GIDDINGS — The Taylor High School varsity baseball team picked up a crucial 4A-District 22 victory Friday, April 12 as the Ducks went on the road and cruised to a 10-1 win over Giddings High School.
The Ducks’ offense wasted no time getting on the board in the top of the first inning. Following singles by seniors Chris Perez and Ayden Gutierrez, fellow senior Braylan Alderete hit a three-run home run to give Taylor a 3-0 lead.
In the second frame, junior Xavier Juarez scored on a heads-up base-running play and fellow junior Mario Aguero came home to score on a fielder’s choice by Alderete to push the Ducks’ lead to 5-0.
After the Buffaloes got their only run of the game in the bottom of the second inning, the Ducks would eventually respond in the fourth as senior Dominick Hartman hit a solo home run to go up 6-1.
In the fifth frame with no outs, Taylor junior Nick Treuter padded the lead to 8-1 as his run-scoring double brought home Gutierrez and senior Jordan Pickerill. Treuter would come home to score later in the inning on a passed ball.
Hartman provided one more insurance run in the top of the seventh inning as his RBI double brought home Juarez to make it 10-1, a score that would hold up.
Ducks senior Chris Perez had yet another dominant outing on the mound as he pitched seven complete innings with 12 strikeouts, only three hits allowed and one run given up. Taylor (12-9-2 overall, 4-3 district record), under Head Coach Kale McQuillen, traveled Tuesday to Smithville High School and will be back at home Friday, April 19 at 7 p.m. for a district rematch with the Tigers.
