South Parkland’s regular season championship in the Lehigh Valley Legion League gave them a spot in the Legion Regionals at Quakertown Community Park recently. The double elimination tournament sends one team to states, and the Trojans were looking to be that team.

Things didn’t go their way in regionals and they bowed out of the tournament after just two games. The Trojans dropped a 9-8 decision to Boyertown and then fell to Hellertown in a 4-0 loss.

The top of the order provided most of the offense for Parkland with their first five hitters hitting a combined .364 (12-for-33) in the two games with four runs scored and six of their eight runs driven in. Jake Strobl and Ryan Rooney both collected three hits with Strobl scoring two runs and driving in a run against Boyertown. Rooney also scored a run against the Bears.

Ben Weninger, Andrew Bowser, and Carter DeLong each had two hits and Weninger scored a run and drove in three, including delivering a two-run double as part of a three-run fourth inning against Boyertown.

Weninger also delivered three innings on the mound without allowing a hit. He walked three and struck out three and allowed just one unearned run.

The South Parkland game against Boyertown opened the tournament and the Bears took a 1-0 lead after two innings. After settling in, Parkland’s offense went to work with a five-run top of the third just going base-to-base. Grant Damweber, Nolan Wampler, and Rooney all reached base and were followed by a single by Strobl to score a run, Weninger drew a bases-loaded walk, followed by base hits by Bowser and Jaxon Kramer. A Boyertown error led to another run in the inning for a 5-1 Trojans lead.

“We have some guys who can hit for us. Our offense has been pretty steady throughout most of the season with just a couple rough spots,” said coach Will Algard. “We can trust in our pitching to hold the other team down, too.”

After the three-run fourth, Parkland held an 8-1 lead, but all of the hitting from Parkland woke up the Bears who responded with four runs in their half of the fourth and then added two runs in the fifth and sixth to retake the lead at 9-8.

South Parkland put the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the seventh but couldn’t push them across.

Two Hellertown pitchers held down the Parkland offense on just six hits and four walks in the 4-0 shutout that eliminated the Trojans. While the Hellertown pitching was able to control the bats, the Trojans did make contact. None of the Parkland hitters struck out in the game, while their pitchers – Mack Parsell and Carter Wanamaker – struck out eight Hellertown batters.

“Overall, we had a good season,” said Algard. “We would have liked to add some wins here and there that would have made it a great season, but we can hold our heads high with the league championship to our credit.”

Parkland finished the season 17-6 with a regular season league championship to their credit.

The Quakertown Blue Jays, the host team, went on to win the regional tournament to advance to states.