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI).  Bruno was unstoppable at the plate as he laced three base hits in the game going 3-3 with two RBI's.  The Trojans got to Stroudsburg ace in the bottom of the first inning when Justin Afflerbach (0-2, 2 BB, R) walked on four pitches.  With two outs, Bruno destroyed a pitch from Nikorak that went to the fence in right-center to score Afflerbach and put Parkland up 1-0.  Bruno did it again in the bottom of the 3rd inning.  Chris Rabasco (1-4, R) hit a two-out single to left field and after Rabasco advanced to second base on a wild pitch, Bruno drove another ball to almost the same spot in right-center field for an RBI double and the 2-0 Parkland lead. 

McAndrew had four strikeouts in the game, but two strikeouts came back-to-back at a critical point in the game.  After McAndrew worked around two runners on base in each of the first two innings to keep Stroudsburg off the scoreboard, he then only needed six pitches in a 1-2-3 third inning.  In the 4th inning, Stroudsburg scored their first run of the game to close the gap to 2-1 and they threatened for more runs as they put runners on second and third with one out.  However, McAndrew proceeded to strikeout the next two batters to leave those runners stranded and preserve the Trojans 2-1 lead. 

In the bottom of the 4th, the Trojans answered right back to retake the 2-run lead.  Austin Mueller (1-2, BB, RBI) walked and pinch runner EJ Brandt then stole second base.  With Rhett Jacoby at the plate, a dropped third strike was thrown away by the catcher that allowed Brandt to score and increase Parkland's lead to 3-1.  Stroudburg closed the gap again with a run in the 5th inning to make the score 3-2.  Parkland added a key insurance run in the bottom of the 6th inning when Cullan Wadsworth (1-3, R) led off with a single to left field.  After stealing second base, Wadsworth scored on an Mueller RBI single to increase the lead to 4-2 heading into the 7th inning.

Rabasco came on in relief for McAndrew in the 6th inning and after allowing a lead off single, he struck out the next two batters.  The final out of the inning was made when catcher Dan Zaccaro threw a strike to second base to throw out the base runner on an attempted stolen base.  In the 7th inning, Rabasco worked around two singles and one infield chopper base hit that loaded the bases for Stroudsburg with two outs.  Rabasco was able to get the strikeout for the final out and clinch the EPC championship for the Parkland Trojans.  In his two innings of scoreless relief work, Rabasco earned the six-out save with five strikeouts while allowing four singles.