By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Will Taylor needed an inning or two to get comfortable with the turf mound at Greece Olympia High School.
Once acclimated, the McQuaid Jesuit senior cruised.
Taylor struck out 10 without issuing a walk in a 2-hit shutout as McQuaid defeated Canisius High (VI), 4-0 in inter-sectional baseball action on Sunday afternoon.
“The curve ball was on today, so I stuck with it and located,” the Wofford College commit said. “It worked great.”
He retired the side in order in the first, but fell behind the first three batters faced in the second before getting out of the inning unscathed.
Will Taylor leaves a 2-out single at first. Heading to the bottom of the 2nd: Canisius 0 @McQuaidBaseball 0 pic.twitter.com/V4fmV794zI
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) April 24, 2022
“With the turf mound, I was slipping forward a little bit,” Taylor said of the synthetic playing surface for Sunday’s contest. “I slowed myself down, took more of an approach of locating.”
Aaron Jones reached on a two-base error to start the Canisius third inning. Taylor left the Crusaders’ outfielder at second with a pair of strike outs and a routine fly ball. The left-hander went on to retire 10 straight batters.
VIEW MORE JOE TERRITO PHOTOS HERE.
“With a dirt mound, I’ll usually glide and stick it right down,” Taylor said of his lead leg. “Here I was slipping a little bit forward. I tried to keep my hips back a little bit and then plant my foot. Instead of a glide, I planted it straight in the ground.”
McQuaid sent nine to the plate in the third and scored all the runs needed for the win.
Three-hole hitter, Aiden Stewart brought home Ed Hall with an RBI groundout for the first run of the game. Zach Allen plated Tanner DeGrazia with an opposite field single.
After a stolen base (one of five thefts on the day for McQuaid), Allen alertly scored when Taylor beat out an infield single. Taylor swiped second, move to third on a CJ Phelps base hit and came home on a passed ball for a 4-0 lead.
Aiden Stewart brings home Ed Hall with an RBI groundout to start the scoring. Zach Allen follows with a single to right that scores Tanner DeGrazia. pic.twitter.com/koKVQmwLHE
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) April 24, 2022
“It helps a lot,” Taylor said of his mindset while pitching with a lead. “No matter what, I trust the team. Whatever’s going on, if it’s the first inning with four runs or the sixth inning with four runs, I trust the team.”
Phelps finished the game 2-for-3. Will Russotti singled and reached on a hit by pitch.
Victor Mazzara, reached on a one-out single in the sixth. The Canisius centerfielder stole second and moved to third on a ground ball to the right side of the infield. It looked like a the Crusaders would get on the board when a Taylor breaking ball eluded Phelps behind the plate. The battery combined to get Mazzara at home for the final out of the frame.
CJ Phelps and Will Taylor take care of the final out in the top of the 6th: McQuaid 4 Canisius 0 pic.twitter.com/kyrCIAxg8a
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) April 24, 2022
The win was the third straight McQuaid (3-3). Inclement weather cut Taylor’s most recent outing short after four shutout innings – a 9-8 victory over Rush-Henrietta. On Sunday, he wasn’t going to be denied striking out the first two batters of the seventh before getting a ground ball that Luca Ciaramitaro handled at third.
He finished the game having faced two batters over the limit and throwing 85 pitches – 61 for strikes.
“I was strong the whole game. I wasn’t going to let it slip away from me.”
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