No. 9 Taylor Defeats Madonna 12-1 in Home Opener

UPLAND, Ind. – Behind a career performance from starter Brody Fine and another impressive display from Crossroads League Player of the Week Brayden Manning, No. 9 Taylor rolled to a 12-1 home-opening victory over Madonna on Thursday at Winterholter Field, extending the perfect start to the season with its 11th straight win.

After Madonna's leadoff hitter singled to open the game, Fine was untouchable as the senior righty locked in and didn't let another runner reach other than a third-inning walk. He spun five innings of one-hit ball, punching out 10 batters — a career high — twice stringing together five consecutive strikeouts in the process. His season ERA now sits at 0.95 across 19 innings, with 26 strikeouts. Wes Hunt kept the shutout intact with four strikeouts over three clean innings of relief, and Luke Klunke handled the ninth. Taylor's pitching staff held Madonna to just three hits all afternoon.

The offense, meanwhile, needed no time to warm up.

Taylor erupted for four runs in the bottom of the first on three hits and a pair of Madonna errors. Fletcher Roemmich and Luke Sutter reached to put runners on the corners, and Manning drove one back up the middle to make it 1-0. On the very next pitch, transfer Jordan Malott — making his Winterholter Field debut in a Trojan uniform — launched a three-run blast to left field, his 37th career home run, to make it 4-0 before Madonna's starter Trey Acker could find his footing.

Roemmich and Sutter, who have both reached safely in all 11 games, each tallied two hits and scored three times to help power the offense. Roemmich has recorded a base knock in eight consecutive outings, while Sutter extended his hitting streak to three with his eighth multi-hit performance.

The Trojans piled on from there. A one-out rally in the second, fueled by back-to-back singles from Peter Ensign and Roemmich, pushed the lead to 5-0 on a Sutter fielder's choice. Manning and Malott reached to load the bases, and Sam Gladd was hit by a pitch to force in another run.

In the third, a dropped fly ball on a Sutter drive to right allowed two more runs to score, and Manning followed immediately with a two-run homer to put Taylor ahead 10-0.

Manning was the story of the day. The senior outfielder went 4-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs, pushing his season average to .510 through his fifth consecutive multi-hit game. It was the second time this season he's gone deep twice in a single outing and the fourth such game of his career. He is, simply put, on another level right now.

Madonna got on the board in the seventh on Brett Reed's RBI single, but Manning answered in the bottom half with his second home run of the day — a two-run shot to left — to restore the 11-run margin and close out the scoring at 12-1.

Acker dropped to 2-1, surrendering six earned runs on eight hits in just 2.2 innings. The Crusaders burned through six pitchers trying to slow a Taylor lineup that finished with 12 hits. The Trojans left seven runners on base while stranding six Crusaders overall.

Gladd roped a double, while Rylee Singleton, Chase Long and Brennan Frickel each logged a base knock. Freshmen Peter Ensign and Quinn Kunkel each singled in their debut appearance at Winterholter Field.

Game 2 of the three-game series is set for Friday at 2 p.m. in Upland.