Trojans trounce Gators
COAL CENTER – Parker Bongiorno is one athlete who can literally live up to his name. Parker, whose last name has a literal translation of “good day,” had just that – a very good day – as California collared visiting Geibel, 15-0, in Section 7-A baseball action here yesterday. Play was stopped with two out in the fourth inning under the 15-run rule.
Bongiorno hit a new school record ninth career homerun, and he made the record all the more emphatic by hitting the jackpot – a grandslam homer – to feature a six-run third. He drove in a fifth run with a grounder in the second.
The win left the Trojans 11-0 in section play, 15-2 overall, while Geibel dropped to 6-6 and 8-9 respectively, and was all but eliminated from any chance for the WPIAL playoffs.
The Gators’ only hopes rest on Beth-Center losing to both California and Frazier in their remaining two games.
Bongiorno got his record the hard way. He came to bat in the third with three on and two out. Geibel pitcher Jeff Baluch got two quick strikes on him, then threw two wide ones. But he came in next with a chest high fastball and Bongiorno sent it high over the fence in center, just to the left of the scoreboard.
The home run was the ninth of his career at California (6th this year) and broke the old record set by Bob Dunn in the 60’s.
Bongiorno said of his homer and record “this is the first grandslam I have ever hit at any level of baseball I have played. I thought about the record earlier today, but then when the game started, I tried to forget about it and just concentrate on us winning. I just wanted to get a hit of any kind and drive in runs if I could.”
This is the second school record that Bongiorno now owns. He explained “last year I broke the stolen base record with 17, and this year so far I have 26.”
Coach Don Hartman added “Parker is having a dream senior season. All year long he has been our leader, the man in the clutch, our “go to guy.”
Even more pleasing to Hartman is knowing that “Parker is also a very good student, and he already has a full academic ride to Thiel College in Greenville.”
While Bongiorno was taking care of the hitting, Zach Jeney was handling the pitching in good form, holding the Gators to just two hits, striking out six, and not walking a batter. For the four innings he worked, he was one-over-par, facing 13 batters.
Earl Gilbert hit a game leadoff single and was erased on a double play, while Rob Ramsey doubled with one out in the second. Ramsey moved to third on an out, for the closest Geibel would get to scoring.
Hartman added “Zack is having a great freshman year. He has the poise of a senior, he throws strikes, and he keeps you off balance. What you get off him, you earn.”
As for the win, Hartman added “we talked before the game, and we know that everybody is after us this week, because this week will determine who goes to the playoffs. So, we just went out and concentrated on winning the game.”