PRCC’s Tate Parker named NJCAA DII Player of the Year

Charlotte, NC (via NJCAA.org) – Pearl River's Tate Parker has been named the 2022 NJCAA Division II Baseball Player of the Year after a stellar sophomore season.

Parker ended the 2022 campaign batting .450 with 19 home runs (fifth in the nation) and 65 RBI. The sophomore also ranked in the top five in the nation in four statistical categories: hits (90, 3rd); runs (76, 3rd); home runs (19, 5th); total bases (164, 5th).

The ABCA/Rawlings National Player of the Year helped lead Pearl River to a Division II Baseball World Series championship, where he continued to shine bright. In six championship games, Parker batted .417 with three home runs and nine RBI, having gotten at least one hit in each game. His efforts throughout the Wildcats' championship run earned him Offensive Player of the Tournament honors. 

"When I look back at Tate's time here, what stands out to me is just the impact he had on our program for two years," PRCC coach Michael Avalon said. "He was the missing piece to take our program to the next level. If you look at all great teams in history, they have a great leader and player at the top and that was Tate for us the last two years. Tate can just flat out hit. Over the past two years, Tate led one of the toughest conferences in the country in average, home runs and RBIs. Not only did he excel at the plate, he was elite in all facets of his game; he played phenomenal defense in center field and made an impact running the bases. He's a true five-tool player."

Tate Parker will be continuing his collegiate career at Southern Mississippi. 

Player Profile

Position: Center Field

Height: 5'11"

Class: Sophomore

Hometown: Gulfport, MS

2022 Statistics

55 games played

200 at-bats

76 runs

90 hits

11 doubles

19 home runs

65 RBI

29 walks

.450 batting average

.531 on-base percentage

.820 slugging percentage

2022 Accomplishments

NJCAA DII Baseball ABCA/Rawlings National Player of the Year

NJCAA DII Baseball ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-America

NJCAA First-Team All-American

MACCC First-Team All-American