There wasn’t much stopping the Ducks as they cranked out 33 hits in the twinbill to beat Rockdale 15-5 and 12-4 in a best-of-three Class 3A Region III quarterfinal playoff Saturday at Temple College.
Taylor (26-6-1) advances to meet Carthage in the regional semifinal next week at a date and place to be determined. Rockdale closes its first playoff season in 10 years with a 22-9 mark. The Tigers won the opener 5-2 Thursday night to force Taylor to sweep a doubleheader to move on.
“They just beat us, it wasn’t anything we did or didn’t do,” Rockdale coach Jarad Richards said. “Everything went right for them. It was unbelievable. They had all the breaks go their way. We’ve been on the other end of that, too.”
After dropping the opener in five innings, the home Tigers looked to be on the rebound in the nightcap. They posted four runs in the first frame and seemed to have the Ducks back on their heels. The Tigers knocked Taylor ace Eric Brooks off the mound six batters into the game.
Two errors helped the Tigers to those four runs. An error on a Joe Sanders grounder allowed J.B. Debault to score from third. Billy Gonzalez singled to right and the ball skipped by Taylor’s right fielder to clear the packed bases to put the Tigers up 4-1.
But Sam Jirasek took over for Brooks and pitched one-hit shutout ball the final six innings while the Ducks offense never stopped churning.
“We wanted this to be a long day,” Taylor coach Doug Kuhl said. “It was unreal how we hit the ball. Jirasek is capable of doing what he did.”
Taylor answered Rockdale’s four-run first with a five-run second and never looked back. A two-run triple by Brooks highlighted the Ducks’ breakthrough inning and the Tigers had no more answers. Brooks’ two-run double in the third led to three more Duck runs and a comfortable 9-4 advantage. The Ducks added two more in the sixth and another in the seventh.
Mark Drake started for the Tigers and Gonzalez relieved in the third and closed it out.
In the opener, the Ducks unloaded 19 hits on the Tigers with 14 of their 15 runs coming in the last three innings. Jirasek went 4-for-4 with five RBI. Dillon Pfluger hit a homer and a double in a 3-for-4 performance with three RBI.
Rockdale got on the board with one in the second as Dillan Schnerr scored on an error. They added one in the third when Debault doubled home Drake. The Tigers picked up three in the fifth off three Duck pitchers. Chance Betchan singled in a run. Sanders drove in Debault on a sacrifice fly and pinch runner Duke Schneider scored following and error.
Brooks (11-1) went four innings and picked up the win for the Ducks. Nic Hammett took the loss for the Tigers.
Despite a rough afternoon of baseball that was extended by 50 minutes due to a rain delay between games, the Tigers had much to be happy with on the year.
“I’m extremely proud of the way the kids played,” Richards said. “This was the first time in 10 years we’ve been to the playoffs and won 20 games. It’s the first time in 15 years that we’ve won a playoff game.
“My hat’s off to Taylor,” he said. “We had the day scripted. It just didn’t work.”
twaits@temple-telegram.com
