Baseball: Taylor gets retribution as Sheridan wins 7th straight

THORNVILLE — Sam Taylor's first start of the season was one he'd much rather forget.

Less than a year removed from Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow, Sheridan's ace right-hander allowed 10 runs in the first inning to Philo on the road.

Much has changed since.

Taylor has more than rounded into form since his early struggles, just like his team. He entered Wednesday's rematch with Philo having not taken another defeat. After a 1-2 start, his team entered the game as winners of six straight games.

Taylor got the call again in his bid to earn personal retribution — and keep his team's modest streak alive. He answered with five shutout innings in a 11-1 mercy that kept the Generals one game back of John Glenn in the Muskingum Valley League-Big School Division standings.

Taylor struck out five and walked three in a four-hitter. Only Cade Searls. who doubled, managed an extra-base hit for the Electrics.

He benefitted from an early offensive outburst that saw Blake Turnes trigger a seven-run second inning with a run-scoring to right field on a two-strike pitch.

Three batters later, after RBI singles from Corey Amspaugh and Blaine Hannan, sophomore slugger Caden Sheridan cleared the bases with the hardest-hit ball of the game — an opposite field triple to right field that hit the base of the fence on the fly.

"Three-and-1 (count), I was sitting dead red fastball and I got it," Sheridan said. "I squared it up pretty well."

Down 7-0, Philo (5-4 MVL-Big) never recovered. Sheridan improved to 9-2 overall and 6-2 in league play.

"This one was nice, especially considering they beat us 13-3 over at their place," Sheridan coach Doug Fisher said. "That shows us that we are getting better. I don't know if Sam had his best stuff today, but it's nice when you can spot him seven runs in that second inning. Basically, from there he just has to throw strikes."

Caden Sheridan continued his recent hot streak, despite the weather-related layoffs. He had two of the team's seven hits — he also had a double in the three-run fourth — continuing a stellar outings at the plate. He has seven hits in his last three games, with three going for extra bases.

"Early on hie wasn't striking out or anything, but he just wasn't squaring them up," Fisher said. "He's been squaring everything up these last few games. It would be nice if we could play more than one game a week. "

Sheridan's ascent has coincided with the team's improvement. He had three hits in the team's first four games but hasn't been held hitless since.

"We went through a rough patch, but we're getting comfortable with each other and getting closer," Sheridan said.

That Taylor returned to game action after just 10 months from tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow — the normal full recovery time is 12-18 months — didn't surprise Fisher.

It was the same thing that Taylor's medical team told him would happen — if he stayed true to his rehabilitation plan. That was never a question, Fisher said.

"He's all baseball," Fisher said. "That was his goal. It wasn't like he was missing football or missing basketball, he is a baseball kid so he was doing everything he could to get back. He has thrown three good games in a row now for us."

Taylor said he "felt great" on Wednesday and said he has steadily built velocity and stamina with more starts. He mixed a change-up and curveball with his fastball.

"When he first started at Philo he didn't have much velocity," Sheridan said. "At Philo his change-up wasn't working and his curveball wasn't breaking, so I think those are big. (Today) he only threw once change-up and struck a kid out. He got wild there for a little bit throwing fastballs, but we just had to get him to slow down and throw strikes."

Taylor said he has been fortunate to have no setbacks. He threw 47 strikes in his 75 pitches against the Electrics.

"I get sore here and there, but other than that it has been really good," Taylor said. "It felt great to come back after these guys today after giving up 10 earned the first time. I got hit around pretty good."

sblackbu@gannett.com

740-450-6723

Twitter: @SamBlackburn

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Sam Taylor gets retribution as Sheridan baseball wins 7th straight