Park Hill nine off to strong start

Strong pitching keeps a minor losing streak from stretching into a major one.

Case in point: Park Hill’s 4-0 start to the season was snapped last week with a 9-8 extra inning loss to Lee’s Summit West. The Trojans dropped a second in a row to Blue Springs the following day 4-1 before ending the week with two wins against Ruskin 12-3 and Truman 3-0.

Park Hill’s 6-2 start to the season has largely been credited to a strong pitching staff, which has been able to maximize their strikeouts while limiting their walks. With strong pitching, the Trojans believe they’ll be able to muster enough defense behind it to be a competitor when the district tournament rolls around in May.

“Our pitching has been real well. We’ve got four guys, three of which we needed to come through for us as starters. All of them are a little different,” Coach Greg Reynolds said. “We’ve got a plan of attack for our staff, so we’re going to stick with that. If you have three really good starters, you’ve got a good chance in districts.

Marcus Cross, Dalton Moats, Logan Sloniker, and Nick Jones have seen a lot of innings for the Trojans along with several other reliable pitchers from time to time. While the Trojan pitchers are tallying up good numbers in terms of strikeouts, the Park Hill offense has been limiting their strikeouts and hopes to put it all together for a strong one-two punch moving forward.

“We haven’t gotten all three of our guys hot at the same time with our three, four, and five hitters yet,” Reynolds said of Zach Thompson, Zach Anderson, and Nick Jones, who serve as the heart of Park Hill’s lineup.

One of the keys they believe has led to their early season success has been the quality weather so far this spring which allowed them to use the field more than they normally would in March.

“The biggest thing is we got to get onto the field in the preseason and actually see some live pitching and go through situations,” Reynolds said. “It makes everyone feel good; it brings a more positive thought process. We’ve had a chance to see what we had early.”

Having played a number of district opponents already and seeing positive results, the Trojans hope their game develops even further and gives them a shot at a desirable one or two seed in the district tournament.

“I don’t think we’ve playing anyone you could say is a bad team this year, but probably not anyone you could call a great team either,” Reynolds said. “We’re probably competing for one of the top seeds right now, but everyone is real close, so there are a lot of games to be played still.”

Park Hill plays North Kansas City and Smithville this week before beginning the Northland Tournament next week.