Parkland’s Barthol repeats as MVP
Parkland senior baseball player Blake Barthol excels at whatever he does, whether that’s pitching, playing shortstop, or hitting.
The Coastal Carolina commit is batting slightly over .600 with 14 extra-base hits, including three home runs. He also has 17 RBIs, 12 steals and 24 runs scored. As a pitcher, Barthol hasn’t given up a run in nine innings and recorded 18 strikeouts.
It’s hardly a shock that Barthol was selected as the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference’s MVP for the 2022 season after sharing the award with Liberty’s Brayden D’Amico last year.
The first team of the EPC all-star squad was released by league baseball chairman Nate Stannard on Thursday afternoon just a few hours before the start of the league tournament.
While top-seeded Liberty, 19-1 and on an 18-game winning streak entering the postseason, didn’t get the league’s MVP, the Hurricanes did get two players on the first team in sophomore pitcher Noah Gyauch-Quirk and junior outfielder Ayden Zabala.
Zabala entered the postseason batting .410 with 23 RBIs. GyauchQuirk hasn’t allowed a run in 24⅓ innings and has 48 strikeouts with just 10 hits and five walks allowed.
Here’s the entire first team of the EPC all-star squad:
Pitchers
Luke Deschenes (Sr., Emmaus); Noah Gyauch-Quirk (So. Liberty). Catcher
Andres Suarez (Sr., Freedom). Infielders
Mason Abromitis (Sr., Allentown Central Catholic); Blake Barthol (Sr., Parkland); Jake Dally (Jr., Nazareth); Nathan Loch (Jr., Pleasant Valley).
Outfielders
Ross Huffman (Sr., East Stroudsburg South); Jesse Ruisch (Sr., Parkland); Ayden Zabala (Jr., Liberty).
Utility
Chaise Albus (Sr., Bethlehem Catholic).
Most Valuable Player
Blake Barthol (Sr., Parkland)