By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
Will Taylor approaches the batter’s box with one of the more unique walk-up songs in baseball, a mashup of the Bee Gees’ 1977 hit “Stayin’ Alive” and 50 Cent’s “In Da Club.”
Taylor listened to the Gibb brothers on Friday, pitching four hitless innings and reaching base three times to help keep McQuaid alive in the Section V Class AA baseball tournament. The Knights defeated Rush-Henrietta 11-3, advancing to face Victor in the sectional final at Frontier Field on Tuesday.
“Obviously Will sets the tone,” McQuaid coach Tony Fuller remarked. “We have a lot of confidence with him on the mound and the goal is to try to score early.”
The Knights scored 10 runs before yielding a hit, crossing the plate at least once in each of the first four frames. Taylor set the tone from the pitching rubber, but Aiden Stewart recorded a leadoff triple and notched a run on CJ Phelps’s single to commence the scoring. Stewart also cleared the bases with a double, walked and stole a base.
Edward Hall’s inside-the-park home run made for another McQuaid highlight, while the Knights also manufactured runs on a wild pitch, a dropped third strike.
“My team’s always got my back,” Taylor commented. “No matter if it’s 10 runs in four innings or if it’s two runs, they’ve always got my back. They’re always playing great defense behind me. I love it.”
Joe Grzeskowiak was the only Royal Comet to reach base on Taylor. And although R-H scored three runs over the fifth and sixth innings, McQuaid reliever Daniel McAliney prevented men on second and third from scoring in the fifth and struck out two batters in the seventh.
“Coming in today, it was mostly fastballs,” Taylor noted of the strategy against a Royal Comets team that averaged more than six runs over its last five games. “Make sure I’m locating them correctly and then mix in the curveball.”
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McQuaid has now won eight of its last nine games. The Knights found redemption after a 1-0 defeat to the Penfield Patriots in last year’s Class AA semifinal.
Taylor threw a no-hitter at Frontier Field on May 10, as McQuaid topped Fairport 8-0. He and his teammates will now return to the Rochester Red Wings’ stadium with a sectional championship at stake.
“It’s been a long season; it’s been a great season,” Taylor acknowledged. “We’ve been all over the place, playing teams in Buffalo, Syracuse and North Carolina.
“We’re excited to be there (in the sectional final), and we’re ready.”
I think McQuaid did more than just get past R-H. When you’re up 10-0 before the other team even gets a base runner, I’d say that qualifies as a royal slaying by Knights. Just saying.