Scouting Video: Aaron Parnell

3B Aaron Parnell
2010 AIA Fire
Height: 5'10" - Weight: 180lb
Level: DII Sophomore
School: North Carolina - Pembroke
Draft Eligibility: 2011 (DII Jr.)
Prev. Draft: N/A
Posts regarding Aaron Parnell

Reflections/Photo Post: Fire @ Miners, 7-14-2010

Tyler Ruch's walk-off sac fly put the Miners over
the Fire in the bottom of the 9th.

EDIT: I made some corrections to this. I got my middle infielders dyslexified and referred to Matt Wessinger as Bret Schwartz. My bad. I am now giving Wessinger the credit where credit is due, and Schwartz is still cool. Thanks to the reader who made the catch; and let this be a lesson to those who would blog at 1 a.m.

It was a month ago to the day that I first saw the AIA Fire take on the Mat-Su Miners for my first game of the ABL season. Well, as chance would have it -- and I totally did not plan it to be this way -- I found myself, again, at a Fire at Miners game on the 14th of the month, which was last night. I took some pictures and made a few notes, but  most of all I was trying to get some video footage for the series of scouting videos I plan to post up on YouTube over the off-season. But for now, I'll share some of my thoughts and photos from the game with you.

One guy I should have had the camera on was Matt Wessinger (Miners). He looked phenomenal at second base tonight. He made some very good plays with the glove, including a great charge and off-balance flip to first to beat Will Watson by the thinnest hair and save an infield single against his team. Very good soft-handed defense on his part.

I have to tip my hat to Fire pitcher Harrison Helms, if for nothing else, creativity. With Miners on first base, Helms was having a fun time making them get their uniforms dirty diving back under the tags as he tried to keep them close. His best pickoff move of the night, though, was probably the one where he hid the ball in his hat as he pretended to wipe the sweat from his brow before making the throw to the bag. I suppose I could have just missed it all these years but I have never seen that before.

2010 Player Profile: Aaron Parnell

Aaron Parnell
3B - AIA Fire
Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Height: 5'10" - Weight: 180lb
College: UNC Pembroke
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Benson, North Carolina

After a slow start to open the season, the Fire have been clawing their way out of the basement as of late, and one of the biggest players in their recent effort has been infielder Aaron Parnell.

Parnell hails from way back east, in North Carolina, and is attending college close to home at UNC Pembroke. The sophomore has a year of junior college ball under his belt, having played down at Florence-Darlington Tech in the other Carolina. With Division II Pembroke last year, the sports management major was one of their best batters -- hitting .343, driving in 42 runs, and posting an OPS of 1.024 (.607 + .417).

I saw Parnell in the first ABL game I attended this season, and his best tool that I could note is his speed (and that's my favorite one, because it's a common tool to many skills both offensive and defensive). Parnell has above-average speed; actually, he is probably one of the fastest players I've yet to note in the Alaska League this season. He's stolen six of seven bases so far this season, so he's definitely a threat to run, and the Fire have been batting him at the top of the order for the bulk of their campaign to date. His bat hasn't been so impressive overall this year, but lately it's been coming around, as he's picked up some good hits and been a part of the Fire's better fortunes of late.

Reflections/Photo Post: Fire @ Miners, 6-14-2010

Miners reliever James Allen closed the door on
the Fire last night, striking out two in 1.1 IP.

What a wild one at Hermon Brothers Field last night! Both the game and the weather. Despite morning sun and temperatures hovering around 70 degrees early in the day, by game time things had taken a turn for the worse. The wind was blowing in hard from left field (which could have robbed at least one homer) and a thick blanket of clouds had rolled in, blocking out the sun and casting a chill over the Mat-Su valley. But baseball fans, myself included, must have found enough wooden items to knock on, because not a drop of rain fell on the field and we got 8 1/2 innings of exciting baseball in.

But enough about the weather, what about the game? This match-up between the AIA Fire and the Mat-Su Miners was quite the contest. But before I go into the details, let me just clarify something: last night I came to the ball park (late, no less) with the #1 goal of snapping as many photos as possible. For my first round of games for the season, that will probably be my main concern, so I can get a backlog of "stock" face photos and whatnot to use for my later articles. With that as my primary goal, I didn't have time to keep score, and my thoughts for the evening are specific things about a few players and events, not a recap of the game with notes on the players who performed the best. If any readers want to share their thoughts on the night, you're always welcome to leave a comment. So, moving along...

Miners RHP James Allen stood out to me for the way he closed out the game. He came on to pitch in the middle of the eighth with runners on first and second, with the Fire threatening to tie the game up, and pretty much shut the door on them. He wasn't perfect -- he walked the first batter he faced to load the bases -- but I really appreciate the fact that he faced some high-pressure situations and seemed to relish the challenge. He ended the Fire rally in the 8th with a strikeout of Aaron Parnell, and when Cody Terry got a lead-off single in the 9th, Allen responded by striking out Will Watson and making a pick-off throw that led to Terry being tagged out in a pickle. One more fly-ball out was all it took to get James Allen his first save of the season.