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Decade’s best No. 2: Tay Parker was phenomenal in circle for Warrior Run softball

EDITOR’s NOTE: This is the latest in a series looking back at the top 10 softball teams, coaches, games and players from last decade

Taylor Parker did not look intimidating and she certainly did not sound it either. Heck, reporters struggled simply getting Parker to say anything.

Put her on a softball field, however, and Parker appeared downright nasty. And she never need open her mouth either. Parker’s play did all the talking necessary.

Parker helped usher in a record-breaking decade for Warrior Run and was the main reason this program completely transformed itself. Overpowering pitching, sensational offense, cheetah-like speed … Parker had it all. She became not just the best player in Warrior Run history, but one of the best players in area history, overwhelming opponents in all facets from 2010-13. The rocket-armed right-hander won a program-record 73 games, struck out 899 batters, threw 19 no-hitters and never had an ERA above 1.00. No area player delivered more hits than Parker (153) last decade either as she shattered the Warrior Run record and compiled a carer batting average well over .500. The four-year Bloomsburg University standout also topped 100 RBIs, 100 runs and helped Warrior Run capture its first and only district championships. Parker earned the 2012 Pennsylvania Class AA Player of the Year award after helping Warrior Run do what once seemed unthinkable and reach the state championship.

“To get somebody in your program like her, it’s a great thing. I could coach 20 years and not get a kid like her,” Warrior Run coach Garth Watson said. “She is the first kid to practice and last to leave. She does her home work on the batters and that’s something special for a kid to put in the extra time. She did a phenomenal job.”

Parker was part of a stellar class which helped Warrior Run capture back-to-back district championships in 2012-13. That group produced 75 wins and won at least one playoff game every year. It was an amazing turnaround for a program which had just one winning season in the 2000s and that often languished near the bottom of the district standings.

It all started changing in 2010 and Parker was the motor powering this resurgent machine. Her combination of five-tool talent and relentless pursuit of excellence made Parker more dominant each season and brought out the best in her teammates year after year.

It was obvious early on something special was brewing when Parker shined as a freshman in 2010, helping the Warriors make a six-win improvement and go 15-7. Playing in one of the state’s premier conferences (the HAC-II), Parker went 13-6 and threw three no-hitters. In just her second game, Parker shut down a Montgomery team which went 23-2 and would in its next 22 games en route to reaching the state final. She settled right into the middle of the lineup and also struck out 199 while tossing seven shutouts and holding 15 teams to five hits or fewer. Parker earned the first of her four first team HAC-II and Sun-Gazette all-star honors and was just getting started.

Parker became an all-stater in 2011 as Warrior Run won 16 games. She went 16-5 with a 1.80 ERA and 200 strikeouts. She was now one of the district’s top hitters as well, batting .534 and leading the team in home runs and extra-base hits. During one freakish stretch, Parker went 10 for 11 with a home run, three triples and two doubles. Parker was so fast and smart on the bases that she could turn certain outs into hits, singles into doubles and doubles into triples.

The only team which appeared to have an answer for Parker was Central Columbia, but Parker flipped that script in 2012 and Warrior Run put together its best season ever. Parker shut down Central in a 5-1 season-opening victory. It was the first time Warrior Run had ever beaten Central and it would do so two more times that year, including in the district quarterfinals. The Defenders had broken down that wall and finished the regular season 18-2, losing only two one-run games to Mifflinburg. Parker was brilliant in every area once again, but showed she had the toughness to match her talent in the district semifinals against Bloomsburg. Parker struggled early in that game and Bloomsburg took a one-run lead. Parker, however, stifled Bloomsburg over the final four innings, delivered two key hits and helped Warrior Run win, 4-3 in eight innings. A day later, Parker was in top form, throwing a four-hit shutout, striking out 10, collecting two hits and helping Warrior Run capture its first district championship with a 2-0 win against Mifflinburg.

“We’re really, really happy. We’ve never been here before, we’ve never came this far,” Parker said. “A lot of these girls I’ve played with from Little League. We’ve worked well together.”

That would continue in states and Parker would lead the way. She and her teammates peaked at the perfect time, battering Anville-Cleona in the first round before earning a quarterfinal matchup against defending Eastern Region champion Christopher Dock. That team returned eight starters and was a clear favorite. Parker, however, had spent her offseason playing in fiercely competitive summer leagues near the Philadelphia area. Dock had scored 34 runs in its previous three games but was no match for Parker who took a perfect game into the fifth inning and threw a one-hitter as Warrior Run won, 2-1.

“There are a lot of competitive teams down there and they’re really good and it’s helping me a

lot,” Parker said. “I knew I had to keep throwing hard and keep doing my best and not let them hit hard hits in the gappers and I relied on my defense on knocking the ball downs.”

Three days later a dream became reality and Warrior Run mercy-ruled Nanticoke to reach its first state final. Parker delivered another great performance in the championship, but Neshannock won, 4-3 in extra innings. Despite the loss, no Class AA player had a resume like Parker’s and she was an easy choice as Player of the Year after going 24-3 with a 1.38 ERA and 239 strikeouts. Parker threw 11 shutouts, including five straight at one point, as well as consecutive one-hitters in states. She also hit a remarkable .642 with seven home runs, an area-decade best 18 doubles and a district-high 45 RBIs.

“She’s a gamer,” Watson said. “Her work ethic has rubbed off on her classmates and some of the younger girls.”

Parker never grew complacent and kept getting better each season. As great as she was as a junior, Parker was even better as a senior. She again lowered her ERA (1.07) and increased her strikeouts (260) while going 20-4 as Warrior Run repeated as district champions. The flame-throwing right-hander threw 13 shutouts and allowed just four hits during one five-game stretch.

“She’s the best,” South Williamsport coach Scott Stugart said that year. “That’s what you want to get measured by.”

“She is the best pitcher in the area,” Loyalsock catcher Amanda Daneker, who played with Parker in the offseason, said that year. “She is tough to hit.”

Parker was even better in the playoffs, again elevating her performance at the most crucial time. She threw consecutive playoff shutouts against 2012 Class A Eastern Region champion Southern Columbia and HAC-II champion Loyalsock and allowed just two runs in 28 postseason innings. Parker dazzled against Southern, striking out 15 through the first five innings, finishing with 16 and throwing a no-hitter in a 3-0 win.

“We couldn’t catch up to her and she did a heck of a job,” Southern coach Al Cihocki said. “We have a half-decent hitting team and we just didn’t hit the ball. She had us handcuffed.”

Parker avoided that problem all season, belting 39 hits and batting .575. Teams did their best to avoid pitching to Parker, but she still hit five home runs, five triples, 12 doubles and drove in 36 runs. More impressive than the the mind-blowing stats she accumulated is the impact Parker made, one that still is being felt today.

Younger players grew up watching Parker and her teammates shine. Parker opened eyes about what good but done at Warrior Run and aspiring players like future all-state pitcher Madi Waltman started working toward achieving similar greatness. Warrior Run reached the Class AAA state quarterfinals in 2018 and 2019 and likely would have been a serious state title contender in 2020 had the COVID-19 pandemic not wiped out the season. She played her last high school game seven years ago, but Parker had a role in that success.

That is how impressive what she achieved is.

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