The Taylor Ducks varsity baseball team picked up their fourth win of the season to continue their hot start.
The Ducks defeated the Navarro Panthers 7-2 last Tuesday, Feb. 28, to extend their winning streak to four games and improve their record to 4-0.
The game started with the Ducks having senior pitcher Cohen Tyree on the mound, and it was not the best start for the veteran player. The Ducks and Tyree would find themselves in a 2-0 hole heading into the bottom of the second, but as they old saying goes, “There’s a lot of baseball left to play.”
The bottom of the second is where the Ducks were able to score their first run of the ball game to cut the Panthers lead to 2-1. What was once a jovial dugout from the Panthers quickly shifted to the Ducks as they found their groove.
It is times like this Ducks head coach Justin Adams said he likes to let his guys work out of situations.
“We’re down two runs but we still have a lot of the game left to play, so to see them respond like they did is awesome,” Adams said. “They (Navarro) are a real tough and good team, so to stay in it and work our way back is a very good sign.”
Tyree would take the mound in the third inning and began to pick apart the Panthers offense. The Ducks senior threw strikes with surgical precision ending the Panthers offensive chance early in the third inning.
Taylor’s offense responded with one more run to tie the game before Tyree again showed off his pitching skills to give his team another chance on offense quickly. The Ducks did not squander this opportunity as they added two more runs to take the lead 4-2.
Tyree would then take the mound again for another quick inning of pitching, which allowed the Ducks offense to explode on the scoreboard. The Ducks would hit back-to-back doubles in the fifth inning, which either scored a run or put a runner in scoring position.
Taylor was able to score three runs because of their offensive explosion and ended the fifth inning up 7-2. The sixth inning saw no change to the score as both teams locked the field down on defense.
However, heading into seventh and final inning the Ducks were only three outs away from capping off the victory. Tyree again took the mound where he secured two quick outs for his team, unfortunately, Tyree had to be pulled from the game because of the rules regarding pitch count.
“He (Tyree) threw a phenomenal game for us tonight, I thought I was going to get a full game out of him, but the pitch count is something we watch closely, and he knows that, and he knows he’ll have more opportunities throughout the season,” Adams said.
Tyree was not upset by this and knew why he was being pulled and went back to the dugout with a smile on his face. Fellow senior Mason Hortenstine replaced Tyree on the mound where he closed out the game getting the third and final out.
The Ducks were able to find a win against Navarro, were in Madisonville for a game Tuesday night against the Mustangs.
