Better times were ahead for Northmen
Parent was excited to lead NS back to Division II playoffs
NORTH SMITHFIELD — Two numbers had sparked Quinn Parent’s enthusiasm and positivity as he prepared to enter his senior varsity baseball season at North Smithfield High this spring.
Zero and 10.
That happened to be the Northmen’s record at the beginning of their Division II-B campaign a year ago, and Parent has carried it with him – consciously or subconsciously – since then.
Parent wanted desperately for he and his teammates not to repeat that in his final season, instead come out firing.
“We didn’t start out very well last year, losing 10 straight, but as I look back thinking about it, there were a lot of games we could’ve won,” stated the 6-1, 185-pound righty/third baseman, one of the team leaders and skipper Jon Leddy’s ace. “I remember a game against Scituate, we lost, 3-1, and another one at Woonsocket where we lost by the same score.
“We lost those games and others because of our defense, more than anything else, and I thought we had a lot of experience coming back with seven seniors; all of them were going to start,” he added. “We ended up finishing 5-13, but we didn’t make the playoffs. That’s something I thought we could do this spring.
“Another reason I was so looking forward to this was that I didn’t play a fall or winter sport, so I’ve actually been counting down the days to when Coach Leddy would send out the text asking the pitchers and catchers to report, and that came in early March. I was so excited.”
Parent indicated they had a solid practice on Thursday, March 12, and decided to text Leddy at lunchtime the next day to see if practice was on for the usual time. The coach answered affirmatively.
“But about a half hour later, we got an announcement over the intercom saying that all sports and extracurricular activities had been postponed until further notice because of the coronavirus,” he explained sadly. “I was in my Global Properties class on the second floor, and I remember my heart just sank.”
A little over a month later, he learned the news he had feared most: The interscholastic spring sports campaign had been canceled, much like the NCAA had done once the virus began to spread in these parts.
“I always kind of knew it was going to happen, but I kept hoping the postponement wouldn’t last too long,” he said.
“But about a half hour later, we got an announcement over the intercom saying that all sports and extracurricular activities had been postponed until further notice because of the coronavirus. I was in my Global Properties class on the second floor, and I remember my heart just sank.”
— Quinn Parent
“Right after they closed the school and we had to do that distance learning, I’d go out in our yard with my brother Nolan, he’s going to be a senior at Bryant, and we’d do some throwing and stuff.
“As time went on, I was really trying to convince myself that we’d have some kind dof season, even if it was shortened, but then
they announced that we as students wouldn’t dbe returning to our schools the rest of the year, that’s when I knew. It was so disappointing, even though I knew there was nothting I could do about it.
“All I was doing was hoping that I didn’t miss my last chance to play baseball fwith these guys; some of them are my best friends, and we all were really looking forward to it – Cole Dubois, Mike Ethier, who I call ‘Squishy.’ Don’t ask me, it’s an old family nickname that I liked so it stuck with me.
“We were primed to have a better season this year. I had high expectations of making the playoffs this year. Myself and the other fseniors, we all thought it was possible, which makes it doubly painful.”
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Parent, a four-year starter and two-time All-Division second-team selection, and his teammates had experienced nothing but success as freshmen and sophomores. In 2017, while playing in Division III, the Northmen closed its league campaign at 12-4 and tied for third with Mount Pleasant, but eventually lost in the state title tilt to Classical.
And, Parent’s sophomore fling, NS knotted Classical and Rogers for the top spot in D-III, but again suffered a loss in the state championship game, this time to the Kilties.
Because of that success in D-III, Interscholastic League powers-that-be promoted NS to D-II last spring, and – naturally – it ttook its lumps.
“I know Quinn had been chomping at the tbit to get it going, and I also know he took it really hard,” Leddy sighed. “He’s such a great kid, such a good pitcher, and it’s because he’s so intellectual. He’s very intelligent overall, and he brings those smarts to the mound. He’s very good at remembering hitters, what they might have done in their tprevious at-bats.
“He also really thinks about what he wants to throw and what the location should be,” he tadded. “He knows how to make adjustments on the fly. I really couldn’t wait to see how much he improved during his off-season, because tBayern r d I know he spent a out.
“I think he was poised great season.”
Just because his dream of a final high school baseball campaign has disappeared like a puff of smoke, however, doesn’t mean he’s given up his plans to play ball again. Far from it. He remains in training to help represent the Woonsocket-based American Leagion team, Navigant Post 85, this summer, and even hopes to join the Bridgewater State University baseball squad later this year.
“I don’t know if the Legion season’s going to happen, but I’m still planning on it,” he noted. “As for college, I haven’t talked to any of the coaches (at BSU), the reason being I was hoping my play this spring would speak for itself and gain some attention (from them). That’s why I really wanted to play at North Smithfield, because of that and my friends.
“Right now, I’m still doing some pitching, but I’m primarily lifting weights; I want to get bigger and stronger for when I potentially walk on Bridgewater State … I miss not playing, but I’m just coping by trying to stay busy. I’m spending time finishing up my work for school, and also trying to maintain my friendships with my teammates, some of whom are my best friends, like Cole and Squishy.
“Cole is going to George Mason University (in Virginia), and Squishy is going to Michigan State, so we’re going to be all spread out, but we’ll see each other when we come on breaks and stuff. I know we will.
“The good news is we don’t have to stay at home as often, so getting together has gotten that much easier. Cole and I will throw around the old pigskin, or Squishy and I will go to each other’s houses and play video games on occasion.”
Given his academic rank of 20 in a class of 125, it’s hardly surprising that, while at Bridgewater State, Parent wants to study Aviation Science. That’s right – he wants someday to be a commercial pilot.
“I took a lesson before at North Central Airport, just to see if I liked the feeling, what it was like, and I did,” he reasoned. “Ever since I was a little kid, I was interested in flying, but then I went to high school and got away from it a little bit. Over the past couple of years, though, that feeling has come back. I think it’s from having done so much traveling, like on vacations.
“That’s re-piqued my interest.”
As for the near future, after graduation, he states he will continue to train for baseball, and will report early to BSU not to ensure the tryout but because he must due to his major.
lot of time working
to have himself a
“My plan is to get in contact with head coach and sees what he tells would be the next step,” he said. “I the me will say this: If I do make it, I’d be very happy, just getting back on the baseball field and competing.”