Taylor twirls gem, Souderton blanks South Parkland

BOYERTOWN >> Smooth all the way through, Luke Taylor used a tremendous curveball and a sneaky fastball to twirl Souderton to a 7-0 shutout over South Parkland in Region 2 Tournament action Tuesday night.

“Taylor was Taylor. He kept ‘em at bay,” Post 234 coach Paul Meara said of the right-hander. “He is just money. That’s two years, five sets of playoffs and he’s never lost a game.”

South Parkland had never lost a game all season until the Trojans ran into Taylor. He went the distance, limiting South Parkland (23-1) to three hits while striking out eight and walking one.

“He’ll set you up with a curveball and sneak the fastball by you,” Meara said. “He was throwing pretty hard tonight too.”

Taylor allowed the Trojans just two hits in the first five innings, during which Souderton built a commanding lead.

Frank Pollock’s RBI single in the first and Aaron Groller’s RBI single in the second off starter Alex Oliver quickly made it 2-0 in favor of Post 234. Groller was on his way to a 4-for-4 night, with a run and three RBIs.

Souderton extended to a 4-0 lead in the fourth when Groller and Conlan Wall each drove in runs, and by the fifth, the game was out of reach, as Souderton plated another on an error and Groller knocked in one more to

widen the gap to 7-0.

IN COMMAND >> After The Trojans’ Matt Ervolina knocked a double to center in the first, Taylor sat down six in a row and 15 of the next 16.

“I was definitely spotting (the curveball) well at the beginning. I left a couple up and that’s when they got their hits, but for the most part, my location

was good and my off-speed stuff was pretty good too,” Taylor said.

The right-hander finished things off in style, retiring the side in the seventh, striking out Parker Swartz to end it. Region 2 Tournament Souderton 7, South Parkland 0

Souderton 1102300—7120 South Parkland 000 000 0 — 0 3 2

WP: Luke Taylor (7IP, 0R, 3H, 8K, 1BB). LP: Alex Oliver (4IP, 6R, 3ER, 9H, 2K,

4BB).

2B: SP-Joe Webber, Matt Ervolina 2. Multiple Hits: S-Jordan Morales 2-for5, 2R, RBI; Aaron Groller 4-for-4, R, 3RBI; Conlan Wall 2-for-3, RBI; Moses Clemens 2-for-3, R; SP-Matt Ervolina 2-for-3.