Taylor Glaze
is a
Rockstar!!!
Several professional scouts, including New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya, gathered at Leming Field on Saturday to observe a premiere baseball talent.
Central Catholic senior Taylor Glaze decided to give them a double feature.
While heralded Cowan senior Justin O'Conner struggled to command his electric stuff, Glaze steadily frustrated the Blackhawks while pitching Central Catholic to a 4-2 Class A regional semifinal victory.
"Before the game, I saw all the fans, and I was getting ready to go," Glaze said. "I love big crowds. It doesn't faze me at all, because I don't pay attention. I just go out and pitch my game, and that's what I did today. I let my defense make plays and they made every play I could ask them for."
Glaze (8-2) scattered five hits, including a home run by O'Conner, who is expected to be drafted as a catcher in Monday's first round of the Major League First-Year Player draft. But the left-hander allowed only two baserunners after O'Conner's third-inning blast and struck out nine.
Saturday's semifinal pitching matchup was a repeat of last year's Cowan Regional championship. O'Conner struck out 17 Knights in nine innings, Glaze struck out 12 in 10 innings, but Central Catholic eventually won 8-2 in 11.
Facing 28 batters in Saturday's complete game effort, Glaze located his fastball, curveball and slider for 22 first-pitch strikes.
"He knows how to pitch," CC coach Tim Bordenet said. "He knows how to mix it up, he hits his spots very well, and has great command of the strike zone. Sometimes you don't have to throw 90 miles an hour if you can put the ball where you want it, and that's kind of what Taylor's game is."
The Knights' hitters never found much success against O'Conner's low-90s fastball and strong curveball. Central Catholic batters struck out 13 times (eight in the final three innings combined), and two of their three hits did not leave the infield.
Yet O'Conner (5-1) struggled to find the strike zone, beginning with his second pitch of the game, which hit Scott Windler. He walked four, hit three batters and threw three wild pitches."He was a little amped up early," said Cowan coach Camden Parkhurst, a Clinton Central graduate. "Getting over the big-game emotions early, that accounted for part of it in the first inning. Control wasn't exactly where we wanted it to be, but as a pitcher you're going to have days like that."
Central Catholic trailed 1-0 in the bottom of the first, when a rare catcher's interference call kept the Knights' inning alive. Windler scored on O'Conner's first wild pitch, and Jason Aldridge was hit in the helmet with a first-pitch fastball with the bases loaded to force in Reed Drysdale.
After a few minutes on the ground, Aldridge was able to walk off the field. Bordenet said Aldridge suffered a concussion, and the first baseman did not play in the championship game.
After O'Conner's home run tied the game in the third, No. 9 hitter Danny Anthrop sparked the Knights in the fourth. His single to center was Central Catholic's only solid hit, and he later scored on Glaze's dribbler up the third base line. Cole Hruskovich, who reached by being hit by a pitch, later scored on a wild pitch.
"Coach told us all week that we had to shorten our swings, so that's what we did," said Anthrop, who also reached on an infield single and stole a base in the second inning.
Cody Campbell's leadoff double in the sixth was the only hit Glaze allowed over the final four innings. The bottom four spots in the Blackhawk lineup went 0-for-11 with six strikeouts.
In contrast to O'Conner, the only free baserunner Glaze gave the Blackhawks came on an intentional walk in the first inning.
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