CHRIS PARKER ADDS TO MARMONTE-TIGERS SUCCESS STORY.

Byline: Chris Cocoles Staff Writer

His team was barely hanging around for a playoff spot and coming off the high of winning a game with a ninth-inning homer.

That was Chris Parker's cue to give the Oneonta Tigers another lift. The Westlake High product - who had watched teammate Ryan Neill beat Utica with the dramatic blast in the ninth the night before - stepped to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the eighth of a 2-2 tie against the Batavia Muckdogs last Tuesday.

``I love that kind of hit,'' Parker said of Neill's clutch homer. ``I like seeing guys get fired up.''

But Parker knew he couldn't let the prospects of being a hero himself overcome him.

``I had to push that out of my mind,'' he said. ``I had to focus on what I had to do rather than the result.''

Parker stayed composed and singled in Hugh Quattlebaum to end the second game of a doubleheader and keep Oneonta's playoff hopes alive.

Entering that game, the Tigers were in a fourth-place tie with Batavia in the New York-Penn League's Pinckney Division. But Oneonta was just two games back of Utica for the second playoff berth.

Oneonta was 27-29 through Saturday, alive for a playoff spot with about two weeks remaining in the season.

``We want to turn things around,'' Parker said. ``We're making every effort to get back in the swing of things.''

Parker has bounced around the Tigers' low minors the past couple years. Last season the catcher spent time at both Oneonta (he hit .198 with two homers and 17 RBI) and Single-A Lakeland of the FLorida State League.

In 2000, Parker had a short, but successful, stint with Single-A West Michigan of the Midwest League but has spent much of the summer back in Oneonta, N.Y. He was hitting .240 with eight RBI.

--More Tigers tidbits: Parker's Oneonta teammate and former Marmonte League rival Barry Tolli is also contributing down the stretch.

In the Batavia win, Tolli (Newbury Park) scored the Tigers' first run when he led off the fifth with a double and scored on a Parker single to center.

Tolli, Oneonta's right fielder, also made a big defensive play. He gloved Travis Chapman's fourth-inning fly ball, then fired the ball to third to retire Jason Barnette, who was tagging up.

Tolli was hitting .249 with two homers, 19 RBI, seven doubles and a triple. Pitcher Ryan Earl (Thousand Oaks), the third member of the Tigers' Marmonte League connection, was 1-6 with a 5.49 ERA in 10 starts.

--Check swings: Parker's and Tolli's common links - former high-school- rivals-turned Detroit farmhands - include another bond. They were born one day apart. Parker celebrated his 21st birthday last Wednesday and Tolli turned 21 the following day. . . .

Matt Riordan (Westlake) is having a steady, if unspectacular season for Single-A Delmarva of the South Atlantic League. Riordan is hitting .295 with three homers, 46 RBI and 10 stolen bases for the Shorebirds. . . .

Chicago White Sox first-round pick Joe Borchard (Camarillo) had just two hits in his first 11 at-bats since his promotion to Single-A Winston- Salem of the Carolina League.

Kevin Nykoluk (Simi Valley), a backup catcher for the Single-A Potomac Cannons of the Carolina League, is hitting .180 with 11 RBI in 53 games.