News and Announcements
Parkland Wins LVC Championship; Mosser Throws Complete Game Shutout with 13 K's
The Parkland Trojans beat Emmaus in a blow out 9-0 victory to win the 2014 Lehigh Valley Conference Championship at Hackett Park in Easton. This is the fifth conference championship for head coach Tony Galucy, who is in his 12th year leading the Trojan baseball program. The Trojans put together their best overall team performance of the season when it counted most. The offense collected a total of nine hits along with six base-on-balls, the defense played errorless ball, and the pitching was absolutely dominant.
Senior pitcher Gabe Mosser went the distance in a complete game shutout against an Emmaus team that is tops offensively in the LVC. Mosser scattered five hits, all singles, along with one walk. Mosser struck out 13 batters, including striking out the side in order in the bottom of the 7th inning to put an exclamation point on his performance. After allowing a lead off hit in the 1st inning to start the game, Mosser proceeded to retire 14 of the next 15 batters with only one of those batters reaching base on a 3rd inning walk.
The game was scoreless after two innings of play. Justin Afflerbach led off the 3rd inning with a walk. After Afflerbach advanced to second base on a fielder's choice groundout, Jeff Strisovsky (2-for-3, BB, RBI, 2 runs) hit a line drive up the middle for an RBI single and give the Trojans the 1-0 lead. Parkland then broke open the game with a 5-run 5th inning, taking advantage of Emmaus' pitching control problems. Brad Vasilik got it started with a lead off walk and then advanced to second base on an Afflerbach sacrifice bunt. Walks to Alex Flynn (2-for-3, BB, 2 runs) and Strisovsky loaded the bases for Chris Rabasco (1-for-3, 3B, BB, 3 RBI, 2 runs) who also walked to collect an RBI and put Parkland up 2-0. Zach Miiller (1-for-2, 2B, BB, HBP, run, 2 RBI) then bounced a ball over the drawn-in infield for a double and two RBI's. Zach Merkle (1-for-3, sac bunt, 3 RBI) then hit a 2-RBI single to put Parkland up by a score of 6-0.
Parkand added three more runs in the 7th inning when the first four batters of the inning reached base. Flynn and Strisovsky hit back-to-back singles, then Rabasco drove a ball to the wall in right-center for a 2-RBI triple. After a walk to Miiller, Merkle plated another run with the RBI fielder's choice groundout. Designated hitter Hudson Rabenold added two hits going 2-for-4.
Rabasco & Mosser Named to LVC All-Conference Baseball Team; Strisovsky Earns Honorable Mention
Senior right-handed pitcher and first baseman Gabe Mosser and junior shortstop Chris Rabasco were named to the 2014 LVC All-Conference Baseball Team today. Mosser and Rabasco received their award during a pre-game ceremony prior to tonight's LVC championship game at Hackett Park in Easton. Junior outfielder Jeff Strisovsky was also honored for his performance this year, receiving honorable mention.
Mosser has led the Trojan pitching staff all season and currently holds a record of 7-1 with a 0.64 ERA. Three of his wins were complete game shutout victories. With nearly 44 innings pitched on the year, Mosser has only allowed four earned runs and only two hits for extra bases. Mosser has retired the side in order in over half of those innings with 23 1-2-3 innings. With a total of 74 strikeouts on the year, Mosser is tied on the Parkland all-time list for most strikeouts in a single season.
Rabasco has led the Trojan offense all season and currently has a batting average of .478. He leads the Trojans in several offensive categories, including total hits (32), doubles (12), runs scored (20), RBI (21), and OBP (.557).
Strisovsky has had an oustanding season both offensively and defensively. Batting in the second spot of the Trojan lineup, Strisovsky is currently batting .320 with a .429 OBP. He also has five doubles along with 14 runs scored and 14 walks.
Congratulations to Gabe, Chris and Jeff!
Merkle's 9th Inning Walk-Off Hit Sends Parkland to LVC Championship Game
Seven innings was not enough as two of the top teams in the Lehigh Valley Conference battled to a 2-2 tie after seven innings of play in the LVC semi-final match-up between Parkland and Whitehall at Hackett Park in Easton. Parkland's starting pitcher Connor Higgins and Whitehall pitcher Jeff Charles both had strong outings on the mound. Higgins worked six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk, with eight strikeouts. Parkland batters had seven base hits in the game with seven of the nine hitters in the lineup each collecting one hit apiece.
Higgins retired Whitehall in order in the 1st inning, including two by strikeout. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Parkland jumped out to an early lead when Jeff Strisovsky (1-for-4, 2B, 2 runs) hit a one-out double deep to right field. Chris Rabasco (1-for-3, BB, RBI) then followed with an RBI single to score Strisovsky and give Parkland a 1-0 lead after one inning of play. Whitehall quickly tied the game at 1-1 scoring in the top of the 2nd inning with two base hits. After Rabasco's RBI hit in the 1st inning, Whitehall's Charles retired the next nine Trojan batters in a row until he hit a batter in the 4th inning.
Whitehall took the lead 2-1 in the 4th inning on a solo homerun. After two quick outs in the bottom of the 5th inning, Gabe Mosser (1-for-3) got things going with a single. After a Whitehall error put runners on first and second with two outs, Brad Vasilik (1-for-3, RBI) drove a line drive to right field for an RBI single to tie the game at 2-2. Whitehall's Charles then took control again by retiring the next nine Trojans batters in a row again before Alex Flynn (1-for-4) singled in the bottom of the 8th inning.
Relief pitcher Alex Flynn took over for Higgins to start the 7th inning. Flynn worked the rest of the game into extra innings for three innings of work to earn the win. Flynn pitched three scoreless innings of relief allowing three base hits and one walk while striking out two. After two quick outs in the 7th inning, Flynn worked himself out of trouble after allowing two consecutive hits that put the go-ahead run on third base, but Flynn would get the inning ending strikeout to end the threat. Whitehall again threatened in the 9th inning with runners on the corners with one out, but a ground ball double play got the Trojans out of that jam.
In the bottom of the 9th inning with the score still knotted at 2-2, Strisovsky led off the inning and reached base on an error that also allowed him to advance to second base. After an intentional walk to Rabasco and a Zach Miiller (1-for-3) bunt single, the bases were loaded with no outs. With the Whitehall infield drawn-in, Zach Merkle (1-for-4, RBI) picked the perfect time to contribute his base hit when he bounced the first pitch over the head of the second baseman to score Strisovsky for the winning run and walk-off victory. The win sends Parkland to the LVC Championshp game to be played tomorrow against Emmaus.
