Parkland High School Baseball

The JV team improved their record to 4-1 on the season with a 3-run, 7th inning rally to beat Pleasant Valley 7-4.  Will Algard threw 4-2/3 no-hit innings in relief to secure the win.  Algard faced just 15 batters, recording 14 straight outs, striking out six while allowing 1 walk.  Starting pitcher Nick Iannotta worked 2-1/3 innings, giving up 4 runs on 4 hits, recording 2 strikeouts and 3 walks.

The Trojans jumped out to an early lead scoring 3 runs in the top of the first.  Ryan Giovenco (2 for 3, BB, 2R) singled to start the inning.  Ethan Imler (1 for 2, BB, 2R, RBI) walked and the runners moved to 2nd and 3rd on a wild pitch.  Matt Mellinger (1 for 4, 2R, 3RBI) singled to score Giovenco and Imler.  Nate Markowicz (2 for 4, double, 2 RBI) followed with a single to score Mellinger.  Pleasant Valley responded with 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st, making the score 3-2.  Parkland added a run in the 3rd inning to take a 4-2 lead. Markowicz doubled down the left field line to score Mellinger who had reached base on error.  Pleasant Valley responded once again, scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd to tie the game at 4.

Scott Hudock (0 for 2, BB, R) got the 7th inning started with a lead-off walk.  Giovenco singled to right field, moving Hudock to third.  An Imler single scored Hudock and advanced Giovenco to third.  Giovenco scored on a Mellinger fielder's choice and Imler scored on a Nick Stillittano ground ball for the final run of the inning and the 7-4 victory.

The JV team suffered its first defeat of the season in a hard fought 4-3 loss to Wilson West Lawn.  Another strong pitching performance by Collin Duff and Christian Kinsley combined to allow just three hits, coming up just short of the win as the Trojan offense scored 3 runs on 7 hits.  Starting pitcher Duff worked 4-2/3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 1 hit, striking out five while allowing 3  walks.  Kinsley pitched the final 2-1/3 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits, recording 3 strikeouts and 1 walk.

Wilson West Lawn got on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the 1st inning.  The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the 4th when the Trojans tied the game 1-1.  Ethan Imler (1 for 3, R) singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a Nate Markowicz ground ball.  Will Algard (1-3, RBI) singled to score Imler.  Christian Kinsley (1 for 2) followed with a single, but the inning ended with two runners left on base.  Wilson West Lawn regained the lead 3-1 in the top of the 5th.  The Trojans responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 3.  Scotty Hudock (2 for 3, R) led off with a single followed by a Joey Bolick (2 for 4, R) single putting runners on the corners.  Hudock scored on a Ryan Giovenco ground ball, moving Bolick to third.  A Matt Mellinger (0 for 3, RBI) ground ball scored Bolick, making the score 3-3.  Wilson West Lawn scored a run in the top of the 7th and the Trojans came up empty in the bottom half of the inning for the final score of 4-3.

The Parkland Trojans continued their winning ways with a convincing 13-1 win over Wilson West Lawn in a non-conference match-up.  Starting pitcher Michael Jenkins worked four strong innings to collect his first varsity victory.  Jenkins allowed one run on two hits while striking out two.  Jenkins retired the first five batters of the game before a Parkland fielding error put a runner on base for Wilson.  Furthermore, he retired 9 of the first 11 batters of the game with the two Wilson hitters only reaching base due to two Parkland fielding errors.  Jenkins did not allow a base hit until the 4th inning when Wilson got its two hits and scored their lone run of the game. 

The Trojans plated three runs in the second inning when they loaded the based with a Tyler Bruno (3-for-3, two triples, BB, HBP, 2 R, 2 RBI) single, Harrison Rabenold (0-for-2, BB, 2 R, RBI) walk, and a Cullan Wadsworth (1-for-2, HBP, 2 R) bunt single.  Austin Mueller (1-for-4, RBI) then hit an RBI single followed by a Jenkins RBI ground out.  Wadsworth scored Parkland's third run of the inning on a wild pitch.  Parkland tacked on another three runs in the third inning when Justin Afflerbach (1-for-4, HBP, R) reached base on an error and Chris Rabasco (1-for-3, triple, BB, R, RBI) tripled to deep centerfield to score Afflerbach.  Bruno followed with his own triple to the gap in right-center to score Rabasco.  Bruno then scored on a Rabenold RBI ground out to put Parkland up by a score of 6-0 after three innings of play.

After Wilson got on the board with a run in the 4th inning, Parkland added three runs each in the 5th and 7th inings, along with a single run in the 6th inning.  In the 5th, Bruno drove another ball to the right-center gap for his second triple of the game to score Evan McAndrew (0-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R), who had reached base on a walk.  Jeff Strisovsky (1-for-4, 2 RBI) drove in two runs with a 2-RBI single.  Kyle Friebolin (0-for-2, RBI) plated Parkland's run in the 6th inning on an RBI ground out that scored McAndrew.  In the 7th, Isaac Neal (0-for-0, BB, R) walked, pinch hitter Kyle Novobilski (1-for-1, R) singled, and Afflerbach was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Pinch hitter Connor Higgins (0-for-1, R, RBI) hit an RBI fielder's choice, Friebolin then reached base on a fielding error that allowed two more Parkland runs to score for the 13-1 lead.

Relief pitcher Harsha Bollu took the mound in the 5th inning and worked a total of two innings of no-hit ball, allowing four walks while striking out four.  After walking the based loaded in the 6th inning with one out, Bollu worked himself out of the jam with an infield pop up and ended the threat with a strikeout.   Alec Bartholomew pitched a 1-2-3 perfect 7th inning with two strikeouts to seal the win for the Trojans.

The Parkland Trojans improved their record to 4-0 with a dominant win over visiting Pocono Mountain West (PMW), cruising to a 16-1 victory in a game called after 4 innings of play.  A scheduled away game for the Trojans, poor field conditions in the Poconos moved the game to Parkland High School where the lights were turned on for the 4:00 PM game due to the cold, dark and overcast conditions.  Senior pitcher Evan McAndrew hurled a complete game, pitching 4 innings allowing one run on three hits and one walk.  McAndrew also struck out seven.  PMW got off to a quick start with their first inning lead off batter doubling down the left field line, eventually scoring to give PMW a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning.  McAndrew settled down nicely after that first inning retiring 10 of the last 12 batters.

Parkland answered quickly in the bottom of the 1st inning scoring three runs on three hits and two walks.  Jeff Strisovsky (2-for-3, double, BB, 3 R, RBI) led off with a walk and advanced to third base after stealing second base and reaching third on a wild pitch.  Justin Afflerbach (1-for-2, BB, R, RBI) scored Strisovsky on an RBI ground out.  Chris Rabasco (1-for-3, 2 R) singled and later scored on an RBI single by Tyler Bruno (2-for3, triple, 3 R, RBI).  Cullan Wadsworth (3-for-4, double, 3 RBI) doubled to plate Bruno for the 3-0 lead.  After going scoreless in the 2nd inning, the Trojans broke the game open with an 8-run third inning.  Bruno led off the inning with a triple, Harrison Rabenold (0-for-1, 2 BB, R) walked.  Both Bruno and Rabenold advanced and scored on wild pitches.  Rhett Jacoby (1-for-4, double, R) got things going again with a double and scored on an RBI single by Andrew Roth (1-for-2, R, RBI).  Strisovsky singled to score Roth.  A sacrifice fly by McAndrew (0-for-2, sac fly, RBI) scored Afflerbach who had reached base on a single.  Wadsworth collected his second hit of the game with an RBI single. 

Parkland then ended the game in the bottom of the 4th inning, scoring 5 more runs for the 16-1 victory.  Strisovsky hit a one-out double, EJ Brandt (0-for-0, BB) walked, and Strisovsky scored on an Austin Mueller (1-for-1, R, RBI) pinch hit single.   A ground ball by Michael Jenkins (0-for-1, R, RBI) scored Kyle Novobilski (0-for-1, R) who had reached base on a fielders choice earlier in the inning.  Kyle Friebolin (0-for-1, R) reached base on a fielder's choice and Wadsworth drove home Mueller on an RBI single.  Friebolin scored the game-ending run on a PMW ground ball fielding error off the bat of Jacoby. 

Shippensburg University freshman Gabe Mosser (Parkland 2014) was named pitcher of the week by both the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).  Mosser recorded two league victories last week for the Raiders.  He pitched a complete game against East Stroudsburg University striking out nine batters on six hits.  He then pitched a complete game against Kutztown University allowing three runs on four hits and five walks, and had 13 strikeouts.  Congratulations to Gabe!