Taylor dazzles in 12-strikeout effort to lead Blue Devils to WB6 split

STERLING, Ill. — Kyle Taylor’s final Western Big 6 Conference start will go down as his best.

The senior right-hander tossed a one-hit shutout Monday in leading the Quincy High School baseball team to a 7-0 victory over Sterling and a split of the conference doubleheader. The Golden Warriors won the opener 15-0.

Taylor struck out 12 and walked four in a 110-pitch effort. He didn’t allow a hit until a two-out single in the fifth inning. He promptly retired the final seven batters he faced.

He benefited from pitching with a lead. In the top of the first, the Blue Devils’ Evan Sohn led off with a double and went to third on Taylor’s infield single. Tykell Hammers followed with a double to left field to plate two runs.

In the third, Sohn led off with a triple and scored on Taylor’s double. In the fourth, Jansen Lawson doubled, went to third on a sacrifice and scored on a wild pitch. A three-run seventh inning featured a Hammers RBI single and two run-scoring groundouts.

The top three in Quincy’s order — Sohn, Taylor and Hammers — combined for six hits, six runs scored and four RBIs.

In the first game, Sterling scored seven runs in the second inning and ended the game in five innings. Quincy (12-17) was limited to four hits, including a double by Sohn. Brady Lowe suffered the loss, allowing five earned runs in 1 ⅓ innings.