Parker played for the Bulldogs during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. During his Gulf Coast career, he hit .394 with 130 hits, 38 home runs and 129 RBI, putting together numbers that made him one of the most feared hitters in junior college baseball.
His 2018 season was particularly remarkable. Parker broke MGCCC’s single-season home run record with 24, surpassing the previous mark of 19 set by Adam Huddleston in 1998. He batted .424 with a .500 on-base percentage and .932 slugging percentage while leading the NJCAA with 81 RBI.
His performance earned him recognition as the ABCA/Rawlings NJCAA Division II Player of the Year and NJCAA First Team All-American. He was also named First Team All-MACJC and First Team All-Region 23 and received an NJCAA All-Academic Award.
One of the season’s most memorable performances came April 8, 2018, against Mississippi Delta Community College, when Parker hit for the cycle. He singled in the first inning, doubled home a run in the third and added a three-run homer and two-run triple in the seventh, finishing the game with six RBI.
Parker returned for the Bulldogs in 2019 and continued building on the success that had made him one of the nation’s top junior college players. That June, his baseball career reached another milestone when the Atlanta Braves selected him in the 10th round of the 2019 MLB Draft with the 307th overall pick. The selection was particularly meaningful for Parker because the Braves were his favorite team.
He credited Gulf Coast and Coach Rodney Batts with helping transform him as a hitter.
“When I was in high school, I was nowhere near the player I am today,” Parker said at the time. “I’m thankful to Coach Batts for giving me the opportunity to play for Gulf Coast and to develop me and work on my hitting.”
He said Batts created an environment that encouraged his players to give as much to the program as their coach gave to them.
“He’s a real leader, and I’m thankful for what he did for the team and me,” Parker said. “It was easy to be successful in the environment that Coach Batts created.”
Parker went on to spend six seasons in professional baseball, totaling 231 hits, 35 home runs, 152 RBI and 160 runs scored.
From a record-setting season at the plate to All-American honors and the MLB Draft, Parker’s Gulf Coast career left an enduring mark on the Bulldog baseball record book and earned him his place among the members of the 2026 MGCCC Athletic Hall of Fame.
