Kangs JV Baseball Player Off to a Torrid Start at Plate, on Field

Name, age: Jeremy Parkhurst, 17.

School and Neighborhood: A junior at , Jeremy lives in the Forbes Creek area.

Accomplishments: Starting shortstop for Lake Washington’s junior varsity baseball team, Jeremy has started the season off by hitting over .700.

Key to awesomeness: Jeremy, who hit .456 last season, wanted to work on his ability to hit to the opposite field this season, and so far the work has paid off.

Jeremy credits his coaches and teammates for his success so far this season.

“Definitely great coaching so far,” he said.

Jeremy is known as a patient hitter and he likes to make opposing pitchers work when they face him. “I definitely wait for my pitch."

In addition to great hitting, Jeremy challenged himself to improve defensively, focusing on getting the ball out of his glove quicker and making faster throws.

Jeremy Herzberg, the Kangs' JV coach, thinks that consistency is one of Jeremy’s best traits as a player, and adds that he's taken on a leadership role on the team.

“He’s definitely taken that responsibility on,” said coach Herzberg.

A 5-4, the Kangs have been off to a bit of a rough start, but Jeremy feels that the team’s hard work will start to pay off. 

“Our team’s definitely getting stronger,” said Jeremy.

Jeremy has had quite a bit of success off the field as well, maintaining a 4.0 grand point average over the past five school years, which includes advanced placement classes.

Looking to the future, Jeremy hopes to be able to continue to improve as a player and move up to the varsity team next year. Beyond that, he would love to play at the college level, something Herzberg thinks is a definite possibility.

“I have a lot of confidence in his ability,” the coach said.

And like many young athletes, Jeremy has dreams of a professional career as well. 

“If I could play baseball professionally that would be amazing,” he said.