Tate Parker was ready to step away from baseball. Then he won a national title
Tate Parker has worn many hats in the last few years.
Following a 157-hit career at West Harrison, Parker has been a Patriot, Jaguar, Wildcat, national champion, pool builder, husband and father.
Now he’s going to be a Golden Eagle.
Parker had a near-full ride scholarship at Dallas Baptist coming out of high school and he joined a crowded outfield room in the fall of 2019. He took a redshirt his first season, a year cut drastically short by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When DBU’s seniors decided to take advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA, Parker elected to go the junior college route in order to get on the field.
“I decided to go to JUCO to get my at-bats in because I know the reputation that Pear River (Community College) has and how they put out players year-in and year-out,” Parker told the Sun Herald. “The whole coaching staff in general is just top-of-the-line when it comes to JUCO.”
Parker immediately succeeded. He slashed .386/.476/.829 with 18 home runs in 45 games his first season. Those numbers were enough to once again attract attention from Division I schools and Parker signed on to play for South Alabama.
Then life threw another curveball and Parker chased it off the diamond.
“Everything was going to be good, then I found out my now-wife was pregnant,” Parker said. “I was honestly done with baseball at the time. I called it off and was basically done.”
Parker was ready to enter the workforce. He went to work building pools and resumed taking classes at PRCC. Then, Wildcat head coach Michael Avalon offered Parker a spot on the baseball roster again.
He couldn’t stay away from the game. His return to the PRCC baseball team resulted in the Wildcats winning the Division II Junior College National Championship and Parker taking home two National Player of the Year honors.
He elevated his game to a new level in 2022 and became a nightmare for opposing pitchers. He significantly lowered his strikeout rate and finished with a monstrous OPS of 1.351 and a batting average of .450 in 55 games.
There was no mechanical change. Parker didn’t adjust his swing. He simply needed to play ball.
“He was the same guy everyday as he was when he first walked on campus two years ago,” Avalon said. “He just got better and better and continued to work. Obviously, with the more reps in baseball that you do the better you get. He’s an extremely hard worker.”
Now Parker is ready to make the jump to D-1 baseball once again. Southern Miss has had success with PRCC players, too, and especially recently.
Golden Eagle outfielder Reece Ewing and pitcher Landon Harper are both former Wildcats and are helping Parker with the transition.
“They really put me through how it goes, what’s going to happen and prepare me for that,” Parker said. “They basically just gave me a rundown of everything and told me I should be good coming in.”
Parker will join an outfield that has a glaring hole in center field where Gabe Montenegro stood in 2022, offering him a golden opportunity to make a quick impact upon arrival.
It’ll be the next chapter in a whirlwind journey for Parker, who leaves PRCC with high praise from Avalon.
“He’s an All-American on the field and an All-American off the field,” Avalon said. “He’s got a wife and a young son, he’s out working and supporting his family. He was able to do that this year while going to school and playing baseball at extremely high levels. That tells you everything you need to know about him off the field. He’s just a special young man.”
Parker has two years of eligibility left. Southern Miss is adding another PRCC alum this fall in Alabama transfer catcher Graham Crawford.
This story was originally published June 30, 2022 at 5:50 AM.
