The Park Hill baseball team has seen some elite competition to start the season, including a pair of state championship teams, and that competition has wreaked havoc in the opening slate of this season.
Through 15 games, all non-conference, the Trojans sit at 3-12 to begin the season. The Trojans knew it would be a daunting start to the season, and now they are looking to find some rhythm and confidence.
Park Hill’s season opened in promising fashion, defeating Blue Valley North 6-3 on March 21 as Hayes Pratt got the Trojans off to a winning start with seven strikeouts in relief. The Trojans held a narrow lead early until Blue Valley North edged in front in the fourth inning, but Park Hill responded immediately with a four-run fifth inning as Caelin Bradford, Nick Huckabey and Ian Springer each drove in runs.
Proceedings following the season-opener took on a downward trajectory as the Trojans went on a seven-game losing streak. The first four of the losing streak came March 26-27 at a tournament in Rogers, Arkansas.
The Trojans’ first defeat in Arkansas came to Nixa, losing 10-0 as they gave up runs in bunches while the Trojans’ offense faced its first struggles of the year. Next, Park Hill suffered a 14-10 defeat to Bentonville before facing a 4-0 shutout against Ozark, and ending their Arkansas trip with an 11-1 defeat to Har-Ber.
The competition didn’t get any easier for the Trojans once they returned home as they got run-ruled in four innings against Class 6 champion Blue Springs South, 18-1, then followed with a 4-1 defeat to Class 5 state champion Platte County 4-1. Park Hill’s winless run continued on April 1, when they lost out in a pitching duel to Excelsior Springs, who capitalized on a pair of errors in the fifth inning to score the game’s only runs in a 2-0 decision.
Park Hill got back to winning ways on April 3, when they defeated Staley 7-6. They used a two-out rally in the first inning to take an early 4-0 lead, and after Staley eventually took a 6-5 lead in the fifth inning, the Trojans were opportunistic in the sixth inning to score two runs on an error as Huckabey and Bryson Augustyn shut the door by combining for two scoreless innings in relief.
Hayes Pratt struck out five batters in 4.2 innings in the Trojans’ loss to Lee’s Summit West on April 9.
After a pair of defeats to Joplin (4-3) and Mill Valley (9-1) on April 4, Park Hill earned its third win of the season against Smithville, 6-2, on April 6. Springer tossed a complete game with 10 strikeouts on 91 pitches, while Augustyn hit three RBIs to lead the Trojans’ offense.
The struggles resumed on April 8, when Park Hill fell 4-3 to Fort Osage. The Trojans’ offense was no match for Lee’s Summit West on April 9, losing 14-3, before Park Hill was unable to produce offensively in a 3-0 defeat to Blue Springs on April 11.
After matchups against Raymore-Peculiar on April 13 and St. Pius X on April 14, the Trojans will return to the WOW Wood Bat Tournament on April 17-18, and the Pony Express Tournament on April 20-23.
The Trojans hope the early-season challenges have them prepared for the second half of the season, which includes a conference schedule that begins April 22 against North Kansas City.