Will Taylor seeing 'night and day' difference in putting full focus on baseball

Will Taylor is all about baseball now and he's seeing a night and day difference.

by Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Sat Jan 27 13:00:05 GMT-04:00 2024

CLEMSON - Junior Clemson outfielder Will Taylor and the rest of the baseball team are getting back in action to prepare for their season opening series against Xavier, which will kick off on Friday, February 16 (4 p.m.). However, for Taylor, this offseason marked a big change in his career.

Taylor had typically been a dual-sport athlete in playing both for the football team and for baseball. In that capacity, he received a full scholarship through the football program. That is no longer the case, as he is no longer with the football team, and he and his family have also foregone a partial scholarship in baseball. For him, this signified his full commitment to baseball and helping the baseball team overall.

“A lot of thought went into that process and that decision,” Taylor said. “But just overall, what my future wanted, what I want my future to look like, and just what did this team need to take them to the next level and for me, I’m just trying to contribute as much as I can to this program and feel like I do that by making a commitment full-time.”

Part of no longer being with the football team is that Taylor got to spend more time prepping for this upcoming baseball season, which is especially important going into the second season under head coach Erik Bakich. Being healthy is also critical for Taylor going into this season.

“It’s night and day compared to last year,” Taylor said. “Just lucky and fortunate to be healthy, and everybody’s healthy and ready to go, and we’re going to be firing on all cylinders, and that’s what matters most.”

The Tigers finished last season 44-19, winning 20 of their 30 ACC games, and had a 17-game winning streak stretching into the NCAA Regional before falling to Tennessee 6-5 after 14 innings, which certainly played a role in their 3-2 loss to Charlotte the following day to end the season. After having that kind of finish, Taylor and the Tigers look to follow the same model of improving game by game.

“We need to be the best in the country at getting better every day, and that’s what we did from the start to finish last year, I mean, starting off not very good at all, and we had a decision to make,” Taylor said. “So, just shows the unity of this program and really just us coming together and playing as a whole.”

In the preseason rankings, Clemson is currently sitting at No. 10, according to D1Baseball.com, showing the confidence surrounding the team right now. But in order to keep that top-10 ranking and become the best in the country, the Tigers will need to rely on their freshmen class. Taylor is incredibly confident in this class and that they will have success during the season.

“This freshmen group has been one of the most impressive groups I’ve seen since I’ve been here, and (there’s) going to be a plot of pitchers - (freshman right-handers) Aidan Knaak, (Drew) Titsworth, really everybody,” Taylor said. “Everybody’s still on the list, and everybody’s going to be needed at some point in the season. So, even the guys that don’t start off playing, they’re going to need to stay sharp (because) we’re going to probably end up needing them at some point in the season. So, really just trying to lead those guys.”

Their three-game series against Xavier will kick off their season at home, followed by another five home games before going onto March 1 to play the multi-site South Carolina series (starts at Founders Park, then Segra Park and then Clemson), who is currently ranked No. 25 in the country by D1Baseball. As of right now, that will be Clemson's first game against a ranked opponent.