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On April 1, the pitchers were not foolin’ around in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference baseball game between Parkland and Northampton at the Konkrete Kids’ Mike Lisetski Field.
Three Trojans hurlers combined on a four-hitter and two Northampton pitchers allowed just two hits.
But Parkland pushed across a pair of unearned runs in a 2-1 EPC victory.
“We didn’t do a very job at the plate, that’s for sure,” Trojans coach Kurt Weber said. “It was frustrating that we didn’t really hit or do a good job of putting the ball in play. But we pitched our way to a win.”
Parkland (5-1, 4-1 EPC) got its only runs in the fourth.
A walk by Brady Derr and a line drive to right by Brody Morabito that Parkland scored as a double and Northampton called a two-base error put runners at second and third. With two out, Derr scored on an error on Aiden Henning’s grounder to second.
The second run scored when Parkland’s Julian Santiago stole home while Henning was tagged out on the bases.
Northampton got within one with help from a Parkland error in the fifth. The Konkrete Kids had runners on second and third with two out in the sixth, and then had the tying run at second in the seventh, but couldn’t score.
“Giving them two unearned runs hurt,” Northampton coach Mick Sugra said. “We had a routine groundball to get out of that inning with no runs being scored and we didn’t make the play. But that’s high school baseball. We’re in one of those streaks right now where we are not getting the breaks.”
The Konkrete Kids (4-3, 2-3) were coming off a disappointing defeat to defending EPC champion and perennial powerhouse Liberty on Friday. Northampton led the Hurricanes 6-2 after five innings, but gave up three runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh and lost 7-6 despite outhitting Liberty 9-5.
“When you have a 6-2 lead and need just six outs, you’ve got to be able to shut the door,” Sugra said. “We struggled with 11 walks in that game. A few of them were intentional, but you’re not going to win close games against good teams with that many walks. And then today we get a runner picked off on a bunt attempt that comes down to getting good reads with our base-running, which is something we worked on at Monday’s practice.
“But we tell these guys all the time that we believe in them and we feel there’s definitely enough talent in this room to compete for championships. We’ll keep preaching that to these guys. It’s tough for a teenager to understand that. We’re right there. We’ve just got to make that last play. We’ll put it together eventually.”
Parkland’s pitching trio of Chase Brunner, Mack Parsell and Stephen Sepko had it together in allowing just four hits. Brunner worked five innings, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out five in an 81-pitch effort. Parsell worked one-third of an inning and Sepko came on to get the last five outs.
“Chase pitched really well and has the potential to be a really good pitcher for us,” Weber said. “Steve is still working his way back from an injury he had last year so we’ve been using him as a closer, but he will transition into being a starting pitcher. But we’ve got to do a better job offensively. In the first three innings, [Brady Simock] struck out seven and five of them were looking. So, that’s not a good recipe.”
Both Weber and Sugra agreed that the Parkland-Northampton baseball rivalry has been a good one over the years. Tuesday marked their only contest of the season since they are now in separate divisions and going forward there are going to be seasons where they are not going to meet at all in the regular season.
“We enjoy our rivalry against Northampton and I enjoy coaching against Mick and we always have good games,” Weber said. “The sportsmanship is always there and it’s disappointing we only get to play them once and we were lucky to get this one game because there will be years when we won’t get to play them at all.”
Sugra agreed, saying: “I appreciate playing Parkland. I love playing Parkland. We want the toughest schedule we can have and sometimes that bites us. But at the same time it hardens us for, hopefully, a postseason run.”
Up next for the K-Kids is a game against Bethlehem Catholic at 3 p.m. Thursday at Coca-Cola Park. The Trojans host Allentown Central Catholic at 4:45 p.m. Thursday.
Other Tuesday baseball games
Allentown CCHS 2, Freedom 1
Nolan Young pitched a one-hitter and allowed only an unearned run while Michael Martinez got a bases-loaded walk for a tying run in the third and Matt Rader singled and scored the winning run in the sixth as the Vikings remained the only undefeated team in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference baseball. Young, a junior, walked one and struck out. Brian Renshaw had the only hit for Freedom (4-2, 4-1 EPC). Andrew Bowser singled and scored for the VIkings (7-0, 5-0).
Liberty 8, Emmaus 6
The Hurricanes (5-1, 5-0) took a 7-0 lead after two innings and then held off a Green Hornets rally to remain unbeaten in EPC games. Jacob Matthews hit a home run and drove in two runs, while Jaxon Horvath had a two-run double and Dylan Metzgar doubled in one run. Emmaus (4-2, 3-2) got three RBIs from Bryan Kain.
Stroudsburg 9, Pleasant Valley 5
Alex Pacitti had two doubles and drove in three runs, Ryan Pacitti had two doubles, two RBIs and scored three runs, and Anthony Knight drove in three runs as the Mounties improved to 3-2 both in the league and overall. Damian Budhai went the distance, scattering three hits while walking two and striking out eight. Cameron King had a two-run double for the Bears (1-5, 0-5).
Dieruff 4, Allen 2
The Huskies (1-5, 1-4) got their first win of the season, getting a combined five-hitter with just one walk by Dylan Sebesta and Jean Varela. Varela also had two doubles and knocked in two runs. Bryan DeJesus doubled in a run, Frawley Peralta had two hits, including a double, and scored a run and Cy Oliver had three hits and scored a run. Joel Chacon had two hits for Allen (1-7, 0-5).
Bethlehem Catholic 9, Whitehall 7
Petros Tsihilis worked three scoreless innings in relief, allowing just one hit, as the Golden Hawks improved to 3-5, 2-4 EPC. Caden Deegan had two hits, including a double, and scored two runs. Bryce Blawn had two hits, scored two runs and knocked in two and Joey Richards had a two-run double and drove in three runs overall. Tyler Reichenbach had three RBIs for the Zephyrs (3-2, 2-2).
East Stroudsburg South 6, Pocono Mountain East 5
Aaron Kasperski doubled in the go-ahead run with two out in the fifth inning and the Cavaliers went on to post a key Monroe County division win. Alex Perez had three hits, scored a run and knocked in one as South improved to 4-3, 4-2. Liam Huffman scattered three hits over six innings and allowed just one earned run. Logan Rasmussen worked one scoreless in relief to get the save. Vincent Gambino and Connor Triano had two RBIs apiece for the Cardinals (5-2, 3-2).
Nazareth 9, Delaware Valley 1
Landon Glovas had a two-run double and drove in four runs overall as the Blue Eagles jumped to an 8-0 lead after three innings and never looked back in a non-league victory. Matt Daems had a double, stole two bases and scored twice for Nazareth (3-2). Isaiah Sack and Bobby Grzenda combined for a three-hitter on the mound. Sack gave up all three hits over four innings. Grzenda walked three and struck out six in his three-inning stint.
Saucon Valley 10, Northwestern Lehigh 0
Senior standout and Texas A&M commit Cole Hubert fired a one-hitter with one walk and 10 strikeouts as the Panthers improved to 5-0 with a Colonial League road win. Cannon Fitch had the lone hit for the Tigers, who lost for the first time after six wins. Hubert was also instrumental in the Saucon offense with a home run and two hits and two RBIs overall. Noah Hubert knocked in two runs and Andrew Gilbert had three hits, scored a run and knocked in one for Saucon.
