BY STEVE KRAH
Focusing on quality at-bats, Parker Stinson has seen an improvement when he steps in to hit for the Indiana State University baseball team.
With the help of assistant coach Jason Hagerty, the lefty-swinging senior right fielder has untangled his thoughts in the box and it’s helped.
As the first-place Sycamores (29-8, 12-3) head into a three-game Missouri Valley Conference series Friday through Sunday, April 26-28 at Southern Illinois, Stinson has played in all 37 games (36 starts) and is hitting .295 (38-of-129) with 11 home runs, two triples, six doubles, 32 runs batted in, 33 runs scored and a 1.068 OPS (.440 on-base percentage plus .628 slugging average).
He has 11 multi-hit games with three-hit contests March 30 against Illinois-Chicago at Bob Warn Field and April 2 at Indiana. More often than not, he bats No. 4 in the ISU order.
“Hags has been a great addition for us,” says Stinson of Hagerty, who joined the staff in the summer of 2023. “He’s helped me simplify things.
“I’ve simplified it down to the bare minimum. Complicated never seems to work out for me. I’m up at the plate trying to put together a quality at-bat. Whether that’s a hard out or seeing six pitches, that’s a win for me.”
What about driving the baseball?
“I’ve always been able to hit for power,” says Stinson. “It’s been one of my strengths as a ballplayer.
“I really wanted to lean into that this year. I have to be OK with some swings-and-misses. Those are sacrifices you have to make to be a power hitter. I’m trying to get three of my best hacks off each at-bat.”
He has 45 strikeouts and 27 walks.
Stinson doesn’t mind standing on top of the plate, especially against left-handed pitchers.
“It’s makes them uncomfortable,” says Stinson. “If they can put three running fastballs on the inside part of the plate, I’ll just tip my cap to him.”
Led by lefty-swinging redshirt senior Dominic Listi’s 19, ISU batters have been hit by 86 pitches with nine having been plunked five times or more. For Stinson, it’s eight.
But the Sycamores bench does not ask hitters at the dish to “Wear It!”
“We say, ‘Don’t Skate!,’” says Stinson. “It’s about everyone taking one of the team. What it comes down to is taking the extra base for the team.”
Another newcomer to the staff — Kevin Bowers — oversees outfielders.
“He’s keeping us athletic, diving and making plays,” says Stinson of Bowers.
Mitch Hannahs is in his 11th season as head coach at Indiana State.
“He’s intense,” says Stinson of Hannahs. “He holds a high expectation for the team.
“That’s the main reason we’re so successful here. He never let’s that drop.”
About halfway through his prep days, Stinson was 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds. He’s now 6-foot and 210.
“When junior year (at Yorktown High School) rolled around I started getting in the weight room a little more,” says Stinson. “In college, lifting and nutrition became a part of your job.
“I’ve put on 20 pounds of muscle since I’ve been in college. I cleaned up my diet a little more, cooking more meals at the house as opposed to eating out.”
Stinson has played summer collegiate ball the past three years — 2021 for the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League’s Southampton (N.Y.) Breakers, 2022 for the Northwoods League’s Kenosha (Wis.) Kingfish and 2023 for the NWL’s Willmar (Minn.) Stingers.
He will not play this summer, instead doing an internship required to complete his Exercise Science degree. It will be with a sports performance facility.
Stinson, 22, has a year of eligibility remaining and he says he will likely use it in 2024-25.
He was redshirted for the 2021 Indiana State season.
“The jump from high school to college was a lot for me with COVID,” says Stinson. “I wasn’t ready for the speed of the game at this level.
“The coaches wanted to give me an extra year to get adjusted.”
In his first two seasons on the field in Terre Haute (2022 and 2023), Stinson got into 77 games (56 starts) and hit .219 (47-of-214) with eight homers, one triple, eight doubles, 40 RBIs and 40 runs.
Born in Nashville, Tenn., Stinson came to Indiana as a toddler and grew up in Yorktown, Ind.
He played rec ball in the Yorktown Junior Athletic Association then with the Yorktown Tigers travel team which became the Indiana Generals. He later represented the Indiana Prospects.
At Yorktown High School, his head coach was P.J. Fauqher.
“That guy was a great coach,” says Stinson of Fauqher. “I enjoyed playing for me.”
The core of that early travel team were the starters for the 2019 team that made it to the IHSAA Class 3A Kokomo Semistate before losing 5-0 to eventual state champion Andrean.
“They were moving up and we were planning on taking state in 2020 (but the season was canceled because of the pandemic),” says Stinson. “During COVID people were joking and had T-shirts made that said, ‘Yorktown Tigers State Champs 2020.’”
Stinson’s favorite MLB team is the New York Yankees. His favorite player in Hall of Famer Derek Jeter.
“I always liked the way he led his team,” says Stinson of Jeter. “He was humble and he led by example.
“The man knew how to win.”
Parker is the oldest of Matt and Tiffany Stinson’s three children.
Ellee Stinson (21) is a 2021 Yorktown graduate who played volleyball at Northwestern University and is transferring to Texas A&M University.
Joe Stinson (18) is a senior tennis and track athlete at Yorktown and is likely to go into the trades after graduation.
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