One can call the Parkland Trojans underdogs and put the odds against them. This Trojans team really doesn’t care. Those who are smart, though, won’t bet against the Trojans because they’re also out to prove that none of that stuff matters at this point in the season.

The Bangor Slaters were 23-0 coming into the District 11 Class 4A baseball semifinal. The thing about the playoffs is that just one loss ends a team’s season immediately and Parkland (15-7) was the one moving on after beating Bangor 2-1 at Lehigh University Monday.

Mike Jenkins was on the mound for Parkland and is used to dealing with having to hold opponents to a minimum amount of runs, so facing a team that had outscored its opponents 188-27 this season wasn’t anything for Jenkins to worry about.

“I wasn’t worried about that too much,” said Jenkins, a junior who has been a key player all season long. “They’re a great team, but I knew that our defense would be there for me and I didn’t have to do it all myself. I was hoping to keep the runs down to give our offense a chance and it worked out.”

In addition to throwing a complete game and allowing just three hits and a walk, Jenkins chipped in with an RBI single to put Parkland up 2-1 in the fourth.

“I was just looking to make contact and didn’t really try to do too much with it,” said Jenkins.

The single scored Kyle Friebolin from third base. The other run came from mate Austin Mueller homered in the second inning to tie the game 1-1. The shot came right after Mueller had hit another blast to right field that twisted just foul, but had home run distance. Both runs came off starter and Colonial League Most Valuable Player Carson Freeman, who took the loss for Bangor.

“I’m proud of how these guys responded this year,” said coach Kurt Weber. “We had some injuries and started the year struggling, but they never quit and they’ve done a great job. It’s going to be interesting to face Easton again, because we’re a very different team from the first time that we faced them this year.”

Easton downed Stroudsburg 3-1 in the other semifinal matchup to meet Parkland in the championship game. The two teams opened the regular season against each other, with the Red Rovers taking a 12-0 win in a game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule. It was the first of two losses in the first three games of the season for Parkland, but as Weber mentioned, the team is different since then.

“I think we saw that we could still win even with the injuries that we had and we just started to slowly put things together,” said Weber. “Guys became more comfortable with their roles and before you knew it, we had some wins strung together. We’ve come this far and it’s just a matter of taking advantage of the opportunity. I know our guys will be ready and they certainly won’t be intimidated by that first loss.”

Last season, Parkland reached the semifinals of the PIAA playoffs before falling to Wyoming Valley West 5-1. The Spartans went on to lose in the championship game of states, falling to North Penn 4-3 in eight innings. This year’s tournament opens on Monday, with the District 11 champion playing the third place team from District One in the opening round.