January 26, 2018
W 6-5
by Kaivon Kealoha
Taft opened up the 2018 baseball season with an impressive home victory over the 11th ranked, Feather River College of Quincy. Hawaii Pacific commit; Nick O' Connor started on the mound and tossed 5 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 5.
Taft scored 6 runs on 5 hits. Wesley Hebert went 2-for-4 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI's. Jayce Gardner collected 1 hit in 4 at-bats and drove in 2 runs.
Emilio Velez was the first pitcher in relief. He surrendered 2 runs on 2 hits, and 2 walks in .2 innings of work. Kaivon Kealoha came in for Velez with the bases loaded, and struck out the first batter he faced to get out of the jam. Kealoha proceeded to pitch the 7th and 8th innings, retiring every batter he faced.
Tyler Gardner and Javier Ramirez both went 1-for-3. Kyle Gaura collected an RBI in the 8th on a fielder's choice.
The 9th inning was was very nail biting when Michael Selleck came out of the bullpen unable to retire any of the 4 batters he faced. Cassius Shy came in to record the save, collecting 3 outs on a fly ball to center and a game ending double play.