Former Southeast star, Capahas shortstop Parmley says his baseball career is finished

Former Southeast Missouri State star and Capahas shorstop Kenton Parmley was getting ready to leave Capaha Field on Sunday night for what he said would probably be the last time as a player.

Some of his teammates, however, weren't so sure about that and joked that he says the same thing every year.

"I'm pretty sure I'm hanging them up after today," Parmley said. "For good."

Parmley, who finished his four-year career at Southeast in 2012, has played for the Capahas for the past four summers, and Capahas manager Jess Bolen still was hopeful following the team's regular-season finale that Parmley would travel to the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kansas, which starts Friday.

Parmley injured his hamstring running to first base in a game last weekend, so he couldn't play the field, but could be used to pitch in relief or pinch hit.

He pitched a scoreless inning of relief on Sunday and also had a pinch-hit base hit in his final at-bat.

"I'm going to take Parm with us, see if he can maybe pitch an inning in relief," Bolen said, "or I told him, I said, 'If you can bat, if we're to the last out of the game, we need a base hit to tie the game or the game's over, I might stick you up there. And then if you get a base hit, we'll run for you. But I'd like to have him there."

Parmley's Redhawks career was highlighted by his 47-game hitting streak, which at the time tied for the third-longest in NCAA Division I history and set the Ohio Valley Conference record.

He was a two-time second-team All-OVC selection and was named to the All-Freshman team in 2009.

"I grew up coming to watch him, Blake Slattery, Jim Klocke, all those guys, you know, Shae Simmons," Capahas catcher Chase Simmons said. "It was just awesome to come and actually play with him and get to know him, a good friend of mine. It's hard to hear that he's hanging them up. It's just weird, kind of, but it was awesome to come out here and play with him."

Parmley said he could see himself playing slowpitch softball in the future, but he doesn't think he'll have a change of heart when next season rolls around.

"A little bit of injury, and I don't know, I'm just not exactly what I used to be," Parmley said of why he's decided to end his career. "It's just kind of frustrating getting out to some people that I shouldn't be getting out to throughout the year. I'm just not on the same physical level that I used to be at, so [I'm] hanging them up."

"It's been exciting," Parmley said, "but it's time to start a new chapter in my life."