Photo: West End’s Ty Taylor delivers a pitch during the Patriots’ 14-1 victory over Gaston last Monday (March 9) at GHS. (Chris McCarthy/Messenger)
By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor
West End battered the Gaston pitching staff for 15 hits on the way to a 14-1 victory in five innings last Monday (March 9) at Shinbone Ridge.
Eli Pearce was the Patriots’ top offensive weapon, as the junior centerfielder went 3-for-4 with six RBI and two runs scored.
Ty Taylor was equally impressive on the mound. In four innings, the junior righthander limited the Bulldogs to two hits, one run and one walk while striking out four.
“Ty did what he had to do today,” said West End head coach Joe Payne. “He threw strikes and got ahead of the batters early. He didn’t throw a lot of breaking balls but the ones he did throw were pretty good.”
Taylor retired the side in order in the first two innings before Josh Campbell cracked a leadoff double in the bottom of the third. Campbell later scored on Dixon Morris’ RBI groundout, but by that time the visitors were ahead 10-0 as a result of two runs in the first, four in the second and three more in the third.
“Just about everyone in the lineup had a hit, so overall we did pretty well offensively,” said Payne. “We struggled at times with the off-speed stuff but that’s something that we can work on. It was just nice to get in a game in between showers.”
Also at the plate for West End (3-4), Tyler jones went 3-for-4 with two runs scored; Thad Pearce went 2-for-3 with two runs scored; Zach Rubio had a hit, two RBI and four runs scored; Jackson Tidmore had a double, an RBI and two runs scored; Brady Jenkins had a hit and two runs scored; and Levi Armstrong and Isaiah Roberson each had a hit.
Morris and Brady Underwood each had a hit for Gaston.