Six strikeouts for Franklin Parra through two innings pic.twitter.com/9zwKhzkYW1
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 5, 2018
(Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on April 6, 2018)
If today was meant to be a showcase of Franklin Parra, Centereach clearly did not get the memo.
They defeated Copiague‘s highly-touted LHP by the score of 10-0, behind Eddie Bassett‘s arm and Ryan Mahnke and Brian Honka’s bats.
Parra, who is committed to San Jacinto Community College, was far from disappointing. He struck out eight batters over three innings and touched 92 MPH with his heater in the first inning. He was overpowering, but Centereach did work his pitch count up early. He walked one in the first, and another in the second.
The Centereach Cougars got on the board in the third on a fielder’s choice off the bat of SS Ryan Decoursey with the bases loaded and they extended the lead to 2-0 on an RBI double to right-center field by Nick Corsaro. They added to in the fourth inning on a two-run shot by Brian Honka.
They later put the game out of reach on a grand slam by Ryan Mahnke.
For Parra, it was his second loss of the season. It likely has no effect on his draft value as long as he continues to be healthy and throw his fastballs in the low 90s.
Centereach improves to 1-2 on the season, they will be back in action on Monday at West Islip.
Interesting side note: Centereach has had an uncanny ability to defeat high-end pitchers dating back to 1998 when they defeated Boston Red Sox 6th round pick Rick Riccobono (Commack). They later went on to defeat Washington Nationals 4th round pick Glenn Gibson in 2006 (Center Moriches) and Houston Astros 5th round pick Nick Tropeano (West Islip). What makes this unique is that the Cougars did not qualify for the postseason in any of those seasons yet still defeated professional-caliber pitchers at their peak. Parra, if he remains healthy, will join that list as well.
