This United High School senior baseball player puts team first. Meet Aidan Parkins
MONMOUTH — United High School baseball coach Ryan Molek says senior Aidan Parkins – one of Carl Sandburg College’s newest baseball recruits – is a real “dirtbag.”
But he means it in the best sense possible.
“Baseball coaches use the term ‘dirtbag’ to describe players like ‘AP,’” said Molek, who noted that the official Google definition of the term is “an attitude, a mindset, a deep desire to do anything possible to help the team win.”
“For ‘AP,’ that just manifests itself in always making winning plays and putting the team first – on offense or on defense,” said Molek, whose squad has been making a lot of winning plays this season. The 16-6 Red Storm are seeded first in their Class 1A subsectional and will begin the state series next week, hosting a regional.
If Parkins has his way, the Red Storm will play the maximum number of games in the state series.
“I hope it ends up with a state championship,” he said, when asked about his successful three-sport career at United. “That would be the cherry on top.”
Parkins has already been a part of two first-ever regional championship teams in baseball as a junior and earlier this year in basketball. In between, he quarterbacked United to its first football playoff appearance since 2015.
Molek said an example of what Parkins means to his team was evident in an April game against Orion, when the Chargers had two outs, two runners on and the tying run at second base. The senior shortstop made a diving stop of a grounder – surely adding another layer of dirt to his uniform – and got the inning-ending force at second base. The Red Storm went on to post an 8-6 victory.
“And on offense, he sets the table out of the leadoff spot,” said Molek. “This season, he’s been on base in more than half of his at-bats.”
Indeed, Parkins sports a .555 on-base percentage. In his case, a walk isn’t just as good as a hit, but an extra base hit, as he’s swiped 22 bases, leading to his team-high 38 runs scored.
“But he doesn’t care about his batting average or his personal statistics,” said Molek. “He only cares about winning. His selfless play sets an example for our players about what it means to play United baseball. ‘Team > me.’”
Make no mistake – Parkins has some great statistics. Last spring, he hit .371 with a 1.105 OPS. This year, he’s improved to a .412 average with a nearly identical OPS of 1.099.
“I’m more of a contact hitter,” said Parkins. “I use my brain a lot when I’m hitting – just my knowledge of the game.”
Similarly, it’s not something like bat speed or his sprint time to first base that stands out the most to Molek.
“I’ve been coaching for 15 years, and ‘AP’ is by far the best leader I’ve ever coached,” he said. “He knows when to be vocal, and he knows when to joke around.”
Parkins can certainly lead the team from the shortstop position and his table-setter role as the leadoff hitter. But this year, Parkins has also stepped up his game on the mound as the Red Storm’s No. 2 starting pitcher behind ace Nolan Leffler, who is also planning to attend Sandburg next year.
Parkins has yet to allow a run in Lincoln Trail Conference games, racking up a 3-0 league record. Overall, he’s 6-2 with a sparkling 1.41 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 34-2/3 innings.
His best start of the season came April 22 against Knoxville, when he came within one out of a complete game, striking out 11 and allowing just one hit, one walk and an unearned run as the Red Storm topped the Blue Bullets 4-1.
For Parkins, outsmarting hitters is a challenge he embraces, and he finds that he and his longtime battery mate, senior Cormaic Flynn, are typically on the same wavelength when it comes to calling pitches.
“I like to mix speeds, hit my spots,” said Parkins, who’s been of teammate of Flynn’s going back to their days at Monmouth’s Immaculate Conception School. “Cormaic’s been catching me since we were about 10 years old.”
The pair are headed opposite directions after the season, with Flynn headed to Loras College to play football. At Sandburg, Parkins figures to slot in somewhere in the infield for the Chargers. He’s planning to study business with the goal of getting into sports management or a related field. If the situation presents itself, he’d consider continuing to play ball at whatever four-year school he attends to complete his bachelor’s degree.
This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: NJCAA Division II: United's Parkins commits to play baseball for Sandburg
