Taylor’s no-hitter highlights Bearcats’ 5-1 record in Southwest Ford Classic

It may not have been what most would consider baseball weather when the Aledo Bearcats’ 2023 season got underway over the weekend with the Southwest Ford Classic. Aledo braved the cold along with six foes on the diamond and found a way to get off to a hot start as they went 5-1 from Feb. 23-25.

The weekend included a no-hit pitching performance from Luke Taylor while his twin brother Dylan was catching.

On the mound, Bearcat hurlers were dominant throughout. Matthew Clark and Luke Saunders tossed a combined shutout against Nacogdoches in the final game of the night on Friday, Feb. 24.

Luke Taylor followed up that performance with an absolute gem of his own to start the day on Saturday, Feb. 25, against Arlington Martin. Taylor threw a complete game no-hitter against the Warriors with his twin brother, Dylan Taylor, catching behind the plate.

“I can’t sing praises any more than I already have,” said Bearcat head coach Chad Barry after the no-hitter. “The way he commanded the zone, he just seemed to get stronger as the game went on. I thought it was pretty neat with him throwing and his twin brother catching. I thought that was a unique deal for both of those kids being seniors.”

Aledo outscored the opposition 37-17 as the offense, led by Trace Mazon, came alive early and often to get the season underway. In his first five games this season, Mazon is hitting .667. He’s collected 10 hits in 15 at bats with a pair of doubles, a triple, three stolen bases, five runs scored, six RBI’s, a walk, a pair of hit-by-pitches, and zero strikeouts.

Trace Mazon steals second base during the fifth inning of the Bearcats 2-1 win over Arlington Martin on Saturday, Feb. 25. Mazon later scored the …

In the first game of the season against Chisholm Trail, the Bearcats lit up the scoreboard all throughout the middle innings. Down 1-0 early, Aledo scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the second, third, and fourth innings before tacking on one more in the bottom of the fifth to seal the 7-3 victory.

Aledo’s diamond dogs trailed late in Game 2 against Timber Creek before a five-run fifth inning put the Bearcats up 9-5, closing the door on the visiting team.

Game 3 got out of hand early as the Bearcats rallied for seven runs in the first inning en route to an 11-1 win over Birdville.

The Bearcats won the battle of the ice box in a frigid Friday night contest against Nacogdoches. Aledo used three singles, a trio of walks, and a defensive error by the visiting team to put five runs on the board in the bottom of the first. That’s where the game stayed until the final out.

Luke Taylor’s first inning in near-freezing temperatures on the bump for Aledo started off almost as gloomy as the day itself. Struggling with his command early, Taylor hit the two and three-hole hitters to put runners on first and second with one gone. A wild pitch allowed both runners to advance a base into scoring position before a sac fly to right center drove in a run for Martin. With two away, he worked his way out of an early jam to close out the first inning.

Bearcats designated hitter Andrew Cambre slides safely into third base during the fifth inning of the game against Arlington Martin on Saturday, Feb. …

From the top of the second on, Taylor faced 18 batters in the remaining six innings of play. Only one hitter for the Warriors reached base the rest of the game via an error by Mazon attempting a throw from deep in the hole at short.

That runner was quickly gunned down by Dylan Taylor behind the plate while trying to steal second to end the inning.

In the final game of the weekend a three-run, third inning ended up being the difference maker for Mansfield Legacy. Aledo hurler Garrett Addington gave up a single to start off the inning. A pair of walks later and the bases were loaded as Parker Ibrahimi stepped into the box. Ibrahimi jumped on the 2-0 offering for a base-clearing double that put Legacy up 4-1 at that point.

Aledo battled the rest of the way, but fell just short as the Bearcats took their first loss of the young season.

“Where we are right now, I like,” Barry said. “We’ve got a lot of things we still need to work on. I think our approach at the plate needs to improve. Our discipline at the plate really needs to improve. We’ve still got a lot of guys swinging at pitches early in counts out of the zone. Those are things, I think they’ll come with experience and more reps. Where we’re at right now, I couldn’t be much happier.”

Southwest Ford Classic, Feb. 23-25