Parkland High School Baseball

Gabe Mosser, Parkland’s senior pitcher, is the 2014 Morning Call Player of the Year.  Mosser is the first Parkland ball player to be named player of the year since 2003 when Garrison Rausch earned that honor.  Mosser was also named to the Morning Call All-Area 1^st Team and to the PA All-State 1^st Team by the Pennsylvania High School Baseball Coaches Association.  These honors cap off an amazing year for Mosser who led the Trojans to the 2014 LVC & District XI championships. 

Mosser’s 2014 performance on the mound was arguably the best ever by a high school pitcher in our area and one for the Parkland record books.  Mosser collected a record of 9-2 with an incredibly low ERA of 0.69.  Four of those wins were complete game shutouts.  In 60.2 innings pitched during the season, Gabe only allowed 6 earned runs while recording an astounding 106 strikeouts, shattering the Parkland single season record of 74 strikeouts held by Andrew Kulp from the 2009 season.  Mosser now holds Parkland’s all-time single season records for most wins (9), most shutouts (4), and most strikeouts (106). 

Gabe was on the mound for all the critical games this year.  He pitched complete game shutouts twice against rival Whitehall.  He quieted the potent Emmaus bats with 13 strikeouts for the shutout victory in the 2014 LVC championship game, and he outpitched Stroudsburg’s highly ranked pitcher, Mike Nikorak, to win the 2014 District XI championship game.  For his career at Parkland, Mosser pitched 6 shutout games, holds a 0.83 ERA, and had 145 strikeouts; all tops on Parkland’s all-time career record list.  Gabe will continue his baseball career in college when he attends Shippensburg University starting this fall.

Congratulations to Gabe!

Chris Rabasco, Parkland’s junior shortstop and relief pitcher, was named to the 2014 All-Area 1^st Team by The Morning Call and the PA All-State second team by the Pennsylvania High School Baseball Coaches Association.  This recognition caps off an outstanding season for the third year varsity player.  His performance at the plate contributed to Parkland winning both the LVC and District XI championships this year, earned him LVC All-Conference honors, and Chris also ended his college recruitment this year when he verbally committed to attend and play baseball at the University of Pennsylvania.

As the number three hitter in the batting order, Rabasco was the offensive leader for the Trojan baseball team all season and led the team in most offensive categories.  His batting average of .468 was a team high, as well as his on-base percentage of .543.  He also led the team in total base hits (37), doubles (13), triples (2), runs scored (22), RBI’s (24), and slugging percentage (.683). 

Rabasco collected at least one base hit in 23 of Parkland’s 26 games this season and had 11 multi-hit games.  He had an impressive .529 batting average when at the plate with runners in scoring position.  He drove in three runs in the LVC championship win against Emmaus, hit the game winning RBI base hit against Liberty to send the Trojans to the District XI championship game, and he had Parkland’s only RBI in their state playoff loss to Spring-Ford.

With his 13 doubles this year, Rabasco is now Parkland’s all-time leader for most doubles in a season.  With one more year to play, Rabasco is also tied for most doubles in a career by a Parkland player with 21.  Chris returns to the team next season for his senior season.

Congratulations to Chris!

Pitcher Connor Higgins, pitcher/infielder Alex Flynn, and outfielder Jeff Strisovsky receive 2014 Morning Call All-Area honorable mention. 

Junior southpaw Higgins was a key part of a strong Trojan pitching staff this season.  Higgins had a record of 4-1 in 38.1 innings of work and had 59 strikeouts.  He allowed only 4 earned runs for an impressive 0.73 ERA.   He was on the mound for the LVC semi-final matchup against Whitehall and pitched six strong innings with 8 strikeouts with the Trojans winning that game in extra innings on their way to the LVC championship.  Opposing batters only managed a .156 batting average when Higgins was on the mound and he struck out the lead off hitter of an inning 15 times during the season.  He threw six innings of shutout baseball in consecutive starts; a victory over Central Catholic where he struck out 10 and a 9 strikeout performance for the win over Pleasant Valley. The Indiana commit returns to the team next year for his senior season.

Junior outfielder Strisovsky was one of the key contributors, both offensively and defensively, to the Trojan’s championship season.  Strisovsky batted .328 from the second spot in the Trojan batting order this season and with his 19 walks earned a .487 on-base percentage.  He hit 5 doubles and scored 18 runs, and led the team with 5 sacrifice bunts/flies.  Jeff was even more productive during the second half of the season and during the Trojan’s playoff run.   He batted .400 with an outstanding .571 on-base percentage during the Trojan post-season, along with 7 runs scored.  Jeff was also recognized this season by the LVC receiving All-Conference honorable mention.  Jeff returns to the team next year for his senior season.

Flynn was a two-way player earning a record of 6-1 with a 1.46 ERA as a starting pitcher, and he played second base when not on the mound.  He hurled two complete game shutouts during the season earning victories against Northampton and Easton.  He earned two playoff wins during postseason play.  He pitched three innings of shutout baseball in relief for the extra innings win against Whitehall in the LVC semi-final, and he was on the mound for the District XI playoff win against Liberty working 6 strong innings.  Flynn had 36 strikeouts in his 38.1 innings of total work on the mound this season.  For his career at Parkland, Alex earned a spot on Parkland’s all-time record lists.  With 12 career wins on the mound he is fourth on the list for most career wins, and he is third on the all-time list for most career shutouts with four. 

At the plate, Flynn batted .291 with four doubles and a triple.  He led all Trojans with 21 walks and had an outstanding .500 on-base percentage, which earned him the lead off spot in the batting order for the second half of the season.  More impressively, Alex came on strong at the end of the season and during the postseason helping Parkland win both the 2014 LVC and District XI championships.  He collected at least one base hit in 8 out of the last 9 games of the season, batting .500 with 9 walks and 8 runs scored during that span.  In the post-season, he had a batting average of .400 with 6 walks and 6 runs scored.  Alex will be attending Temple University in the fall.

Congratulations to Connor, Alex and Jeff!

PITCHING LEADERS

PITCHING LEADERS