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May 29—The first-inning explosion from the Taylor offense was enough to seal the deal.
And it earned the team from Indiana a shot at its first-ever national title.
The top-seeded Trojans scored five runs in the bottom of the first, and that did enough to help them reign victorious, 7-4, over the 10th-seeded William Carey Crusaders (Miss.) in Game 17 of the Avista NAIA World Series on Thursday at Harris Field in Lewiston.
It was a revenge game of sorts after the Trojans originally fell to the Crusaders 7-4 in the first round of the Series in a day full of upsets to start the tournament.
Although Taylor coach Kyle Gould said the focus the team has is more on internal motivation.
"We spend very little time on any type of external motivation," Gould said. "We try to show up every day and be the best players we can be, the best team we can be, and we have a scouting report, and we have respect for everyone, but we operate under the belief that we decide who wins and loses by the way we play."
Thursday's matchup was originally pushed forward from 6:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Then, due to precautionary measures with the weather, the game got pushed to 7:30 p.m., but was delayed due to lightning for an 8:22 p.m. start time.
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The game finished at 11:14 p.m., with three teams remaining in the World Series bracket headed into today.
William Carey will face Tennessee Wesleyan at 6:30 p.m., with the winner getting a shot at Taylor for the title at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Taylor's offense was explosive
The Trojans built a 5-0 lead by the bottom of the first inning.
The inning began with two groundouts, then an infield single started the scoring run. It was followed by a walk, then a Brennan Frickel single through the gap of the shortstop and third baseman to score the first run of the game.
Then a single through the exact same gap loaded the bases.
Fletcher Roemmich smacked a bases-clearing double to the left-center field wall to put Taylor up 4-0.
"I haven't played my best this World Series and I know that, so I'm trying to make an adjustment the last couple games," Roemmich said. "I want to sit on off-speed pitches, which I've been struggling with. That's what he did — he hung me a first-pitch slider, and I saw it all the way and just belted it back. Backside double."
Nate Simpson singled up the middle to send Roemmich home to give the Trojans a 5-0 lead.
"I think it lets everyone take a deep breath, but what you don't want is it to be too big of a deep breath," Gould said of the big first inning. "We talk about (that) we are chasing big innings, and sometimes we hit two solo home runs."
He joked that he wished his players would be more strategic and hit home runs with others on base.
"But we're just chasing big innings, and a lot of times the best time to get to a starter is his first inning and his last inning, kind of before they settle in," the coach said.
William Carey was forced to replace starting pitcher Josh MacCord, and then finished the inning with a strikeout. But it was not soon enough as Taylor took a huge lead to start the game.
William Carey's Gage Hinnant hit an RBI single to bring a run home and to cut the lead to 5-1 at in the top of the second.
A half inning later, Taylor's Luke Sutter barreled a ball to deep right field for a home run off the brightly lit scoreboard to put the lead back at five at 6-1.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Brayden Manning blasted a high-flying homer over the tall center-field wall to give Taylor a 7-1 lead.
A great performance on the mound from Taylor
JT Tabor started on the mound for the Trojans.
Tabor went 4 2/3 innings and fanned five batters while allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits. He threw 73 total pitches.
It was a bounce back of sorts for Tabor, who last pitched in the Trojans' 10-8 win over the fourth-seeded Doane Tigers in an elimination game.
"The mindset was a little better today," Tabor said. "I had to bounce back and put all that behind me, and just had a fresh new game. I just didn't want to be the guy to end it for all of us. It means a lot to win."
In that game, Tabor worked 1 2/3 innings and gave up five runs in the eighth inning, almost allowing a comeback from the Tigers.
Tabor did not have many issues on Thursday.
Tabor said it helped that the offense added five runs in the first.
"You're pitching a whole different game when you got offense like that, just makes up for everything, just takes all the pressure off you, and you can just compete freely," Tabor said.
Two pitchers later, Nathan Frady closed the game out for the Trojans, working 2 2/3 innings while allowing one run on two hits.
William Carey's pitching struggles
William Carey used just three pitchers, but at the start of the contest it did not look good for its staff.
MacCord started the game for the Crusaders but worked just 2/3 of an inning, giving up five earned runs, five hits and a walk all in just 25 pitches before he was replaced.
In the first inning, Everett Thompson came in as relief and worked 1 1/3 innings. He gave up a home run to Sutter and one more hit. Thompson struggled with accuracy and hit multiple batters with a pitch.
Adam May then came in as relief and was the best pitcher for the Crusaders, working the rest of the game in 6 1/3 innings, fanning six while allowing one earned run on three hits.
Gould gave credit to May and said that the Crusaders are a tough team to keep down.
"What they've done in the opening round and what they've done in the World Series so far," Gould said. "And that was one of the things when we talked, even the first time, the scouting report is, 'Hey, these guys, they're not going away.' They're an older team, they're an experienced team, obviously, their coach has over 1,400 wins. It's a great program, great team. It's a real hallmark of them. They don't stop. "
What's next?
Due to the way the bracket was created and the tiebreakers, the team with the most games played would get the bye to Saturday. Both Taylor and Tennessee Wesleyan have played five games and William Carey has played just four.
The second tiebreaker is the head-to-head record, and the Trojans and the Bulldogs have not played each other.
So it moved to the third tiebreaker with the highest-seeded team getting the bye to Saturday, and Taylor is the top-seeded team in the tournament.
William Carey will play Tennessee Wesleyan at 6:30 p.m. today, and the winner of that contest will face Taylor at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday for the crown.
William Carey 010 011 001—4 9 1
Taylor 510 100 00x—7 10 2
MacCord, Thompson (1), May (3) and Hernandez; Tabor, Boyer (5), Crabtree (6), Frady (7) and Schrock.
William Carey hits — Hernandez 3, Hinnant 2 (2B), Mark (2B), Booth, Ducksworth, John.
Taylor hits — Manning 2 (HR), Sutter 2 (HR), Gladd 2 (2B), Roemmich (2B), Malott, Frickel, Simpson.
Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, [email protected] or on X @TrevorJunt.
William Carey 4
Taylor 7
STARS OF THE GAME
Taylor third baseman Fletcher Roemmich had a huge three-RBI double in the first inning that gave the Trojans a 4-0 lead.
Trojans left fielder Brayden Manning had two hits, including a high-flying home run over the center-field wall to give Taylor its final runs of the game.
Taylor right fielder Luke Sutter also had two hits and blasted a ball deep into right field, hitting the scoreboard for a huge home run.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"There is real belief in each other, and there (are) real standards to uphold, but they love each other and they support each other."
— Taylor coach Kyle Gould
Continue reading...
And it earned the team from Indiana a shot at its first-ever national title.
The top-seeded Trojans scored five runs in the bottom of the first, and that did enough to help them reign victorious, 7-4, over the 10th-seeded William Carey Crusaders (Miss.) in Game 17 of the Avista NAIA World Series on Thursday at Harris Field in Lewiston.
It was a revenge game of sorts after the Trojans originally fell to the Crusaders 7-4 in the first round of the Series in a day full of upsets to start the tournament.
Although Taylor coach Kyle Gould said the focus the team has is more on internal motivation.
"We spend very little time on any type of external motivation," Gould said. "We try to show up every day and be the best players we can be, the best team we can be, and we have a scouting report, and we have respect for everyone, but we operate under the belief that we decide who wins and loses by the way we play."
Thursday's matchup was originally pushed forward from 6:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Then, due to precautionary measures with the weather, the game got pushed to 7:30 p.m., but was delayed due to lightning for an 8:22 p.m. start time.
Advertisement
The game finished at 11:14 p.m., with three teams remaining in the World Series bracket headed into today.
William Carey will face Tennessee Wesleyan at 6:30 p.m., with the winner getting a shot at Taylor for the title at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Taylor's offense was explosive
The Trojans built a 5-0 lead by the bottom of the first inning.
The inning began with two groundouts, then an infield single started the scoring run. It was followed by a walk, then a Brennan Frickel single through the gap of the shortstop and third baseman to score the first run of the game.
Then a single through the exact same gap loaded the bases.
Fletcher Roemmich smacked a bases-clearing double to the left-center field wall to put Taylor up 4-0.
"I haven't played my best this World Series and I know that, so I'm trying to make an adjustment the last couple games," Roemmich said. "I want to sit on off-speed pitches, which I've been struggling with. That's what he did — he hung me a first-pitch slider, and I saw it all the way and just belted it back. Backside double."
Nate Simpson singled up the middle to send Roemmich home to give the Trojans a 5-0 lead.
"I think it lets everyone take a deep breath, but what you don't want is it to be too big of a deep breath," Gould said of the big first inning. "We talk about (that) we are chasing big innings, and sometimes we hit two solo home runs."
He joked that he wished his players would be more strategic and hit home runs with others on base.
"But we're just chasing big innings, and a lot of times the best time to get to a starter is his first inning and his last inning, kind of before they settle in," the coach said.
William Carey was forced to replace starting pitcher Josh MacCord, and then finished the inning with a strikeout. But it was not soon enough as Taylor took a huge lead to start the game.
William Carey's Gage Hinnant hit an RBI single to bring a run home and to cut the lead to 5-1 at in the top of the second.
A half inning later, Taylor's Luke Sutter barreled a ball to deep right field for a home run off the brightly lit scoreboard to put the lead back at five at 6-1.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Brayden Manning blasted a high-flying homer over the tall center-field wall to give Taylor a 7-1 lead.
A great performance on the mound from Taylor
JT Tabor started on the mound for the Trojans.
Tabor went 4 2/3 innings and fanned five batters while allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits. He threw 73 total pitches.
It was a bounce back of sorts for Tabor, who last pitched in the Trojans' 10-8 win over the fourth-seeded Doane Tigers in an elimination game.
"The mindset was a little better today," Tabor said. "I had to bounce back and put all that behind me, and just had a fresh new game. I just didn't want to be the guy to end it for all of us. It means a lot to win."
In that game, Tabor worked 1 2/3 innings and gave up five runs in the eighth inning, almost allowing a comeback from the Tigers.
Tabor did not have many issues on Thursday.
Tabor said it helped that the offense added five runs in the first.
"You're pitching a whole different game when you got offense like that, just makes up for everything, just takes all the pressure off you, and you can just compete freely," Tabor said.
Two pitchers later, Nathan Frady closed the game out for the Trojans, working 2 2/3 innings while allowing one run on two hits.
William Carey's pitching struggles
William Carey used just three pitchers, but at the start of the contest it did not look good for its staff.
MacCord started the game for the Crusaders but worked just 2/3 of an inning, giving up five earned runs, five hits and a walk all in just 25 pitches before he was replaced.
In the first inning, Everett Thompson came in as relief and worked 1 1/3 innings. He gave up a home run to Sutter and one more hit. Thompson struggled with accuracy and hit multiple batters with a pitch.
Adam May then came in as relief and was the best pitcher for the Crusaders, working the rest of the game in 6 1/3 innings, fanning six while allowing one earned run on three hits.
Gould gave credit to May and said that the Crusaders are a tough team to keep down.
"What they've done in the opening round and what they've done in the World Series so far," Gould said. "And that was one of the things when we talked, even the first time, the scouting report is, 'Hey, these guys, they're not going away.' They're an older team, they're an experienced team, obviously, their coach has over 1,400 wins. It's a great program, great team. It's a real hallmark of them. They don't stop. "
What's next?
Due to the way the bracket was created and the tiebreakers, the team with the most games played would get the bye to Saturday. Both Taylor and Tennessee Wesleyan have played five games and William Carey has played just four.
The second tiebreaker is the head-to-head record, and the Trojans and the Bulldogs have not played each other.
So it moved to the third tiebreaker with the highest-seeded team getting the bye to Saturday, and Taylor is the top-seeded team in the tournament.
William Carey will play Tennessee Wesleyan at 6:30 p.m. today, and the winner of that contest will face Taylor at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday for the crown.
William Carey 010 011 001—4 9 1
Taylor 510 100 00x—7 10 2
MacCord, Thompson (1), May (3) and Hernandez; Tabor, Boyer (5), Crabtree (6), Frady (7) and Schrock.
William Carey hits — Hernandez 3, Hinnant 2 (2B), Mark (2B), Booth, Ducksworth, John.
Taylor hits — Manning 2 (HR), Sutter 2 (HR), Gladd 2 (2B), Roemmich (2B), Malott, Frickel, Simpson.
Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, [email protected] or on X @TrevorJunt.
William Carey 4
Taylor 7
STARS OF THE GAME
Taylor third baseman Fletcher Roemmich had a huge three-RBI double in the first inning that gave the Trojans a 4-0 lead.
Trojans left fielder Brayden Manning had two hits, including a high-flying home run over the center-field wall to give Taylor its final runs of the game.
Taylor right fielder Luke Sutter also had two hits and blasted a ball deep into right field, hitting the scoreboard for a huge home run.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"There is real belief in each other, and there (are) real standards to uphold, but they love each other and they support each other."
— Taylor coach Kyle Gould
Continue reading...
