Kyle Keck | Echo
The Taylor baseball team fell to Mount Vernon Nazarene in the 2015 Crossroads League Tournament, putting an end to its season.
Going into Tuesday, Taylor (32-20) desperately needed to defeat MVNU (37-9) twice in order to reach the championship game at Winterholter Field. Game One resulted in a 13-2 victory favoring the Trojans. But with the top-seeded Cougars on the prowl, Game Two ended in a 10-4 MVNU win.
Taylor began Game One strong as freshman Jared Adkins slammed a leadoff home run in the fifth inning. Once Adkins started the party, the rest of the Trojans joined to splurge on runs. The sixth inning consisted of a two-out, seven-run rally for Taylor including RBI hits from Adkins and juniors Kevin Fahy, Danny Moorehead, Jake West and Lincoln Reed. Taylor led 10-2 after the seventh inning and kept its foot on the gas by scoring three more before the game's end.
In the second game, Taylor needed to do what it did in the first. Heading into the sixth inning, the Trojans were down four. Moorehead stepped up to the plate and blasted the pitch over the fence to give Taylor its first run and making the score 4-1.
"My primary goal each pitch is to see the ball and pick up the spin," Moorehead said. "On that at-bat, I managed to see it well and get a good pitch to hit. It was a slider that he hung up in the zone."
While Moorehead's big swing gave Taylor hope, it would only be one of two extra-base hits for the Trojans. Taylor accounted for 13 total hits, but MVNU's three doubles, two home runs and one triple did the most damage.
"Not being able to execute and get the timely hits really ended up costing us," Moorehead said. "They did a really good job of executing when they needed to and we didn't. They have a high-powered offense with the ability to really hurt you if you make mistakes, and they were able to do a good job of that on Tuesday."
Tuesday's loss also closes the collegiate careers of Taylor's three seniors: Josh DeGraaf, Brent Minta and Alex Senyshyn. During their time as Trojans, the seniors combined for two Crossroads League Championships, two NAIA National Tournament appearances and 139 total victories.
Although DeGraaf's career on the diamond ended Tuesday, it's the relationships with his teammates he will miss the most.
"The relationships have definitely meant the most to me," DeGraaf said. "Grinding it out every day with my teammates created a close bond where I can invest in them, and vice versa. I will miss college baseball at Taylor, but knowing that I will never get to play with this group of men is the saddest part."Photograph by Josh Adams
