Strong pitching from Devin Valdez and Matthew Aplin helped propel the Ducks to the top spot in the district as Taylor took down Salado last Tuesday, March 26, on the road, 3-2.
Valdez went 6 2/3 innings, and Aplin came on for the final 3 1/3 to close out the Eagles.
Dominick Hartman led off for Taylor with a single. Hartman was taken out when Joseph Adame’s sacrifice bunt attempt went straight to the pitcher, as Salado chose to take out the lead runner. Cohen Tyree then singled and advanced Adame to second base. On an infield groundout by Chris Perez, the speedy Adame would cross home plate putting the Ducks up 1-0, and advanced Tyree to second base. Aiden Aguero then went down on strikes to end the inning for Taylor.
The Ducks doubled their lead in the second inning. Aplin batted second and reached base on four straight pitches out of range. Nick Treuter would advance Aplin with a sacrifice bunt. Jake Jansky then reached base on a dropped third strike, and Aplin came around to score on the wild throw to first base to put Taylor up 2-0.
Salado would even the score with runs in the third and fifth innings, eventually sending the game into extra innings.
In the Taylor half of the 10th inning, Hartman singled to lead off. An error throw by the Salado pitcher put Adame at first after his bunt attempt. During Tyree’s at-bat, Hartman and Adame would both advance, setting the Ducks up for the winning score. Tyree grounded out to third for the innings’ first out that allowed Hartman to cross home for the go-ahead run.
Aplin came into the Eagles’ final at-bat pumped as he struck out all three Eagles batters.
The win put Taylor in sole possession of first place at 5-1. The Ducks and Eagles met again Friday, April 1, in Taylor for the final time this season. The two teams have split their two meetings this year with the road team winning each time.
