Springfield, Missouri and the Springfield Cardinals are sad to see Pete Parise move on, but are happy with what he was able to contribute to the Double-A club in his short stint this season.  Matt Baker of the Springfield News-Leader talks about Parise’s interesting journey to get to Triple A in his piece, Parise on fast track.  Here are a few snippets:

As Pete Parise finished his senior season at Pitt in 2007, he knew his .285 average and zero home runs weren’t going to give him a chance to play professional ball as an outfielder.

So the New York native followed the advice of scouts and became a pitcher.

Parise draws praise from the Cardinals for throwing the ball low in the strike zone and pitching to contact. Scouts have compared him to former Springfield Cardinal Kyle McClellan, now a reliever in St. Louis.

“He’s been picking up a lot of important innings as far as bridging the gap between starters and late relievers,” Springfield pitching coach Bryan Eversgerd said. “Getting to those guys, that’s a vitally important role right there, he’s done a good job of it.”