South Parkland isn’t a team that worried much about having its backs to the wall. In the regionals, after the Trojans first loss of the double-elimination tournament, the players basically shrugged their shoulders and went about their business to win the tournament and reach the Pennsylvania American Legion Tournament.

In the state tournament, South Parkland won its first two games before dropping a 3-2 game to host Ephrata. Again, the team seemingly shrugged as it planned to carry on through the rest of the bracket and emerge as the state champion. Little did the Trojans know that the very next day, Wesleyville, a team from Region 8, would eliminate them in a 9-7 game that featured a controversial call at the plate.

With one out in the ninth, Adam Mellinger was hit by a pitch, giving South Parkland a hole that it seemed they would use to climb their way through for another heroic win. Michael Jenkins followed with a well-hit ball to left-center that found open spaces. Mellinger steamed around the bases, with manager Tom Kahn waving him around third. A good throw had the ball at the plate ahead of Mellinger, but as the play continued, it appeared that catcher Albert Taylor may have juggled the ball slightly. The out call was made and the umpires refused to hear the pleas of Kahn and the call stood.

“We can’t whine about the umpiring,” said Kahn. “The bottom line is that we didn’t play well enough to win. We stranded runners and put ourselves in a hole and just couldn’t get out of it this time.”

Parkland started off slowly in the game, stranding seven runners in the first three innings against Wesleyville and 15 over the course of the game. Twice, the Trojans fell behind and looked to battle back, but could only accomplish that once, with their final attempt coming up short. Parkland had its chances, collecting 10 hits and six walks, while Wesleyville made six errors in the game.

The back-to-back losses were the first since mid-June when the Trojans lost three straight games and five out of six to fall to 3-5 in what looked like it would be a tough season. From there though, the team found its way and rattled off seven wins in its next eight games before racing through the Lehigh Valley Legion playoffs and then the regionals to advance to states.

“These guys have nothing to hang their heads about,” said Kahn. “They have a lot to be proud of. They battled through a tough league with a lot of games backing up, and then they were great in the playoffs through the league, regionals and even here [in states]. They were an exciting group to watch and a good group to coach.”

A win over Wesleyville would have put South Parkland in the Mid-Atlantic Tournament this week in Purcellville, Virginia. Both Ephrata – the state champion – and Wesleyville garnered spots in the tournament.

The winner of the Mid-Atlantic Tournament advances to the American Legion Baseball World Series in Shelby, North Carolina.