1. ELGIN – Ryland Cox did
the swinging, and Justin
Rumley did the slinging
Monday night as the Ducks
opened their 2016 season
with a comprehensive 5-2
road win over Elgin.
Cox hit a seventh inning,
solo home run over the left
field fence to seal the win
for Taylor, who built a 4-1
lead through three innings
that was never truly threat-
ened.
Rumley (1-0) earned the
win on the mound through
four and two-thirds innings
of work, striking out seven
batters and only conceding
one earned run on six hits.
Joel Cruz tossed two and
one-thirds scoreless innings
in relief.
Austin Garcia got the
Ducks on the board in the
first inning and later hit a
double and scored another
run in the pivotal third,
where the Ducks created
some separation from the
Wildcats.
Gabe Jewett and Cox
also scored in the inning,
giving Taylor a firm 4-1 lead
and Rumley plenty of run
support.
Cox went 2-for-4 from
the plate with two RBIs
and five total bases, while
Miguel Torres and Dawson
Brooks each contributed
two hits and Cruz added an
RBI.
Dontae Woodard (0-1)
picked up the loss for Elgin,
striking out six but giving
up two earned runs through
four and two-thirds innings.
Taylor returns home
Friday to take on Johnson
City at 6 p.m.
Batter up
SportsTAYLOR PRESS Wednesday, February 24, 2016 5
scored in the inning,
g Taylor a firm 4-1 lead
Rumley plenty of run
ort.
ox went 2-for-4 from
late with two RBIs
five total bases, while
el Torres and Dawson
ks each contributed
hits and Cruz added an
ontae Woodard (0-1)
d up the loss for Elgin,
ng out six but giving
wo earned runs through
and two-thirds innings.
ylor returns home
y to take on Johnson
at 6 p.m.
Chelsea Seggern pitched
four shutout innings and
added a three hit perfor-
mance at the plate to help
the Thrall Tigerettes (1-0)
beat the Gateway Gators
16-5 in both teams’ sea-
son opener. Seggern and
relief pitcher Ashley Porter
held the Gators to two hits
through five innings of work.
“I think we played a solid
game,” said Thrall coach
Tyler Harwell. “They played
together as a team and did
a good job backing each
other up.”
Thrall started things off
with Alyssia Aleman reach-
ing after be hit by a pitch.
A steal of second base and
a sacrifice bunt by Brandy
Valadez moved Aleman
around to third and Seggern
collected her first run batted
in of the game with a triple
to left field. Porter followed
with a single up the middle
scoring Seggern for a 2-0
Tigerette lead.
Bethany Williams drew
a walk in her first at bat
and with one out the bases
went full of Tigerettes when
Emily Hafernik singled
back to the pitcher. Amber
Holder cracked a hard
grounder into left field scor-
ing Porter and Williams
making the score 4-0.
Jordyn Hubnik’s single to
center tacked on two more
runs and the Tigerettes held
a 6-0 lead after one inning.
In the bottom half of
the second inning Seggern
and Williams each drew
walks and with one out
Ashley Stolte singled back
to the pitcher advancing
the runners and loading the
bases. Hafernik collected
her second hit of the game,
this time a double to center
field that scored Seggern.
Williams was thrown out at
third, but Thrall had runners
in scoring position with two
outs.
A walk to Holder loaded
the bases and when Hubnik
was hit by a pitch, Stolte
was forced in from third for
an 8-0 Thrall lead. Aleman
capped off the scoring in
the second with a two-run
double to center that gave
the Tigerettes a 10-0 lead
after two innings. Thrall
added a single run in the
third inning. Seggern
led off with a line-drive
single to right and stole
second before scoring on a
Gateway error.
The Tigerettes scored
their final five runs in the
bottom of the fourth inning.
Holder and Hubnik hit
back-to-back singles to start
things off and the bases
went full when Aleman
was hit by a pitch. Valdez
walked forcing in Holder
and Seggern emptied the
bases with her second triple
of the night to center field.
Porter collected her second
hit of the night driving in
Seggern and gave Thrall a
16-0 lead after four innings.
“We’re way ahead of
where we were at this time
last year,” Harwell said. “I
think everyone has bought
into what we’re doing and
are comfortable with their
jobs.”
Gateway finally got on
the board in the top of
the fifth inning. A walk
and consecutive bunts off
Porter, who can in as relief
for Seggern, loaded the
bases with Gators. A pair
of walks and a hit batter
trimmed the Thrall lead to
16-3 with one out. Mikayla
Davis’ single to left brought
home the final two runs of
the game.
The Tigerettes competed
in the Academy tournament
over the weekend, squar-
ing off with the likes of
Caldwell, Krum, Florence
and other highly ranked
schools.
Tigerettes
rough up
Gators in
opener
CASEYGEORG
sports@taylorpress.net
KILLEEN – Taylor
softball opened up the
2016 season last week
with a third place
finish in its bracket
at the Killeen ISD
Tournament.
Going 4-5 overall,
the Lady Ducks fell
to Shoemaker (2-0),
Bastrop (11-4) and
Waco University (4-0)
on Thursday, but
rebounded on Friday
with wins over Harker
Heights (3-2) and La
Vega (6-2) despite
a lopsided loss to
Florence (15-0).
They closed out
the competition on
Saturday with wins
over Waco (7-4) and
Palestine (12-2) before
succumbing to Harker
Heights (9-4).
Taylor’s win over
Waco was one of the
highlights of the tour-
nament, as they sur-
vived the Lady Lions in
three extra innings to
avoid elimination.
Their timed match-
up expired in the fifth
inning with the teams
still tied, sending the
game into extras. The
stalemate continued
until the eighth inning,
when Amanda Randig
finally broke the dead-
lock with a go-ahead
hit to score two runs.
Cassidy Tatrow
pitched all eight
innings of action, strik-
ing out nine batters in
the process.
The Lady Ducks
followed up the nail-
biter with a dominant
hitting display against
Palestine – with the
game ending on a
run rule in the fifth
¬– before dropping a
rematch with Harker
Heights.
They returned to
the diamond Tuesday
evening at home
against Killeen, sitting
at 2-2 overall in offi-
cial games this season.
Softball finishes
strong in Killeen
REAGANROEHL
sports@taylorpress.net
Boys Powerlifting
Name Place Total Class
Isaiah Mesa 1st 1195 lbs 132
Noah Pachicano 2nd 905 lbs --
Lorenzo Sanchez 1st 1295 lbs 148
Matthew Kocian 2nd 1025 lbs --
Richard Delarosa 4th 910 lbs --
Daniel Hernandez 1st 1255 lbs 165
Everado Araujo 1st 1520 lbs 181
Chris Hatch 1st 1440 lbs 198
Paul Dominguez 1st 1700 lbs 242
Girls Powerlifting
Name Place Total Class
Hailey Lentz 1st 680 lbs 114
(Best deadlift – Light Platform)
Lyndsey Johnson 2nd 545 lbs 132
Faith Johnson 2nd 585 lbs 148
Peyton Martin* 1st 870 lbs 198
Emily Sumpter* 2nd 585 lbs 220
*Regional Qualifier
Results
Lago Vista Powerlifting Meet
Saturday, Feb. 20
Taylor lifters qualify for regionals
Afterbeingoutscored36-13throughthefirsttwodaysofaction,theLady
Ducks rebounded Saturday with two huge wins overWaco and Palestine
to finish third in their bracket.
File photo
SCHULENBURG – Taylor was
simply facing the wrong oppo-
nent at the wrong time in the
Area round of the UIL Girls State
Basketball Championships.
Winners of 16 in a row and
fresh off a 109-31 evisceration of
Sealy in Bi-District, Brazosport
played the part of bully once
again Friday night, ending the
Lady Ducks’ playoff run with a
dominant 77-43 victory.
“They were just better than
us,” said Taylor head coach Kris
Haney, facing the music after his
team was overwhelmed from the
opening tip.
Virginia Kerley scored 23 points
and grabbed eight rebounds and
six steals for the Lady Ducks (23-7
overall), but the rest of the team
combined for just 20 points.
Brazosport (28-5) did most of
its damage in the first half, jump-
ing out to a 19-point lead in the
first quarter and swelling that
margin to 50-23 by the intermis-
sion.
Poor shooting from outside
the paint prevented Taylor from
ever making a game of it, as they
missed 24 free throws and fired
just 2-for-17 from beyond the arc.
The Exporters, however, clicked
on all cylinders, shooting 40 per-
cent from deep, forcing 26 turn-
overs and outrebounding the Lady
Ducks 56-40.
Four Exporters reached double-
figures in points, led by Christian
Conner with 20.
Despite the elimination, the
Lady Ducks return home with
their heads held high after picking
up the program’s first postsea-
son win in nine years last week
against La Vernia.
They will return starters
Teanna Lucio, Bethany Alderete
and Kerley next season as they
head into newly formed District
19-4A.
Joining them is current rival
Burnet, who advanced past
Wharton to earn a date with
Brazosport Tuesday night in the
Regional Quarterfinals.
Brazosport crushes
Lady Ducks’ dreams
REAGANROEHL
sports@taylorpress.net
Girls Basketball
Quarters 1 2 3 4 F
Taylor 12 11 6 14 43
Brazosport 31 19 9 18 77
Results
Individual Stats
Scoring – Taylor; Kerley
23, De la Garza 6, Lucio
10. Brazosport; Conner
20, Harris 18, Cooper 14
Taylor will return starters Virginia Kerley, Teanna
Lucio and Bethany Alderete (left to right) next sea-
son,astheytrytomountanotherpostseasonpush.
Photo by Larry Pelchat
Taylor blasts Elgin in season opener
Baseball
Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Taylor 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 5 8 1
Elgin 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 7 1
Results
REAGANROEHL
sports@taylorpress.net
The Ducks manufactured three
crucial go-ahead runs in the third
inning and later padded their lead
in the seventh with a solo homer.
Photo by Larry Pelchat