The Taylor County Cardinals looked like their 2025 baseball season was coming to an end as they trailed 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning against Sayre in the first round of the KHSAA State Tournament. That’s when everything changed SUDDENLY.
After one out, Senior Austin Garrett got his second single of the game. Then Reace Vaughn doubled down the third base line moving Garrett to third and Vaughn to second. With still just one out, Grayson Kearney bunted to third, but Garrett scores as the infielder chose not to put the ball in play thus tying the score at 6-6.
Sayre changed pitchers with Pierre Kauffmann facing Layken Lyons with a chance to win the game after all appeared lost. Lyon later said you was sent in to squeeze bunt, but then the coaches asked him what he wanted to do and he responded “Bunt”. Instead, they decided to have the senior swing away. After taking a strike, Lyons smacked the next pitch into the outfield scoring Vaughn for the game winner.
It was the Cardinals first win in the KHSAA State Baseball Tournament at least in recent history as KHSAA records go to 1998 and Taylor County has made two trips to the State Tourney losing in the first round in 2001 and 2019 and at first looked like an easy one with Taylor County taking advantage of Sayre pitching problems as they scored twice in the first inning when the Owen Murphy walked four batters sandwiched between a sacrifice bunt and a single, then added another run to make it 3-0 after Murphy was replaced by Jaxson Howard, who finally slowed down the Cardinals. The Spartans responded by sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five times knocking out starter Cole McLean and scoring most of the runs off Gabe Cole, who actually got the win going 4.1 innings.
After Sayre added another run in the fourth, Taylor County responded finally with two runs to chop the deficit to 6-5 and that’s the way it stayed until the seventh.
Ironically, the game appeared to be a replay of Taylor County’s last State Game in 2019 when they failed to hang on to a lead late against PRP. Still, Taylor County found a way and their season continues with a Saturday afternoon Elite Eight contest against No.1 ranked Trinity.