Trojans Grab Another Pair of Weekly Crossroads League Awards
JACKSON, Mich. – The 19th-ranked Taylor baseball team grabbed its fourth and fifth weekly Crossroads League honors of the season when Gabel Pentecost and Mason David were named the CL Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively, for games played Feb. 24 through March 2.
The reigning Crossroads League Pitcher of the Year and Player of the Year both produced headline-grabbing performances in TU's home-opening doubleheader on Feb. 28 versus Grace.
Pentecost took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of game one's 12-0 win, before ending his day tossing 6.1 frames of shutout ball with 11 strikeouts and a lone bloop single allowed.
The junior ace earned his fourth win of the season to improve his record to 4-1. Through the Fremont, Indiana, native's first five starts of 2025, Pentecost has compiled a league-best 35 strikeouts to go with a 1.54 ERA and 0.90 WHIP, which rank second and third among Crossroads hurlers. Teammate Brody Fine leads the CL with a WHIP of 0.78
At the plate, David collected his 200th career hit on his final plate appearance of Friday's doubleheader. The result of that at-bat was a homer to right-center field, David's third of the game and fourth of the day.
David finished the twin bill having gone 5-for-7 out of the leadoff spot with those four home runs, six RBIs, five runs scored, two walks and a stolen base as he fueled the offense to 34 total runs.
The senior third baseman has tallied a league-high tying five homers (teammate Sam Gladd also has five) in 2025 to complement his .353 batting average, 17 RBIs and 20 runs scored – the latter two of which rank second in the Crossroads League behind Brayden Manning and Luke Picchiotti, respectively.
The awards marked Pentecost's fourth such honor of his career and David's second in total.
No. 19 Taylor (13-4, 4-0 CL) is scheduled to continue Crossroads League action with a series versus Huntington (7-7, 2-2) beginning Friday, March 7, at 1 p.m. at Winterholter Field.