Parmelee Uses Natural Power

The territory behind the right-field fence at Chino Hills deserves designation as a hard-hat area in recognition of Chris Parmelee’s hitting power.

Parmelee, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound junior outfielder, leads the Southland with 10 home runs. It’s during batting practice that students should be on the lookout for flying objects.

A football player supposedly was hit in the back by a Parmelee blast while working out on the practice field. Parmelee once had to retrieve nine baseballs he hit over the fence.

“He has unbelievable power,” Coach Kyle Billingsley said. “Everything he hits is hard. The ball jumps off his bat.”

A local restaurant offered to give free pizza to anyone who hits a home run for Chino Hills this season. Parmelee has been treating his friends to lots of pizza.

The left-handed Parmelee is also a quality pitcher, but it’s his home run power that draws oohs and ahs and would make him a perfect stunt double to fill in during batting practice if Barry Bonds or Sammy Sosa ever needed a break.

“All my life, it’s come natural,” Parmelee said.

He remembers hitting his first home run against live pitching as a 6-year-old. His mother put the ball in a bucket at home. That bucket is becoming filled with prized home run balls.

Parmelee, who starts in right field when he’s not pitching, has committed to Cal State Fullerton, the school he dreamed of attending while growing up.

He spent last summer as if he were a minor leaguer, considering the amount of traveling he did for baseball. One week he was in Atlanta, the next in Chicago. One week he was in China. He kept going back and forth to Arizona for competitions.

“I faced some tough pitchers over the summer, and I can see the ball better,” he said. “Everything has slowed down.”

Parmelee presents a tough challenge because he’s not one to chase bad pitches. He’s batting .436.

“He goes up there and waits for pitchers to make a mistake,” Billingsley said.

Parmelee’s father, Chris, used to race roadsters in the National Hot Rod Assn. He and his wife, Robyn, make sure their only son understands the value of hard work.

The younger Parmelee is told to take out the trash, clean up after the dog, make his bed, clean the house and mow the lawn.

“I think they’re preparing me for when I go out to live on my own,” he said.

Nothing seems to create a stressful moment for Parmelee, who insists he’s at ease hitting or pitching.

“I just go up there and I know I’ll get the guy out,” he said. “I know I’m going to get a good pitch to hit and I better do something with it.”

At the end of practice, Chino Hills’ coaches, Kyle and his brother, Brent Billingsley, both of whom played professionally, sometimes challenge Parmelee to a home run contest.

“I usually win,” Parmelee said. “They’re pretty good about it. They pick up their stuff and walk away.”

Parmelee enjoys baseball so much that he said, “I can’t see myself stopping any time soon.”

But Parmelee still has to make time for his chores at home because that’s what his father expects.

“He said, ‘You haven’t made it yet. You still have to mow the lawn,’ ” Parmelee said.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@ latimes.com.