DeGraaf Leads Six Trojans on All-Crossroads Team

Crossroads League Release I TU Honors Page

HARTFORD CITY, Ind. – The 2015 All-Crossroads League Team was recently announced for baseball, with Josh DeGraaf being named the Crossroads League Pitcher of the Year and Tanner Watson being named the Crossroads League Newcomer of the Year to highlight six all-league honors for Taylor.

DeGraaf and Watson were joined on the All-Crossroads Team by Lincoln Reed, Brian Moore and Danny Moorehead, while Jake West earned Honorable Mention All-Crossroads League recognition.

The group helped Taylor to a 32-21 overall record for the program's eighth-straight winning season and seventh-straight year with at least 32 victories. During that eight-year stretch, TU has gone 277-147 (.653) with an average of 35 wins per year and a 165-54 (.753) clip in league play.

DeGraaf has played a large role in that success, becoming the first player in Taylor's baseball history to earn three Player-of-the-Year honors. DeGraaf follows Michael Kraynak (2009, 2010) and Ryne Otis (2011, 2012) to give TU seven-straight seasons with the league's top performer on the mound or at the plate.

Along with taking home the Crossroads League Pitcher-of-the Year award for the third-straight time, DeGraaf also collected a third-straight All-Crossroads League nod and was voted as the Crossroads League Gold Glove Award winner among all league pitchers.

DeGraaf closed his career with his best season on the bump by posting career-highs of eight victories, a 1.80 earned-run average, a .218 batting average against and eight complete games out of 11 starts. The Morris, Illinois native also fanned 81 batters in 75 innings of work, while only allowing 12 extra-base hits and 11 walks. Those numbers helped DeGraaf rank among the top-30 pitchers in the NAIA in ERA, while leading the Crossroads League in strikeouts and ERA for hurlers with at least 45 innings pitched.

DeGraaf will leave the TU baseball program as one of the most accomplished and decorated pitchers in school history. During the last four seasons, DeGraaf won 29 games, tossed 17 complete games, piled up 258 strikeouts in 271.2 innings and posted a career earned-run average of 2.95 over 51 appearances on the mound for the Trojans.

Watson was voted as the Crossroads League Newcomer of the Year and named as an All-Crossroads League performer after hitting .343 with six doubles and three home runs. Watson also ranked among Taylor's top bats with a .448 slugging percentage, a .410 on-base clip and 33 runs batted in over 43 starts and 48 games played.

Watson caught fire over his final 30 games of the season, hitting .390 with eight extra-base hits to just eight strikeouts during that stretch. The Granger, Indiana native reached safely in 26-of-30 games to end the season, collecting at least one hit in 24 of those contests.

Reed also made an immediate impact in his first season with Taylor, starting 51-of-52 games played after transferring in from NCAA Division II Hillsdale prior to the 2014-2015 year. The junior catcher was named to the All-Crossroads League Team after hitting .309 with 11 doubles, four home runs and 34 runs batted in. The Cincinnati, Ohio native destroyed non-league pitching during 19 regular season games to the tune of a team-leading .444 clip and a stout 1.154 OPS with eight extra-base hits and 19 RBI.

Moore had little trouble adjusting to a move to shortstop, collecting his first All-Crossroads League honor by starting all 53 games at the new position and leading all league players with 24 steals in 26 attempts. The junior batted .327 with career-highs of 39 runs scored, 24 steals and 19 walks and was a force over the second half of the season. In TU's final 28 games, the Monticello, Indiana native batted .440 with 24 runs scored and 19 steals without being caught.

Moorehead hauled in a second-straight All-Crossroads League nod with a torrid close to his junior season. The slugging outfielder ended the year with a Crossroads League leading 10 home runs and 46 RBI to go with a .295 average, while leading TU with 20 extra-base hits and a .575 slugging percentage. The Cincinnati, Ohio native slugged .756 and batted .366 with eight homers in league play and improved those numbers to an .831 slugging mark and a .434 average with 17 extra-base hits to just 11 strikeouts over Taylor's final 28 games of the season.

West rounded out the honors for Taylor with a second Honorable Mention All-Crossroads League honor in three years. The junior third baseman started 52-of-53 games played and was a model of consistency with a .345 batting average, seven doubles, two dingers and 32 runs batted in. The Rensselear, Indiana native hit .419 in Taylor's 32 victories, .359 in league games, .333 in non-league games and .329 at Winterholter Field, en route to posting his third-straight season average of at least .340.

Taylor is set to return Watson, Reed, Moore, Moorehead and West for the 2016 campaign, with the five All-Crossroads League standouts expected to lead a roster of 23 returning lettermen. That group will include eight returning starters to the lineup and nearly three-fourths of its innings pitched from the 2015 season.