BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
A travel softball team composed mostly of Bradford High School and Union County High School players (current student-athletes and graduates) has put together quite a summer season to date, having won two tournaments by a combined 9-0 record.
Team Florida EvoShield-Taylor 18U is coached by BHS Head Coach Kaylan Taylor, her BHS assistants (and husband and father, respectively), Joey Taylor and Vince Tucker, and Fort White Head Coach Chad Padgett. Taylor said she brought up the idea of putting such a team together with BHS players during this past season.
“The girls were excited about it,” Taylor said.
The team played in the North Florida Summer State Championships in Lake City June 4-5, going 5-0. Madison County graduate Carter Gore hit four home runs in the tournament and led the team with seven RBI, while Bradford High School’s Rylie Blankenship had six RBI.
On June 25, the team went 4-0 in winning the USSSA Summer Waves tournament in Jacksonville. BHS graduate Hannah McFarland had six RBI, while current BHS player Takeirra Bakken and current UCHS player Tamia Young each had four RBI.
“There’s obviously a lot of talent in this area,” Taylor said, adding, “We had high expectations of them. They’ve exceeded them.”
The team will participate in the Southeast National Association World Series July 13-16 in Clearwater. Players are fundraising to help pay for the cost. Taylor said businesses and individuals in the community have already been generous with their donations.
“We’re so appreciative,” she said.
If you’d like to help out, you may make a donation to a player or call Taylor at 904-769-3562.
Besides Bakken, Blankenship and McFarland, the team’s other Bradford players are Madison Highland, Masey Padgett, Taylor Reddish (graduate), Chrissy Samons and Blakeleigh Smith.
Taylor said it has been a great experience for her players to play one more time with graduates McFarland and Reddish. It’s also something she and her BHS assistants have enjoyed.
“It’s kind of providing us another opportunity to coach them before they start their new lives,” Taylor said.
Angela Tucker and graduates Megan Sullivan and Starla Vaughn are other UCHS players who have joined Young on the team. Taylor said UCHS player Leah Clark also plans to become involved.
1st tournament
A couple of home runs helped broke a 5-5 tie as the team began the Lake City tournament with a 9-5 win over the North Florida Stars.
Four of the team’s first five runs came off RBI doubles by Gore and Padgett and a two-run homer by Gore.
In the final inning, Samons singled, while Smith reached on an error. Blankenship then hit an inside-the-park home run, followed by Gore’s second homer of the day — a solo shot that resulted in the 9-5 final.
Blankenship and Gore each had two RBI in the second game to help the team beat Team Xtreme 6-0.
A home run by Gore put the first two runs on the board, while Blankenship drove in the next two on a single. Blankenship scored herself on an error.
Blankenship scored the final run, reaching on a two-out walk and crossing home plate on a Reddish double.
Bakken also hit a double, going 2 for 3.
Madelyn Jones (Columbia) gave up one hit and one walk in pitching all three innings.
The team next played Team Florida EvoShield Jax, scoring all of its runs in the second inning to win 3-1.
Blankenship drove in one run on a single, while Reddish drove in two on a double.
Pitchers Jones and Sullivan combined to allow two hits, with Sullivan striking out four in three innings of work.
Next came a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Firecrackers. Taylor’s team, trailing 3-2, put two runners on when Reddish doubled and Bakken walked. Padgett hit a run-scoring single to even it up before Vaughn drove in the winning run on a ground out.
Gore drove in the team’s first run with her fourth home run of the tournament, while Highland drove in the second on a ground out.
Jones gave up two hits in 3.1 innings. Sullivan recorded the final out.
The team put together a four-run third inning to win the tournament, defeating the North Florida Stars 6-2.
Bakken, who went 2 for 3, drove in the first two runs on a double.
In the third inning, Gore reached on an error and scored on another Bakken double. Padgett then hit her own run-scoring double before Vaughn hit a two-run homer.
Vaughn was named the game’s MVP.
Sullivan faced every batter but one, giving up one run on two hits.
2nd tournament
The second tournament the team played in started with a bang with a six-run first inning leading to a 6-3 win over the Lady Black Hawks-Teledo.
Young hit a two-run single and scored on a steal of home, while Tucker scored on a passed ball. The team also scored two runs with the bases loaded, with Smith getting hit by a pitch and Highland drawing a walk.
The next game saw Bakken, McFarland and Jordan Jarrell (Baker County) each driving in two runs as the team defeated Suwannee River Elite 12-0.
Bakken, Jarrell and Smith each hit a run-scoring single as part of a six-run third inning that put the team up 8-0. Highland drove in a run on a sacrifice fly as part of the inning, which also consisted of two runs scoring on errors.
McFarland, who went 2 for 2 with two RBI, hit a solo homer as part of a four-run fourth, which also consisted of Jarrell, Samons and Young each driving in a run.
Bakken went 3 for 3, while Jarrell and Reddish each went 2 for 3. Highland, Samons, Smith and Young each had one RBI, with Young going 2 for 4.
Sullivan pitched all four innings, giving up one hit, while striking out seven.
The team’s third game was an 8-4 win over the Lady Black Hawks. McFarland, who went 2 for 2 with two RBI, hit a run-scoring triple and scored on a steal of home as part of a four-run second inning. Tucker also scored on a steal of home in the inning, while Young scored on an error.
Tucker and Young each went 2 for 3, while Highland had one RBI.
Sullivan gave up six hits.
The team got some clutch performances in the championship game, with McFarland hitting a walkoff RBI single in a 7-6 win over the Inferno.
The teams were tied 5-5 after three innings, resulting in an extra inning with a tiebreaker employed in which each team started its half of the inning with a runner on second base. After the Inferno scored a run, Taylor’s team began the bottom of the fourth with Samons on second base. She advanced to third on Smith’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Young’s single to tie the score. Later, with two outs, McFarland hit a run-scoring single to win it.
Bakken hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to force the extra inning.
