Jeff Yoder | Echo
The Taylor baseball team finally got a chance to swing the bats at their own diamond on Monday as the Trojans dominated Concordia University with 3-0 and 6-2 wins at Winterholter Field.
"When we choose to play with a high level of competitiveness and attention to detail, we have more than enough to compete with every team that has been on our schedule," said head coach Kyle Gould.
Junior Josh DeGraaf (3-1) was his usual self in the opener as the right-hander pitched a shutout. The Trojans scored all three of their runs in the first inning, beginning with three straight singles from sophomore Grant Hendershot, senior Austin York and sophomore Danny Moorehead.
In game two, the senior duo of Eric Kartman and Caleb Miller combined for the 6-2 victory behind a pair of timely two-run doubles in the fifth and sixth innings. The first came from junior Alex Senyshyn in the fifth to grab the lead while the latter came at the bat of York in the sixth to extend the gap.
With the two victories, the Trojans won 11 straight home games before having the streak halted by Manchester on Tuesday. The Trojans held leads going into the seventh inning in each of the two games before losing 7-5 and 2-1. Both games needed eight innings to decide a winner.
Game one featured Moorehead's game-tying home run in crunch time before MU rallied for the 7-5 win. Moorehead and sophomore Kevin Fahy led the Trojans with two hits apiece.
A couple of TU youngsters got their first collegiate starts at the mound as sophomore Cody Bayle earned a no decision in four innings at his first outing in game one. Freshman Luke Hunter led game two, riding a shutout through six innings before Manchester made another late-game rally to beat TU 2-1.
The pitching and defense has been on point for the Trojans, but run support is where they hope to see improvement.
"Our offense has done some things well early in the season, but we haven't been able to make adjustments during the game at the level we are capable of," Gould said. "We have the makings of a very good offense. It's a matter of when we start making the necessary adjustments to be successful."
In game two, the Trojans recorded just one run on five hits as the only score of the game came from Senyshyn on a RBI from junior Brent Minta.
The Trojans are now 6-9 on the season and will host Concordia again in a doubleheader tomorrow as they close out their tough non-conference schedule. Taylor will begin conference play against Marian University next Thursday.
Photography by Timothy P. Riethmiller
