On a night when all of the hype and attention was around Stroudsburg starting pitcher Mike Nikorak, it was Parkland in the end that garnered the attention.

Nikorak, who is projected to be selected in the first round of the MLB draft, had his fair share of scouts there to watch the senior right hander. But it was the Trojans staff of seniors Evan McAndrew and Chris Rabasco that held down one of the top hitting offenses in the league for a 4-2 win last Thursday night at Hackett Park in Easton.

It was the first East Penn Conference title for Parkland, and its second league title in a row.

Junior Tyler Bruno had three straight hits off Nikorak in finishing his night 3-for-4 with a triple and a double and two RBIs. All three hits came in clutch situations.

Nikorak finished with 10 strikeouts in five-plus innings, and also had two hits at the plate.

"I don't think it could have went better," Bruno said. "We came into the game, and we respected him. We knew he was going to throw hard, throw his curveballs tight. But I just came in with the mindset of just squaring the ball up and getting in on it early, and I saw it really well tonight."

Even with great stuff, Nikorak struggled at times with command. Parkland (22-1 overall) turned two of Nikorak's three walks into runs and used aggressive baserunning to score two other runs.

Nikorak started the fifth with Stroudsburg (21-2) trailing 3-2 but allowed a leadoff single to Parkland freshman outfielder Cullan Wadsworth. Wadsworth took second on a passed ball and moved to third on a throwing error before sophomore Austin Mueller smacked an RBI single past Stroudsburg's drawn-in infield.

That was it for Nikorak, after throwing 99 pitches.

McAndrew held Stroudsburg to four hits and two runs (one earned), in five innings. Rabasco allowed three singles in the seventh inning but also struck out three batters, including Nikorak after C.J. Lopez's leadoff single.

He allowed four hits but walked no one and struck out five in two scoreless relief innings. The two combined to hold a Mounties lineup that was averaging 8.6 runs per game this season and 9.3 runs per game during a 16-game winning streak to its second-lowest output of the season.

"This means a lot as a senior," noted Rabasco. "This is the year you want to go out with a bang.

"This is just the first step of the way for us. We've been here before. We've been to the next level too. For us to make this year special, we want to go win some games in states and just be competitive in every game."

Parkland began district play Wednesday in the quarterfinals as the number one seed. The Trojans look to win a third straight district championship. Semifinal games are scheduled for Saturday with finals Tuesday at Coca-Cola Park.