Parkers Chapel focusing on 2024 season

The 2023 season was one of ups and downs for Parkers Chapel.

The Trojans posted an 18-9 record that included a pair of five-game winning streaks, but the season ended on a down note with PC losing its final three games, including a 13-11 loss to Murfreesboro in the 2A South Regional Tournament that saw the Trojans squander a 7-4 sixth-inning lead.

“We’re disappointed about how it ended,” said Parkers Chapel coach Mark Looney. “We were in control of the game against Murfreesboro in the regional. In the sixth inning, we just kind of fell apart. My pitchers didn’t throw strikes, we walked too many, we made a couple of errors and they had a couple of hits, which led to a big inning. It was just a little bit too much to overcome.”

Down the stretch, the Trojans won seven of eight games, scoring in double figures in each of their wins, but PC also had lopsided conference losses to Ouachita and Woodlawn in April, as well as a 17-5 setback to Smackover in their final game of the regular season.

“Leading up to the regional tournament, we played some really, really good baseball at times. A few times we didn’t,” Looney said. “In the losses, we just didn’t put complete games together, not necessarily that we played bad in the losses because there were a couple of games that we lost that I thought we played really well, the other team just outplayed us.”

Although the Trojans missed qualifying for the state tournament for the second straight year, PC has seven starters back, and Looney said he is looking forward to next year.

“Overall, we’re a young team. I had two seniors starting,” Looney said. “We’ve got seven starters coming back, we’ve got some good, young kids coming up. We will be very, very junior-heavy next year. I started a couple of ninth-graders this year, so I look to be very much improved just with age and experience.”

When asked about offseason goals, Looney said developing the pitching staff was a top priority.

“This offseason, we’ve got to really concentrate on our pitching staff, develop some arms, develop some more velocity and control and command of the strike zone with more than just a fastball,” Looney said. “I’m looking forward to the future. I saw some really great things this past season. We were one of the younger teams in our conference. When you’ve got seven starters coming back, you look forward to it. I look forward to the new additions that we have. I know some of the younger ones that are coming up, and I’ll get a firsthand view of them this summer.”

Parkers Chapel starts play in the high school extended summer league on Thursday, and Looney said he is looking forward to seeing his younger players compete with his varsity players.

“The biggest thing I look for is the younger kids meshing with the older kids,” Looney said. “I look for how the older kids mentor the younger ones and welcome them into the program. I just really enjoy watching the conversations that they have during the game, after the game, between games. The younger ones have been waiting so long to get to the high school program. It really gives them a comfort level knowing how things work a little bit before they actually get to high school ball in the spring as a ninth-grader.”

Looney added that the incoming freshman class will provide some depth and competition for playing time next year.

“If anything, it’s competition,” Looney said. “Even though they’re real young, I do know because a couple of them played last summer with me coming out of the seventh grade. Now with them being a year older and coming out of the eighth grade, I just know they’ve played a lot of baseball. They have already had one summer to play with the high school kids and this will be their second summer. I actually have some seventh-graders that I’ve invited to come out this summer also.

“Even though they’re still another year from high school ball, I think when you play with kids that are better than you, you elevate your play to get to that level. The better the competition you play, the better it makes your overall team. I think it helps with chemistry. 

“It welcomes them into the systems to where they’re not big-eyed come springtime and everything is completely new to them. There will still be some things new to them when they actually come to high school ball, but when they go through summer ball, it brings them a comfort level and they know what to expect.”

Upcoming Events