The Taylor Ducks varsity baseball team turned waves to ripples in their season opener.
The Ducks started their season in dominant fashion as they shut out and mercy-ruled Austin Waves 10-0 last Monday, Feb. 20, on the opening night of the season.
Taylor got stellar pitching from Devin Valdez and Mason Hortenstine Monday night on their way to their first win of the season.
“We were missing a couple of guys too, but I am very happy with what I saw tonight from our group to get us going in the season from game one,” head baseball coach Justin Adams said.
Throughout the game, the Ducks pitchers found themselves in spots where the Waves were in scoring position. Adams said it is good for them to be in those situations and allow them to work themselves out of it.
“We let them do that, so that they can build confidence,” Adams said. “We are showing them that we trust them to handle these situations they just have to find a way and work out of it, and they did that.”
The game started with the Ducks on defense and after a great showing on the mound by Valdez, the Ducks went into the bottom of the first inning with a sense of confidence.
Inspired by the masterful defensive play, Taylor’s offense heated up early and did not cool off. The Ducks were humming so much offensively that the team got their first homerun of the season Monday night.
After scoring two runs in the first inning and scoring one run in the second inning, Jake Jansky hit a two-run homerun to help the Ducks extend the lead to 5-0. The homer put the Taylor in the driver seat to run away with the game and they did exactly that.
The Ducks would continue to add runs until the bottom of the fifth inning. For the mercy rule to take effect, Taylor needed one point, and had a runner waiting on third.
Deacon Stokes stepped up to the plate looking to end the game with one heavy swing. He made contact with the ball for his first ever varsity hit, which was also a double that drove in the game winning run.
“We are all really happy for the kid. That is his first ever hit in varsity and he worked so hard to get to this point and to see it all come together like it did for him was really special,” Adams said.
With the first win under their belts the Ducks will look to keep their momentum going when they take on Navarro Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the Duck Pond.
