The hope out of Nixa’s camp is the Eagles’ trip to the Class 6 Final Four earlier this month will lead to Ethan Taylor getting the chance to continue his career at the college level.
Taylor was able to showcase himself on the mound in a semifinal matchup against eventual state champion Liberty North and Arkansas signee Tate McGuire. Taylor responded with six innings of two-hit ball in a 2-1 loss.
Both of Liberty North’s runs were unearned. Taylor did not surrender a hit over the final five innings.
It was Taylor’s first loss of his senior season. He entered State with a 9-0 W-L record, 2.23 ERA and 59 strikeouts and 18 walks over 47.1 innings.
All this, believe it or not, from a non-commit.
Nixa coach Logan Hughes is confident Taylor’s performance on a big stage will lead to offers from colleges.
“Somebody is going to scoop him up after this,” Hughes said.
“Who knows, maybe,” Taylor said about receiving an offer. “We’ll see what happens.”
Taylor is best characterized as a pitcher and not a thrower at this point in his career. He doesn’t throw in the 90s, as McGuire does, but feels coaches should take note of his ability to locate his pitches under pressure.
“It's not only miles per hour, it's how composed you stay in a big game like this,” Taylor said.
Hughes also feels a college will be lucky to have Taylor because of the potential he has to tap into. Upon arriving at Nixa last fall from Idaho, Taylor was in some ways a raw talent.
“He'd never done a big strength program or an arm strengthening program,” Hughes said. “This was his first year as far as developmental pitching coaching. He's going to make a velocity jump and when he does, he's going to be special. He's going to keep getting better.”
