Taylor’s Walk-Off Hit Sends MSD Baseball Back to State Championship Game

by Matt Rothman May 15, 2026

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Taylor's Walk-Off Hit Sends MSD Baseball Back to State Championship Game 5

Jackson Taylor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Baseball Team. {Mat Rothman}

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas baseball is headed back to the State Championship Game following a walk-off hit from Jackson Taylor.

With the game tied in the seventh, Ander Elorriaga walked and advanced to second on a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Taylor delivered the game-winning run to lift the Eagles to a 9-8 win. MSD entered the state tournament as the No. 2 seed after winning the District and Regional Championships. They turned to Reid Dadic in the opening game at states, but two first-inning errors helped Hagerty jump out to a quick 3-0 lead.

The Eagles responded in the second inning by capitalizing on the Huskies miscues, scoring five runs on only two hits. Hagerty committed two errors in the frame, while another run came home on a passed ball. Jake Rizzo and Randy Ruiz each drove in runs following hits from Angel Rodriguez, Matthew Toback, and Taylor.

Hagerty answered with four runs in the top of the fourth inning, highlighted by a three-run triple. The teams then traded runs in both the fourth and fifth innings, with Ruiz adding an RBI double for the Eagles.

MSD tied it up later in the game with Taylor recording another RBI hit before his walk-off hit. Tyler Stertzbach was brilliant in relief and earned the win. The Eagles will now play for a State championship on Saturday, May 16, at 5 p.m. against Venice High School. MSD will have its ace, Gio Rojas, on the mound to face the number one-ranked team in the country.

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Matt Rothman

Matt Rothman is a 2018 graduate from Florida Gulf Coast University receiving his bachelor’s degree in journalism and then graduated from the University of Florida as a graduate student.