DANVILLE, Ill. – The No. 18 ranked Parkland College Baseball team extended its winning streak to six games after defeating Danville Area Community College 5-4 and 15-7 on the road on Saturday, April 15th. The Cobras (29-8) (11-5) rallied to take the lead late in both road wins over the Jaguars (12-19) (7-13) as Parkland finishes the regular season 4-0 against DACC, outhitting the Jaguars by 20 over four games in the last two days. Pitchers Alex Pipes (6-0) and Drew Evans (1-1) earned wins on Saturday.
“Great weekend,” second-year Parkland head coach Anthony Silkwood summarized after the two wins on Saturday. “Every aspect of the game, we showed to be good in. This is where we want to be at this point in the season, and this group is a blast to watch.”
Silkwood credited hitting coach Zach Pych for the team’s success, saying, “Zach does a great job working with the hitters. It is awesome to see,” Silkwood concluded satisfactorily.
Up next, Parkland will travel to face Millikin University JV in Decatur, Illinois, in a one-off game on Wednesday, April 19th. First pitch against the Big Blue is scheduled for 6:00 PM at the Workman Family Baseball Field on Wednesday.
No. 18 Parkland College 5, Danville Area Community College 4
Parkland took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning, but DACC battled back to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 2nd. The Cobras answered with a game-tying RBI double from Chase Becker (2-4, 2B, RBI) in the 3rd, and Parkland led 4-2 after sophomores Jackson Blemler (2-3, 2 R, BB) and Austin Gomm (1-3, 2B, 2 R) scored in the 5th.
The Jaguars got a run back in the bottom of the 5th, but second basemen Nate Bingman (2-3, RBI) hit his second double of the day in the 6th to drive in Josh Outlaw (1-2, R, HBP) and give the Cobras a 5-3 lead. The Jaguars scored again in the bottom of the 7th and threatened to steal the win with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, but Cobra starting pitcher Alex Pipes (7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K) got the last two opposing batters to strike out and pop out, and Parkland came out on top 5-4.
Left fielder Ryan Snell (1-2, 2 RBI) led the team with two RBI on Saturday, and pinch-runner Jayden Cummings recorded a team-high two stolen bases in the win.
No. 18 Parkland 15, DACC 7
The Cobras struck first, taking a 2-0 lead on a 2-RBI Logan Reidelberger double in the top of the 1st inning, and Parkland led by three after Tyler Herron (2-5, 2B, 2 R) scored on an error in the 2nd. The Jaguars tightened things up in the bottom half, but the Cobras responded with three more runs in the top of the 3rd, capped by an RBI double from catcher Charlie Marisca (1-4, 2B, 2 RBI).
DACC home runs in the bottom of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings tied the game at six, but right fielder Chase Becker answered by lining a 2-RBI double into left field, and two more Cobras scored to make it 10-6 Parkland going into the 7th. Third basemen Austin Gomm (2-5, HR, 3B, 2 R, BB) and right fielder Chase Becker (3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 4 R) hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the 7th inning to extend the Parkland lead to 12-6, and the Cobras scored twice more in the top of the 8th to cruise to a 15-7 win in game two.
Freshman starting pitcher William O’Gorman (3.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) faced 13 batters in his second start this season, striking out four. Redshirt sophomore Louis Stallone (1.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER) relieved O’Gorman in the 4th inning, and freshmen Drew Evans (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) got his first collegiate win on Saturday. Relievers Alejandro Maltos-Garcia (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER) and Nathan Waldridge (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER) finished the game for the Cobras, helping the team improve to 11-5 in conference play.
