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COLUMBUS — The night before the Division III state baseball championship, Canton Central Catholic sophomore pitcher Taylore Baker slept well.

And it certainly showed — both on the mound and at the plate — against Badin in the D-III final Saturday, June 7, at Cooper Stadium in Columbus.

Baker, a 5-foot-10 right-hander, tossed a complete-game, three-hit gem, and also was 2-for-3 at the plate with a homer, two runs batted in and two runs scored to lead the Crusaders to an 8-0 triumph over the Rams.

"I really didn't think about it (Friday) night," Baker said. "I just wanted to relax and get good rest. It started to settle in a little bit this morning. I was a little nervous at the beginning, but I came out here and got the job done."

Central Catholic coach Doug Miller gave Baker the news he was the club's starter during a meeting Friday night at the team's hotel.

"What can you say about Taylore," Miller said. "He comes in (Friday) and throws six pitches to get the save (against Coldwater). And he hits a home run today to get us going, and then throws a shutout like that against a great baseball team."

Baker — who entered with a 6-2 record and a 1.68 earned run average — was extremely efficient.

Through the first three innings, he fired just 22 pitches — 19 for strikes. The only three balls during that stretch were issued to Eric Gerbus, who eventually singled in the at-bat.

Baker compiled 51 pitches through five frames, and finished with 81 total (51 strikes).

"I don't know what it was about the pitcher," Badin coach Rick Kunkel said. "He wasn't anything special. He's a good pitcher, don't get me wrong. But we've faced good pitchers, and hit. Today, it just wasn't in the cards for us."

While Baker quieted the Rams' bats, his blast to lead off the top of the second gave the Crusaders a 1-0 lead. That advantage grew to 6-0 in the third when Central Catholic crossed the plate five times.

"It was really relaxing," said Baker, who had a run-scoring single in the third. "I just had to get ahead of batters and throw a lot of strikes. Pitching with the lead was real nice.

"I really stayed within myself," he added. "I didn't try to do anything special. I knew my teammates were making plays behind me, and I let them hit the ball. It was a great defensive game (no errors). I give all the credit to my defense as much as they helped me out today."

Some Rams go home medal-less

Four Badin players and all its coaches did not receive runner-up medals from the Ohio High School Athletic Association during the postgame ceremony.

And it's not the first time that's happened to the Rams.

"They told us they'd mail us more, but they told us that in '05 and we never got them," Badin hitting coach Ken Brown said.

Quotable

"I don't know if they're the better team. I don't think so personally. But they beat us today, and they deserve it." — Kunkel

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5113 or smatthews@coxohio.com.

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