The Crookston Pirate Varsity Baseball team will have a new Head Coach this spring, with Crookston High School alum Ben Parkin taking over the program, pending school board approval.
Parkin is a 1995 Central High School graduate and was a three-sport athlete (football, hockey, and baseball). He was a member of the 1995 State Baseball Championship team. He was named to the all-tournament team as a catcher and was also named to the Crookston High School Hall of Fame with the championship team.
He also played amateur baseball for the now-defunct Crookston Reds.
In college, Parkin played baseball at Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD, for one year (1998) and was named All-NSIC conference selection as an outfielder. He graduated from Northern State with a BS in Physical Education with a coaching minor in 2003.
Parkin coached Crookston Babe Ruth Baseball in 2003. He has had many other coaching jobs over the years –
-Middle School Track head coach – Excelsior Middle School, San Francisco, CA (2008)
-CHS JV Baseball coach (2011-12) (2 seasons)
-Crookston American Legion Post 20 Baseball head coach (2011-12) (2 seasons)
-Crookston Bantam B hockey coach (2010-2012) (3 seasons)
-Jackson Peewee A hockey head coach, Jackson, WY (2017-18)
-Jackson Hole Moose Hockey (center) (senior A elite division) Jackson, WY (2003-06, 3 seasons) & (2016-18, 2 seasons)
Parkin is currently a part-time PE teacher and substitute teacher, at Highland Elementary School, in Crookston.
