Taylor settles in to lead Forsgren’s victory

FORT SMITH — Logan Taylor stepped off the mound and took his cap off, wiping sweat from his brow.

The 6-4 left-handed pitcher from Alma was trying to protect a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning for Fort Smith Forsgren on Wednesday in the opening round of the AA American Legion State Baseball Tournament at Hunts Park.

Mountain Home second baseman Kollin Kendrick blooped a hit to right off Taylor to open the inning that got passed Forsgren’s right-fielder for a double. Two walks in the inning loaded the bases with two outs.

Forsgren Manager Shae Hamilton made the slow walk from the dugout to the mound to give Taylor time to compose himself.

“He just said take a breather, chill out,” Taylor said of Hamilton’s mound visit. “Just calm down and settle back in.”

Taylor did just that, striking out nine-hole hitter Wyatt Goodman to end the inning.

“He doesn’t ever need calming down,” Hamilton said of Taylor. “He is always calm, cool and collected. It doesn’t matter the situation, it doesn’t matter the batter. He’s just as cool as a cucumber. The main thing I did when I went out there is, I just wanted him to take a breath. Honestly, I don’t have to go out and talk to him very often.”

Taylor left the mound with the 2-0 lead intact, and when he returned for the third inning, his Sportsman teammates had provided even more run support with four runs in the top of the third. Isaac Carroll drove in a pair of runs with a single and Bricen Nesbit tripled in a run to help the Sportsman take control.

Forsgren pounded out 11 hits in the game and only a throwing error in the bottom of the fifth inning prevented a shutout.

“Everybody did everything today,” Hamilton said of his offense. “We had a special batting round yesterday where we really focused on runner on third, doing something to get him home … ground ball, fly ball, whatever just to get that runner home and we were very successful with that today.”

Staked to the 6-0 lead, Taylor dominated Mountain Home in the bottom of the third to complete a 48-pitch afternoon.

“My curveball was working really well today,” Taylor said. “My fastball was pretty consistent and I was able to throw those for strikes. I’m just trying to pitch to contact and I have a lot of confidence in the guys behind me.”

Hamilton said Taylor has a lot of confidence on the mound regardless of the situation, like Wednesday’s second-inning jam.

“He’s just one of those kids that doesn’t let that bother him,” Hamilton said. “His command is great. He’s got no fear. He’ll flip a curveball in 3-2 without any problems. Most kids aren’t looking for that and he does a really good job with it.”

Taylor allowed just two hits and would be eligible to pitch again Saturday if the Sportsman advance to the finals.

Forsgren lead-off hitter Connor Austin went 3 for 4 with a stolen base. Haden Roark was 2 for 4 and Nesbit drove in a pair of runs.