Clayton Taylor has a 21st Century Scholarship and could attend college anywhere in-state for free.
So when Indiana State offered Taylor a chance to play baseball there, the Columbus East senior jumped at the opportunity. He committed this week to play for the Sycamores beginning next year.
“I just liked the mentality of their coaches,” Taylor said. “They like to grind, and that kind of fits in with who I am as an athlete. I want people to know who I am, what my name is, and I feel that fits in well with the Indiana State program. Indiana State really kind of just won me over. I felt comfortable with all the coaches I was talking to. I thought I’d like to spend the next four years there.”
The Sycamores are coached by Mitch Hannahs. Former East pitcher Cole Gilley is a freshman at ISU this year.
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Taylor said had also had talked to coaches at Ball State, Dayton and some junior colleges before making his decision.
“Since I started playing baseball, it’s been pretty much my goal to play at the highest level competition, and I feel I’ll get that at Indiana State,” Taylor said. “My main goal is to play for as long as I can.”
After not playing varsity as a freshman, Taylor burst onto the scene as a sophomore in 2019. He went 8-0 with a 1.09 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 20 innings and also batted .338 with a triple, six RBIs and 15 runs scored to help the Olympians to a 25-5 record and Class 4A state runner-up finish.
Taylor turned heads in the Evansville Regional semifinal that year when he pitched five scoreless innings of relief as East rallied from a 7-4 deficit to pull out an 8-7, nine-inning win against Jeffersonville.
“As a pitcher, it put me out there a little bit,” Taylor said. “I feel like that game is kind of what my future would be as a pitcher.”
Since his sophomore season, the 6-foot-1 right-hander, has added about 10 pounds to get to 180. After throwing in the low 80s and topping out at 83 or 84 MPH as a sophomore, Taylor recently has been throwing 86-87 on a consistent basis and topped out at 90.
“I was kind of light my sophomore year, and I’m kind of working into my frame to where it needs to be going into the D-I level,” Taylor said. “I kind of progressed, and the speed came along.”
This summer, Taylor was able to play in five tournaments for his Midwest Astros travel team. But that didn’t make up for having the spring high school season canceled because of COVID-19.
“It was actually real tough,” Taylor said. “I was not happy about it. I was looking forward to it because I thought we’d have a chance to make another state run. I feel like we all lost an important time because we got so close my sophomore year, and I feel like we would have been just as good my junior year.”
With fellow senior Kaden Wise returning on the mound, the Olympians will have two frontline pitchers to throw at teams in 2021.
“I’m really excited about this season,” Taylor said. “We should be a pretty solid 1-2 punch. Whoever’s No. 1, and whoever’s No. 2, either way, we’re going to be pretty solid.”
