Orange win is Taylor made

The Major League Baseball draft came and went without Chris Taylor’s name being called.
If Monday night’s opening game of Virginia’s Orange & Blue World Series was any indication, a mistake was made.
The rookie infielder from Cox High School and the 2009 VHSL Group AAA player of the year collected a pair of hits and scored the game-winning run as the Orange team took the opener 7-4.
In all, Taylor finished 2 for 5 with a timely triple that tied the game 3-3 during a lengthy seventh inning.
“In this series every year a player will emerge and in Game One it was Chris Taylor that emerged,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “He swung the bat really well and played good defense.”
Taylor’s game-changing hit came after Blue starter Danny Hultzen had reached his pitch limit. Prior to that, Hultzen, the reigning ACC rookie of the year, returned to form on the mound. He scattered four hits and two runs over 4.2 innings, fanning five in the process.
He was matched on the mound by junior college transfer Cody Winarski. The right-hander allowed three runs in the first inning, but settled in and struck out five over four full innings.
“Hultzen looked really good,” O’Connor said, “and I thought Winarski pitched really good baseball after a rough first inning.
“I think both the starters pitched well.”
Kevin Arico, who earned the closer role late last season during the Cavaliers’ march to the College World Series, gave up two hits in the ninth inning, but forced a questionable double play to earn the save. Chad O’Connor earned the win after pitching in relief for the Orange team.
Junior outfield David Coleman paced the Blue team as he drove in a pair of runs and reached base as he was hit by a pitch from Arico.
The important thing to O’Connor, however, was not visible on the scoreboard.
“What we saw in Game One shows is that the intensity of our players this fall is at an all-time high,” he said. “That’s the No. 1 goal and that is what you want out of this series.”
Playing in a seven-game series, the two teams return to action tonight at 6 p.m. at Davenport Field. Admission is free.