Parkland Press

The summer league basketball for the Parkland boys basketball team continued just two days after an Elite Eight appearance at SportsFest. And the Trojans didn’t miss a beat.

There were no signs of tired legs or worn down bodies. The Trojans amassed 58 points on some good outside shooting, winning their quarterfinal Stellar Summer League playoff game 58-48 versus Bangor Tuesday evening at Cedar Beach Park.

The cards were stacked against the North Parkland knee-hi baseball team. But despite the odds, North Parkland finds itself as one of the final two teams playing for a Lehigh Valley Little Baseball League Knee-Hi championship.

North Parkland advanced to that title game after its 6-0 shutout victory over rival South Parkland on Tuesday evening at Wehr’s Dam. It was a six-inning, scoreless effort from ace Drew Sorrentino and relief pitcher Ryan Correll closed it out in the seventh inning.

Rising senior Sam Iorio walked off the court last Wednesday in the final minutes after being subbed out. Parkland was already well out in front of Emmaus when the Trojans’ leader exited.

That’s been a familiar scene for Parkland this summer.

The Trojans beat Emmaus 65-37 last week at Parkland High School. Iorio scored 15 while Jake Bartholomew added a team-high 16 points in the rare Wednesday summer league game that was a make up date for a previously postponed contest.

In an all-star football game that featured 127 points, a quarterback with seven touchdowns and an unbelievable 42-0 lead for one squad, it’s a bit ironic that a defensive play would be the game-defining moment.

But that was the case in Thursday’s McDonald’s All-Star Football Classic at Andrew Leh Stadium at Nazareth High School.

Vassar College senior Reno Kriz recently capped a historic season for the school’s men’s volleyball team. The former Trojan finished the spring season with 385 kills, 147 digs and 68 blocks. His 358 kills wasn’t just tops on the team, but that ranked him third amongst all United Volleyball Conference (UVC) competitors. Kriz finished his career with 1,352 kills (third in Vassar history) and school records in attack attempts (3,381), sets played (426) and matches played (125).

During last week’s District 11 Class 3A volleyball championships, Liberty was able to accomplish something against Parkland that no other Eastern Pennsylvania Conference team was able to do this season—win a set.

After Parkland jumped ahead 2-0 and held a 10-7 lead in the third set, Liberty began the journey of reversing that trend. Shortly later, the Hurricanes had won a set over the top-ranked team in the state in Class 3A and were very much alive late in the fourth set, trailing just 23-22.

The Parkland volleyball team finished last year as the top team in the state, collecting gold with a win over District 7’s Fox Chapel. With nearly that entire squad back in 2016, the expectations were high once again for Scott Trumbauer’s crew.

According to Trumbauer, the Trojans have had “a target on their back in every match” this spring. It’s hard to argue with him.

A week after capturing EPC gold in the 400-meter dash, Parkland junior Connor Tempro was back for more. This time, however, he entered the District 11 Class 3A Track and Field Championships seeded third, with the top two finishers automatically qualifying for states.

But that didn’t shy away Tempro one bit from running one of his best races of the season and making it to Shippensburg University for his first state trip.

Parkland’s Connor Tempro received news on Wednesday that would drastically alter the stage of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference boys 400-meter dash.

Tempro, who was seeded second in the event, got word that No. 1 seed Nate Fogle had dropped out of competition due to an injury. That was his biggest competition going into the event, with Fogle seeded roughly a second faster. But when he found out Fogle wouldn’t be a threat, there was little doubt in Tempro’s mind as to who would win the 400.

For much of Friday’s 3,200-meter run at the ASD Track and Field Invitational at J. Birney Crum, Pleasant Valley’s Seth Slavin held a sizable lead from the rest of the pack. Parkland’s Daniel Kyvelos was in second, but with the final lap approaching, it looked as if Slavin would coast to a gold medal.

But that’s when a voice crept into Kyvelos’ head. And he answered the call when it mattered most.