RedWolves' Taylor tames Blowfish

FLORENCE — If the first couple weeks of the Coastal Plain League season are any indication, USC baseball fans are in for a treat when John Taylor hits campus in the fall.

Taylor, a Florence native and Gamecock signee, tossed a seven-inning, one-hit shutout to lead the Florence RedWolves over the Columbia Blowfish 3-0 in the first game of a doubleheader on Monday night.

Taylor was nearly perfect for the RedWolves, who dropped the second game 7-3. He gave up an infield single in the third, walked none and struck out eight.

In four appearances for the RedWolves, Taylor is 1-1 with a save and a team-leading 0.48 ERA. In 18 2/3 innings, he’s given up 11 hits, walked five and struck out 20.

“John is a crafty guy with a lot of heart,” said Florence coach Wes Davis. “He’s a guy who wants the ball and wants to go start to finish. He was certainly on tonight.

“He has a chance to be really good for USC. I would guess he’ll come out of the bullpen as a one- or two-inning guy for them.”

Taylor, who tossed four shutout innings for a save in a season-opening win at Columbia on May 27, said he knew after the first inning that he could go seven.

“I was really leaning on (RedWolves catcher Richard) Pirkle back there. He called a good game,” Taylor said. “We pretty much attacked their hitters the same way we did opening night.

“I was just mixing up my arm angles, spotting my slider and getting good defense behind me. I just felt good the whole game.”

Taylor lost his bid for perfection in the top of the third when Columbia’s Branfry Arias grounded to third and just beat Curtis Murphy’s throw to first.

“I was a few steps behind the bag. I made a quick stab at the ball, spun around and got a throw off,” Murphy said. “I thought the throw was there, but I guess the tie goes to the runner sometimes.”

Said Davis, “Curtis made a play you see on ESPN all the time. Branfry Arias is a really good player and a real good runner. Curtis did a heckuva job to make that play close.”

Florence took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly from Zach Caldwell and a 2-0 lead in the fourth on a sac fly from Pirkle.

The RedWolves, now 7-4 and tied with Wilson atop the CPL South standings, made it 3-0 in the fifth on an RBI single from Barrett Kleinknecht.

In the nightcap, Columbia’s Erik Sommerville (1-0) pitched four innings of middle relief to pick up the win. The right-hander out of Francis Marion gave up three hits, walked none and struck out six.

“It’s great to come in here and pitch well in front of people who always see me pitch at school,” Sommerville said. “I like to work inside on hitters and that’s what I was doing tonight. And when I would give up a hit, the defense would help me out.”

Columbia took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single from Trent Still and an RBI groundout from Shawn Glover.

The Blowfish made it 6-0 with a four-run third inning. A three-run homer by Glover was the big blow.

Nick Gillung (2-1) took the loss. In three innings, he gave up five hits, six runs (four earned), walked two and struck out four.

Cory Briggs was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer to lead Florence at the plate. Tyler Burnett was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Stephen McCray was 2-for-4.

The RedWolves travel to Wilson tonight before hosting Wilmington on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.