MIDLOTHIAN – A storybook 2023 season will continue to live on as the Taylor High School varsity baseball team shut out Longview Spring Hill High School 2-0 in Game 2 of the 4A regional semifinals at Ronnie Clanton Field to advance to the next round of the playoffs.
“These kids are playing their hearts out,” said Ducks head coach Justin Adams in a postgame interview with Fox 7 Austin. “Devin Valdez gave us a great start today with 6.1 innings and I don’t even know how many strikeouts. I’ve known most of these kids for so long and this is a dream come true for these kids to be playing in June. Just a fantastic thing for our school and for our community.”
Adams was quick to mention Ducks junior pitcher Devin Valdez, who was outstanding on the mound for Taylor on Saturday afternoon as his pitching and the Ducks’ stout defense helped keep the Panthers off the board for the entirety of the game. Valdez pitched 6.1 innings as the Game 2 starter with four strikeouts, only three walks issued and zero runs allowed to a gritty Spring Hill offense.
“First, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without God,” Valdez said. “I remind myself to have confidence and trust each and every pitch. My main goal was to keep them off balance and keep them guessing each pitch.”
This was a textbook pitchers’ battle between Valdez and Cayden Rhodes of Spring Hill as the contest was mostly scoreless throughout the night. Taylor had an early opportunity to get on the board in the top of the second inning with runners on base when sophomore second baseman Mario Aguero ripped a single into the outfield. Unfortunately, a great throw by the Spring Hill outfielder was able to throw out Ducks junior outfielder Chris Perez at the plate to keep the game knotted at 0-0.
In the top of the fourth inning with two outs, the Ducks threatened again on offense. Junior first baseman Braylan Alderete, senior outfielder Jake Jansky and Mario Aguero all reached base consecutively thanks to some shaky fielding by the Panthers. However, senior outfielder Conner Barcuch struck out to leave the bases loaded.
Following another great inning pitched on the mound by Valdez, the Ducks were able to break through offensively in the fifth frame. Following a leadoff single by senior shortstop Dominick Hartman, sophomore catcher Nick Treuter laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance the runner to second base. After senior designated hitter Cohen Tyree reached on yet another error by Spring Hill, it was Perez who came up huge in the clutch as he smacked a double to give Taylor a 1-0 lead. Junior third baseman Aiden Aguero added to the Ducks’ lead with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
Valdez would continue to work on the mound into the seventh and final inning. Following a strikeout to retire the first batter of the frame, Valdez gave up a single to a Spring Hill batter and Adams decided to take him out and put in Tyree to pitch in relief. Tyree would give up a single, get a batter to fly out, and runners on second and third with two outs. The final out of the game was an emphatic one as Tyree struck out a Spring Hill batter looking and the Ducks got to celebrate on the field with a 2-0 victory. Taylor swept Spring Hill after winning Game 1 of the series in Midlothian 4-2 on Thursday night.
The Ducks will now face China Spring Hill School in the 4A regional finals best-of-three series held at Baylor Ballpark in Waco. Game 1 will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night, Game 2 beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, and Game 3 (if necessary) beginning 30 minutes afterward.
