Huge game from Wolf leads Taylor into regional quarterfinals

By Tyler Tyre, Sports Editor
Posted 5/14/22

“The last game I threw I started and I only threw two thirds of an inning,” Wolf said. “I knew I couldn’t do much worse that that, so I just tried to go out there and do what I knew I could do, and that’s what I did tonight.”

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Huge game from Wolf leads Taylor into regional quarterfinals

Posted

Blake Wolf knew that he had a big game in him.

And Taylor needed it.

Tied at a game a piece in the area round, the Mustangs turned to Wolf in game three, knowing they could count on their senior in a do or die game.

Wolf did not disappoint, and exceeded any expectations anyone could have had, pitching a six inning shutout, striking out six and allowing just three hits to lead Taylor past Cy-Fair 1-0 and into the regional quarterfinal round for the first time since 2014.

“The last game I threw I started and I only threw two thirds of an inning,” Wolf said. “I knew I couldn’t do much worse that that, so I just tried to go out there and do what I knew I could do, and that’s what I did tonight.”

Wolf’s effort was one of the deciding factors in the series that was dominated by pitching on both sides, as the three games were all decided by one run and were all low scoring, with Taylor taking the first game 4-3 in extra innings, Cy-Fair taking the second game 3-2 and Taylor taking the shutout win in game three.

“Our pitching was outstanding to say the least,” said Taylor head coach Russell Krenek. “That’s why we are still playing baseball right now. That’s not to take for granted any of the other things that we are doing, but we put a lot on our entire pitching staffs shoulders here in this series and they all did phenomenal.”

Wolf came out dominant from the beginning, and didn’t get in trouble until the third inning, when runners reached first and second with no outs. But Wolf calmly struck out a batter and induced a ground ball out to end the inning.

Things remained quiet on both sides until the sixth inning. Brian Dolejsi was hit by a pitch, giving the Mustangs a base runner, and Hunter Ham followed that up with a double off the center field wall to drive Dolesji in and give Taylor the lead.

“I noticed in one of my early at bats how long I was taking to swing and I decided I needed to shorten up and stay through the ball,” Ham said. “That’s what I’ve been doing all year and I looked for a pitch to hit, when I got one I just took advantage.”

Cy-Fair did everything they could to get back into it in the bottom of the sixth, after a walk and a single to lead off the inning, Krenek came out to talk to his pitcher, but decided to stay with Wolf, trusting that he could get through the inning.

Wolf did just that, as Cy-Fair used a sacrifice bunt to get the two runners in scoring position, but Wolf then induced two ground ball outs to get out of the inning.

“The guy was just gutsy,” Krenek said. “What a performance Blake had tonight and yesterday as well in relief. I love the kid to death and man that was just such a gutsy performance right there.”

Ryan Mullan then came on to record the save in the seventh inning, closing things out with a strikeout to end the game.

“It’s a good feeling to see these guys achieve something like this,” Krenek said. “Taylor baseball is back on the map. When we came here, we talked about being respected throughout Houston and even the state and I think we’re there.”

Taylor advances to play Katy in the regional quarterfinal round, with date and times for the matchup to be determined.

“It’s such a great feeling,” Ham said. “We’re excited to get to round three, now we have to go out there and win it.”

Taylor, Katy ISD, sports, Cy-Fair, baseball, playoffs