Fort Worth-area high school baseball coach wins 700th career game in comeback victory
Kevin Duran singled in the top of the sixth inning and Aubrey Whitehead added an insurance run as Cleburne rallied back to beat Arlington, 6-4, in a non-district baseball game on Saturday giving Yellow Jackets head coach Ross Taylor his 700th career victory.
Taylor is in his 31st season coaching.
Taylor has been with Cleburne since the 1998 season. Prior to coming to Johnson County, Taylor spent six seasons coaching Canyon Randall.
Cleburne is 17-4 overall. The Yellow Jackets are No. 16 in Class 5A.
The Yellow Jackets went 12-0-2 last season before the COVID-19 shutdown.
Taylor has taken Cleburne to the playoffs 17 times since 2000 with an appearance in the regional semifinals seven times and regional finals three times.
Cleburne has reached the state tournament twice with Taylor in 2004 and 2012. The 2004 team made it to state for the first time since 1979. The 2012 team finished as Class 4A state runner-up, beating Austin Lake Travis 9-7 in eight innings in the semis before losing to Rockwall-Heath in the title game, 10-1.
On Saturday, Whitehead homered and drove in three runs against Arlington. Duran went 2 for 3 with three runs scored and Kam Walton went 2 for 4. Cleburne had 10 hits and four doubles.
Walton and Pedro Martinez combined to allow three hits and no runs in the final three innings.
This story was originally published March 30, 2021 at 4:25 PM.
