Parkland High School Baseball

The JV Trojans held off a late game rally by Governor Mifflin to pick up a 9-7 win over the Mustangs.  With an 8-2 Parkland lead, Governor Mifflin put up 5 runs in the bottom of the 6th to close the game to 8-7.  The Trojans added an insurance run in the top of the 7th and Collin Duff closed the game with a scoreless 7th inning for the 9-7 final.  Duff worked 2 innings, giving up 1 run on 3 hits, recording 1 strikeout and 1 walk.  Starting pitcher Matt Mellinger picked up the win, allowing 6 runs in 5 innings.  Mellinger struck out 4 while allowing 5 walks. 

The Trojans took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, started by a Nick Iannotta (0 for 3, BB, R, RBI) walk.  Ethan Imler (2 for 2, double, 2R, 2RBI) singled, moving Iannotta to 3rd.  A Matt Mellinger (0 for 2, BB, RBI) sacrifice fly to center scored Iannotta.  Will Algard (1 for 3) followed with a single, but the inning ended with no additional runs.  Parkland added to its lead in the 2nd inning, with a Nick Stillittano (1 for 2, double, 2BB, 2R) lead off walk.  Stillittano moved to 2nd on a wild pitch and Christian Kinsley (2 for 3, 2R, RBI) singled, scoring Stillittano.  Scott Hudock (1 for 3, BB, 2R) followed with a walk and Imler doubled down the right field line, scoring Hudock for a 3-0 lead.  The Trojans added two more in the 4th with Kinsley leading off and reaching base on error.  Hudock singled and the runners moved up on a wild pitch.  An Iannotta ground ball scored Kinsley, and Hudock scored on an Imler sacrifice fly to center, to give the Trojans a 5-0 lead.  Governor Mifflin scored 2 runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, making the score 5-2.

Parkland responded in the 5th, adding 3 runs.  A Stillittano walk followed by a Nate Markowicz (0 for 3, BB, R) 15-pitch walk and a Kinsley single loaded the bases.  Consecutive wild pitches scored all three runners, increasing the Trojan lead to 8-2.  The Mustangs rallied in the bottom of the 6th, scoring 5 runs, to pull within 1.  The Trojans added a run in the top of the 7th on a Joey Bolick (0 for 2, BB, R) lead off walk followed by a Stillittano ground out that moved Bolick to 3rd.  A Markowicz ground ball to short scored Bolick to secure the 9-7 win.

After being no-hit less than 24 hours ago and suffering their first loss of the season to Northampton, the Parkland Trojans were right back on the diamond today at Emmaus.  With no time to take a few extra swings in the batting cage to cure the futility of the night before, the Trojans found perhaps the best cure for getting back on the winning track......a 6-0 lead to start the game.  It is true that before the first pitch of the game was thrown today the Parkland Trojans had a 6-0 lead, but not because the Green Hornets were feeling generous.  Today's game was the continuation of a suspended game from more than two weeks ago when the Trojans sent ten batters to the plate in a rainy 1st inning, scoring six runs on four hits.  Starting pitcher Rhett Jacoby worked out of a first inning jam when Emmaus loaded the bases with one out.  Jacoby got a strikeout and a ground ball out to end the threat as the rains forced the game to be suspended after one full inning of play.  In Jacoby's one inning of work he had two strikeouts and allowed two base hits, one hit batter, and no walks.

Parkland scored its six 1st inning runs when the first three batters of the game reached base to load the bases.  Jeff Strisovsky was hit by a pitch, Justin Afflerbach singled, and Chris Rabasco walked.  After scoring the first run on a Evan McAndrew sacrifice fly, Tyler Bruno (1-3, BB, 2R) singled to reload the bases then Harrison Rabenold (1-3, 2B, BB, 2R, 2RBI) doubled to drive in two runs, followed by a Cullan Wadsworth double to drive in two more runs.  Dan Zaccaro (0-1, RBI) then hit an RBI ground out to finish out the first inning scoring. 

With the game resuming today in the top of the 2nd inning, the Trojan bats came out swinging.  Chris Rabasco (1-1, 2B, 2BB, sac fly, 2R, RBI) got things going with a one-out double to right field and Evan McAndrew (1-2, 3B, sac fly, R, 2RBI) followed with a triple to right field to score Rabasco.  Emmaus' pitcher then had trouble finding the strike zone.  The next four Parkland batters reached base on walks.  Cullan Wadsworth (1-3, 2B, BB, R, 3RBI) and Andrew Roth (1-2, BB, R, RBI) both got RBI base on balls that plated McAndrew and Bruno.  Kyle Friebolin (0-1, BB, sac fly, RBI) then drove home Parkland's fourth run of the second inning with a sacrifice fly out. 

Connor Higgins took the mound in relief of Jacoby and pitched four innings of shutout baseball allowing two base hits and two walks with five strikeouts.   Emmaus collected their two hits of the day in the bottom of the second inning as they loaded the bases with one out.  Higgins got our of the jam with a ground ball 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. 

Parkland added three more runs in the 4th inning.  Roth reached base with a one-out single and Friebolin walked.  Jeff Strisovsky (1-3, HBP, 2R, RBI) then singled to score Roth.  After Justin Afflerbach (2-3, HBP, R) was hit by a pitch, Rabasco hit a sacrifice fly to score pinch runner EJ Brandt.  Kyle Novobilski then hit a ground ball to second base that was misplayed allowing Strisovsky to score.  With a 13-0 lead, Higgins worked around two walks in the bottom of the 5th inning to end the game via mercy-rule and put the Trojans back on the winning track.

A little more than two weeks ago the Parkland Trojans easily beat the Northampton Konkrete Kids by a score of 11-1, handing Northampton pitcher Noah Durnin the loss after he allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings of work.  Tonight Durnin was masterful as he pitched a no-hitter against a Trojan lineup that had scored over 100 runs in its previous eleven games.  Northampton won the game by a score of 5-1.  Parkland was able to score a a run in the bottom of the third inning  to cut the Northampton lead to 2-1.  Andrew Roth led off the inning with a walk and came around to score on a pair of Northampton errors.  Chris Rabasco and Evan McAndrew also reached base in the game via the walk, while Jeff Strisovsky reached base twice on errors and Justin Afflerbach reached base on a fielder's choice.  That was it for Trojan base runners tonight as the cold, blustery game conditions cooled off their bats as Parkland lost its first game of the 2015 season.

The game was tight most of the way as the score remained 2-1 in favor of Northampton after four innings of play, and then 3-1 after six innings of play.  Starting pitcher Rhett Jacoby pitched well enough to win as he struck out ten and allowed three runs (one earned) on seven scattered hits with no walks in his six innings of work.   Reliever Alec Bartholomew worked the 7th inning and allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and one walk, while striking out one.  Parkland hitters never got anything going during the game as Durnin retired the last 10 Trojan batters in a row to finish off his no-hitter.

The JV Trojans produced a 10-run 6th inning rally to down Northampton 10-3.  The Konkrete Kids jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring 3 runs in the 4th, while the Trojans were held scoreless through 5 innings.  Parkland brought 14 batters to the plate in the 6th inning, scoring 10 runs on 8 hits.  The inning was started with a Nick Iannotta (1 for 4, R) single followed by an Ethan Imler (0 for 2, 2BB, 2R) walk and a Matt Mellinger (2 for 4, 2R, RBI)  single to load the bases.  Will Algard (3 for 4, R, 3RBI) singled to score Iannotta and Imler.  Joey Bolick (2 for 3, BB, R) followed with walk and a Christian Kinsley (1 for 2, R, 2RBI) single scored Mellinger and Algard.  Back to back doubles by Nick Stillittano (1 for 1, double, R, 2RBI) and Nate Markowicz (2 for 2, double, R, RBI) scored Bolick,  Kinsley, and Stillittano, extending the Trojan lead to 7-3.  With two outs, Imler walked and Mellinger and Algard singled for their second hits of the inning to score Markowicz and Imler.  Mellinger added the final run of the inning, scoring on a wild pitch for the 10-3 lead.

Nick Iannotta shut down the Konkrete Kids in the final innings to secure the 10-3 win.  Iannotta threw 3 scoreless innings in relief, giving up just one hit and 2 walks, with 1 strikeout.  Starting pitcher Will Algard worked 4 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 1.  The Trojans improved to 9-2 with the win.

Before tonight's game against the Nazareth Blue Eagles, Parkland's senior players honored nine school teachers with a Shirt Off My Back Award.  Ten innings and more than two hours and thirty minutes later, the Trojans pushed across the lone run of the game in the bottom of the 10th inning on a Nazareth error with the bases loaded to walk off with a 1-0 win.  Tonight was another game of strong Parkland pitching that was equally matched against strong pitching from the Blue Eagles as the game remained scoreless through 9 innings of play.  Three Parkland pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts and the 2-hit shutout.  Nazareth's starting hurler went 9 shutout innings scattering seven Parkland base hits before giving way to a reliever in the bottom of the 10 inning. 

Parkland had an opportunity to score early in the game when they loaded the bases in the 2nd inning on singles by Rhett Jacoby (1-for-4) and Andrew Roth (1-for-4), and a walk to Austin Mueller (1-for-3, double, BB), but the runners were stranded on base.  Only two Trojans batters would reach base over the next five innings of play.  Justin Afflerbach (2-for-4, intentional BB) was left stranded on base in the 3rd inning after leading off with a single and Tyler Bruno (1-for-4, double) was stranded on second base after a 2-out double in the 6th inning.  Back-to-back singles by Afflerbach and Chris Rabasco (2-for-4, intentional BB) with one out in the 8th inning put Parkland in good shape to end the extra inning game, but they too would be stranded on base.  In all the Trojans stranded a total of 11 base runners during the game. 

Starting pitcher Michael Jenkins went 4 and 2/3 innings before having to leave the game due to injury.   Jenkins dominated the Blue Eagles allowing only one base hit with no walks and had 9 strikeouts.  Jenkins retired 13 of the 16 batters he faced with one of those batters reaching base due to a Parkland fielding error.  Harsha Bollu took the mound in relief of Jenkins and Bollu worked three innings allowing one base hit with two walks.  Bollu had five strikeouts.  After Nazareth loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the 8th inning on a base hit and two walks, Evan McAndrew took the mound in relief of Bollu and got the final out of the inning with an infield pop up to end the Nazareth threat.  McAndrew went on to pitch 2 and 1/3 perfect innnings of relief for the win, retiring all seven batters he faced in order, along with three strikeouts. 

In the bottom of the 10th inning, Mueller doubled on a fly ball that dropped into left-center.  After reaching third base on a wild pitch, intentional walks to Afflerbach and Rabasco loaded the bases with one out.  With the Nazareth infield playing up, McAndrew grounded to second base.  The throw to homeplate was wide of the catcher and pinch runner EJ Brandt scored the walk off winning run for the 1-0 victory.