About Parker Neff
At a vigil held at USC Salkehatchie, Coach Bubba Dorman spoke to hundreds of Parker's teammates and friends in a speech that truly captured Parker's character:
"To HONOR and REMEMBER a truly wonderful young man, a son, a brother, a sweetheart, a friend, and a teammate, who we lost yesterday. PARKER STEWART NEFF, number 13, passed away yesterday and his departure leaves an enormous hole in our hearts, life and especially in this baseball team.
Parker graduated from Traveler’s Rest High School in 2016. He attended North Greenville University and USC Upstate prior to transferring to USC Salkehatchie this past fall to pursue his dream of playing collegiate baseball. He started the year as a Third Baseman but several weeks ago he became our everyday SS and our 3-hole hitter! He was hitting .280 with a .414 OB%. He had 6 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs and 17 RBI. Parker had made tremendous strides as a player in a short period of time here at USC Salkehatchie.
To give you some kind of idea what type of player Parker was, yesterday morning he was sitting in his Jeep waiting on me to arrive to open the door to the locker room so he could take some extra batting practice. Several weeks ago I saw him standing on the sidewalk to the library throwing a ball against the Library wall working on his fielding. Parker was the type of young man that makes coaching a glorious and wonderful profession. Every day he went about making himself the best player he could be. He was a baseball player’s player!
Even though Parker was a very good baseball player, despite the fact he was not what we would call a runner, he was a much better person. KIND, RESPECTFUL, THOUGHTFUL, CONSIDERATE, PERSONABLE, QUIET, RESERVED, A DREAMER are a few words that come to mind when I think of Parker. He was a young man with INTEGRITY and OUTSTANDING CHARACTER. You did not have to wonder if Parker was going to give his best effort, because that was his MAKE-UP. He would not allow himself to give anything but his best. He carried himself with a quiet PRIDE about who he was and what he was doing! He was constantly trying to improve himself and his skills. He was STEADY! He was ROCK STEADY! And he made the people around him better, which is the ONE TRADE MARK AND CHARACTERISTIC of all the great people that have GRACED this earth!
Parker was also a very good student with over a 3.0 GPA. He was the total package, the example of what a student-athlete is supposed to be. He was a coach’s dream because he did not talk about what he was going to do, he went and did it. And the vast majority of the times he took someone else along with him!
Hey 13, we love you, we sorely miss you but you will forever be in our hearts. I am a blessed man because Parker Neff walked into my life! I thank my Lord, my Creator and my Savior for allowing me to coach Parker Neff, if only for a short time! God Bless you my brother! And Thank you Parker, one-three, thirteen, for NEVER GIVING UP ON THAT DREAM."
-Coach Bubba Dorman
"To HONOR and REMEMBER a truly wonderful young man, a son, a brother, a sweetheart, a friend, and a teammate, who we lost yesterday. PARKER STEWART NEFF, number 13, passed away yesterday and his departure leaves an enormous hole in our hearts, life and especially in this baseball team.
Parker graduated from Traveler’s Rest High School in 2016. He attended North Greenville University and USC Upstate prior to transferring to USC Salkehatchie this past fall to pursue his dream of playing collegiate baseball. He started the year as a Third Baseman but several weeks ago he became our everyday SS and our 3-hole hitter! He was hitting .280 with a .414 OB%. He had 6 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs and 17 RBI. Parker had made tremendous strides as a player in a short period of time here at USC Salkehatchie.
To give you some kind of idea what type of player Parker was, yesterday morning he was sitting in his Jeep waiting on me to arrive to open the door to the locker room so he could take some extra batting practice. Several weeks ago I saw him standing on the sidewalk to the library throwing a ball against the Library wall working on his fielding. Parker was the type of young man that makes coaching a glorious and wonderful profession. Every day he went about making himself the best player he could be. He was a baseball player’s player!
Even though Parker was a very good baseball player, despite the fact he was not what we would call a runner, he was a much better person. KIND, RESPECTFUL, THOUGHTFUL, CONSIDERATE, PERSONABLE, QUIET, RESERVED, A DREAMER are a few words that come to mind when I think of Parker. He was a young man with INTEGRITY and OUTSTANDING CHARACTER. You did not have to wonder if Parker was going to give his best effort, because that was his MAKE-UP. He would not allow himself to give anything but his best. He carried himself with a quiet PRIDE about who he was and what he was doing! He was constantly trying to improve himself and his skills. He was STEADY! He was ROCK STEADY! And he made the people around him better, which is the ONE TRADE MARK AND CHARACTERISTIC of all the great people that have GRACED this earth!
Parker was also a very good student with over a 3.0 GPA. He was the total package, the example of what a student-athlete is supposed to be. He was a coach’s dream because he did not talk about what he was going to do, he went and did it. And the vast majority of the times he took someone else along with him!
Hey 13, we love you, we sorely miss you but you will forever be in our hearts. I am a blessed man because Parker Neff walked into my life! I thank my Lord, my Creator and my Savior for allowing me to coach Parker Neff, if only for a short time! God Bless you my brother! And Thank you Parker, one-three, thirteen, for NEVER GIVING UP ON THAT DREAM."
-Coach Bubba Dorman