Parklane coach Michael Clements is so close he can feel it, yet too far away to actually grab a state championship trophy.
For the third time in as many years, Clements has led Parklane to the South State title but only has two state runner-up trophies to display.
That coveted state championship will have to wait, at least until 2013.
“Every coach wants to win a state championship, and they don’t hand them out, by no means,” he said. “It’s not easy.”
Clements isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and his program should continue to flourish.
Parklane does lose five seniors — Shane McKinley, Zach Smith, Landon Mabile, Hunter Aultman and Bradley Wall — but Clements is left with young talent.
It’s a core group of sophomores and juniors that Clements hopes can lead Parklane to its first title since 2001.
Earlier in the week, Clements mentioned how he wasn’t interested in a second-place finish. Parklane, however, wasn’t in a state championship or bust mode. After Thursday’s loss to MRA, Clements took a step back to look all Parklane accomplished in 2012, which included a 15-3 district record and the South State title.
“Yes, we came up on the short end of the stick, but like I told the guys, we need to keep our heads up high and have pride in what we did do,” he said. “We are disappointed that we lost, but we had a great year.”
Clements then pointed to the Green Monster-like wall in right field, noting that only five Parklane teams since 1972 have won the state runner-up title. Make that six now, two of which came in the past two years.
Eventually, the Pioneers are bound to come away with one. They had the misfortune of running into Jackson Academy last year and a red-hot MRA squad this year.
In both scenarios, Parklane failed to play up to par, especially the 2012 team. In the 2011 state championship loss to JA, Parklane was outscored 25-4. And then after outscoring its opponents 153-63 this season, Parklane’s bats were stymied in two games against MRA.
“We’ve been rolling so good, I figured our sticks would pick it up,” senior Landon Mabile said. “The last two state championships, the sticks haven’t quite been what we had all year.”
In reality, MRA was rolling too. After coach Allen Pavatte, assistant coach Jim Delaughter and star outfielder Will Trammell were suspended for the remainder of the season in April for undisclosed reasons, MRA went on a tear that continued in the playoffs.
To call MRA’s win an upset would be a bit overboard, but to think the Patriots would even be in this position a month ago would have raised a few eyebrows.
Regardless, it’s back to work for Clements. He and the underclassmen will have a week to rid another title loss from their bodies before getting back to work.
“We know it’s coming,” Clements said of a possible state title in the future.
