FLORENCE, S.C. (October 5, 2018) – Former Florence-Darlington Technical College (FDTC) Stinger pitcher, David Parkinson was named the Philadelphia Phillies’ MiLB Pitcher of the Year following the conclusion of the 2018 season. The left-handed pitcher was awarded the Phillies’ prestigious Paul Owens Award for his accomplishments.
Parkinson is a 22-year-old pitcher for the Clearwater Threshers, which is the Phillies’ Advanced-A MiLB team. The Henrico, Virginia native also played for the clubhouse’s Low-A Lakewood BlueClaws this year as well.
Throughout the 2018 season, Parkinson finished with a 1.45 ERA, which was the lowest in the MiLB. He went 8-1 while pitching for the Lakewood BlueClaws and 3-0 on the mound pitching for the Clearwater Threshers. During the 124.1 innings that he pitched in 2018, Parkinson struck out 141 players and only allowed five homeruns, 20 earned runs, 91 hits and 35 walks.
The prestigious Paul Owens Award that was presented to Parkinson is given to the Phillies’ top MiLB player and pitcher. The award is named after the late Paul Owens who worked with the organization for 48 years. While with the Phillies, Owens served in many roles.
“Winning the Paul Owens Award this year has been an incredible honor, and I’m very humbled to have been able to accept it,” Parkinson said. “I was very blessed with a lot of good coaching and a lot of good teammates along the way that allowed me to learn more about the game in one year than I ever would have anticipated. I’ve been incredibly blessed with all the opportunities and paths that God has led me down and allowing me to continue to live out my dream.”
Parkinson pitched for FDTC’s baseball team in 2015. While on the mound for the Tech Stingers, he made 12 appearances, pitching for 61.2 innings. Parkinson finished out his time with the Tech Stingers with 62 strikeouts and a 2.77 ERA.
“Playing at Florence-Darlington Tech has really been a turning point for my career,” Parkinson said. “I came from not being highly recruited out of high school and a kid, to finding myself as a person and a player at Flo-Dar. I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity that McDonald gave me in playing for the Stingers. I really learned how to be a dependable, young man and take care of my business without having someone to look over my shoulder. That has definitely trickled into my career in the long haul and has made me a very determined player and person. It has made me want to work harder than everyone else, and I’ll continue to try to do so.”
Following the 2015 season, Parkinson transferred to the University of Mississippi, where he was drafted by the Phillies in Round 12 of the MLB Draft in 2017.
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