By Mark Carpenter –
After etching his name in the pitching record book at West Union High School, fireballing right hander Kyle Taylor is now in his junior season as a member of the UC Clermont Cougars baseball squad, a team that is ranked number one in the nation in the latest United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) poll, released earlier this week.
The Cougars stand at 19-12 as their regular season winds down and Taylor has appeared in 11 games with one start and sports a record of 4 wins against one loss, pitching 25.2 innings and striking out 24 hitters. His overall earned run average stands at 8.77, but that drops to 1.80 in USCAA conference games.
“The beginning of this season was rough,” Taylor told The Defender. “My mechanics were messed up so I had to re-work myself to get back to where I needed to be. It’s along season so I couldn’t change everything at once. I fell from a rotation role to a relief pitcher. I had to keep making small changes as the season went along, but now I am where I need to be for myself and my team.”
“We are now the number one team in the nation and I am back in the rotation and on a winning streak, tied now for the most wins on the team. The team has been on a roll and is one of the best I have ever been a part of. I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world. I love my team and we are like a family. And personally, I have everything under control now.”
The Cougars, who have won six of their last seven, complete their regular season this weekend before competing in the USCAA World Series, beginning May 13 in DuBois, Pa.
