The Parkland High School baseball team recently completed its most successful season in the last decade.

The Trojans finished 20-6 overall and 13-3 in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. They won both the EPC and District 11 championships for the first time since 2015.

“It was a great season,” Trojan head coach Kurt Weber said. “We played really good baseball for most of the year, particularly our pitching and defense. The players represented the school well. The players continually got better. Accomplished our annual goals of winning the division crown, which we had won every year since the league has formed until last year, winning the league championship and winning the district championship.”

Parkland’s season came to an end in the first round of the state playoffs when it fell to District 1’s fourth-place team in Neshaminy, 3-1, last Monday, June 2.

“We had one bad stretch of pitching in the top of the third that gave Neshaminy some life with a three-run lead,” said Weber. “We just lost the zone suddenly. Offensively, Neshaminy did a great job of getting our leadoff hitter out for most of the game, which limited our small ball game.

“We did have opportunities late but just couldn’t get that key hit. Frustrating loss because we felt we were the better team, but anything can happen in baseball.”

The Inidians scored all three of their runs in the third inning when one hit, two walks and two hit batters allowed Neshaminy’s first five batters of the inning to reach base.

The Trojans’ run came with two out in the bottom of the seventh inning on a Mackaden Parsell sacrifice fly.

Brody Morabito went 3-for-3 in the state playoff game, accounting for most of Parkland’s five hits in the loss. Steven Sepko pitched five innings and allowed just one hit and no runs. Starter Chase Brunner, who allowed just one hit and struck out five batters, was tagged with the loss after giving up the three third-inning runs.

It was a successful season overall for Parkland, which took down defending champion Liberty in both the league and district title games.

“We’ve been very close the last few years,” said Weber. “But this group was able to bring home two gold medals. Single elimination baseball is brutal. You need to be really good, need good health and also need some luck. I am not ashamed of the silver medals we had earned before because I know how tough it is to just get to the finals, but it sure felt good to finish both playoffs on top.”

The Trojans will graduate 10 players from this year’s team, including Julian Santiago, Connor Gerhart, Will Dobil, Morabito, Nate Unger, Brady Derr, Peyton Scherff, Julio Ventura, Sepko and Parsell.

“We will certainly miss this group of seniors,” Weber said. “Sepko was a four-year player. Dobil, Morabito, Parsell were three-year players. I can’t say enough about Will’s leadership and his production, especially down the stretch. The other three dealt with significant injuries at times in their careers so it was extra satisfying to see them enjoy success this year. Unger, Derr and Gerhart just kept working and getting better each year and developed into integral parts of our everyday lineup. Scherff, Santiago and Ventura all had important contributions during the season. So, those 10 will be tough to replace.”

Dobil led the lineup with a .458 batting average with 33 hits, 15 RBIs and 23 runs scored. Derr had a .338 average with 22 hits, five RBIs and 11 runs. Ben Weninger recorded a .288 average with 21 hits and 22 RBIs. Morabito tallied 17 hits and eight RBIs. Both Parsell and Unger ended with 16 hits and combined for 25 RBIs. Chase Brunner contributed 14 hit and 11 RBIs. Sepko threw 27.1 innings with a 1.28 ERA and Unger had a 1.40 ERA in 40 innings. Brunner finished with a 1.88 ERA in 26 innings pitched.

Now that the Trojans experienced being on top again, they want to continue the trend next season.

“With the pitching we have returning next year we actually have the potential to pitch better next year,” said Weber. “We do lose major pieces of our offense this year. Our JV team was 18-2 and the two losses were in nonleague games. There will be a lot of new faces next year and there will be playing time opportunities.

“There is a huge difference between JV and varsity, so those younger guys need to continue to develop. I love the teaching part of coaching so I am anxious to get to work and see who will step up.”