Dallastown, Nick Parker cruise into district title game
While some players might feel fatigue as the season moves along, Nick Parker might just be hitting his stride right now.
Dallastown's junior right-hander cruised to a complete-game victory, striking out eight in the Wildcats' 3-0 win over Penn Manor in the District 3 Class 6A tournament semifinals on Tuesday. The game was played at Manheim Township High School.
The No. 2-seeded Wildcats will play the winner between No. 1 Governor Mifflin and No. 4 Warwick, which was rained out Tuesday night. The two teams were re-scheduled to play Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Wenger Stadium in Fredericksburg.
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Tuesday's win, which also clinched a PIAA tournament berth for the Wildcats, was fast and efficient. Parker and his counterpart, Penn Manor hurler Matt Tulli, both threw well and each team recorded just three hits apiece.
Dallastown got its runs in the first inning (a Bryant Holtzapple groundout that scored Tye Golden), the second inning (a Zach Ness RBI double) and the fifth inning (when an infield ground ball was thrown away by Penn Manor).
From there, Parker breezed right through.
The junior missed the majority of the season after suffering an arm injury just prior to the 2017 campaign.
He returned at the tail end of YAIAA play, and has pitched and played third base for the Wildcats down the stretch.
Dallastown head coach Greg Kinneman said Parker was not in peak form the last time he took the mound in the YAIAA tournament. The script was flipped on Tuesday, however.
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"Sometimes it takes time. Sometimes you don't get back to where you know you should be, so to speak, that quickly," Kinneman said. "But we were pretty confident as a coaching staff that if we gave him the ball back tonight, that we would see a different Nick Parker. And we absolutely, certainly did."
Parker said he felt in top form in the bullpen, as he warmed prior to the contest.
"This is my third or fourth outing of the year," Parker pointed out. "This is actually just about when I'd get hot anyway. Our slogan is, you got to finish. It's not how you start, but how you finish."