JARRELL – The Taylor Ducks varsity baseball team came up just short of securing its first district victory, falling to the Jarrell Cougars 8-7 in walk-off fashion on Tuesday, March 24 at Jarrell High School.
Taylor carried a 7-6 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning, but Jarrell loaded the bases with two outs. A wild pitch from Braedon Valdez allowed two runners to cross the plate, sealing the comeback win for the Cougars.
Defensively, the Ducks struggled throughout the night, committing five errors that proved costly in a tightly contested game.
Taylor struck first in the top of the second inning, scoring on a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead. Jarrell answered quickly in the bottom half with a two-RBI single to go up 2-1.
The Ducks responded in the third inning, regaining control as freshman Julian Gomez delivered a bases-clearing triple to put Taylor ahead 4-2. They continued to build momentum in the fourth, adding two more runs on an RBI double by sophomore Braydon Ochoa and a Jarrell error to extend the lead to 6-2.
Jarrell chipped away in the fifth inning, plating two runs to cut the deficit to 6-4. Taylor added what proved to be its final run in the top of the sixth, drawing a bases- loaded walk to push the lead to 7-4.
However, control issues began to surface late for the Ducks. Jarrell scored twice in the sixth inning, capitalizing on two walks and a wild pitch to make it a onerun game heading into the final frame.
In the seventh, Taylor again ran into trouble as Jarrell reached base on an error and two walks to load the bases. With two outs, another wild pitch allowed both the tying and winning runs to score, completing the comeback.
With the loss, Taylor falls to 2-13 overall and 0-3 in district play. The Ducks closed out the series against Jarrell on Friday and will return home to host Burnet on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
