Newman Catholic senior and committed University of Iowa Doug Taylor looked back on his multi-sport career with the Knights, including his love of pitching and the reasons for his success.
Taylor has been a standout two-way player for the Knights since he was picked on the varsity team in his eighth year. He’s earned more opportunities both on the mound and in the pits as his performance has become more consistent and he’s emerged as one of the state’s brightest talents over the past five years.
Looking back on his first season with the Knights, he admitted it came as a surprise to snag a spot on the varsity roster.
“I didn’t know at the beginning of the year if I was going to be on the varsity team or the JV team and that it ended up like that was pretty crazy,” Taylor said.
He played a pivotal role in the Knights’ 2019 1A championship run, with an 8-0 record in his 10 starts, including a win on the mound in the championship game against Alburnett. With the spotlight on him in the biggest game of the season, Taylor didn’t disappoint, conceding just four hits and giving up just one run over his five 1/3 innings.
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Taylor received an offer from the University of Iowa at the end of his eighth grade and took his time making his decision, especially given the current state of his career.
“I was thinking about whether I really wanted to commit that early, and then it just came naturally to me,” Taylor said. “I fell in love with the trainers and their competitive nature. It’s something I really loved.”
Over the next three years, Taylor became Newman’s ace, posting a 19-1 record with 241 strikeouts in 136 innings pitched. During his junior season, he pitched 60 2/3 innings with 116 strikeouts, which was the fourth most in the state, and finished with an .86 WHIP.
Taylor spoke about the unique aspect of being a pitcher and what he loves most about the position.
“Only the competition and the game are completely under your control,” Taylor said. “When you’re on the mound, you’re against the batsman. It’s just one on one and obviously you have guys behind you but just the competition and I just fell in love with that aspect and let that passion grow.”
Knights head coach Alex Bohl believes his preparation and countless hours of practice has enabled Taylor to become the best pitcher he can be and has helped him be so successful throughout his high school career.
“This kid is non-stop, he’s always working and we’ve had to fight with him at times throughout his career just to relax a little and give him some time to recover,” Bohl said. “If he sits for more than two or three minutes, that’s a miracle.”
Taylor’s tireless training mentality translates to his presence on the plate and he’s become a more prolific hitter season after season. In his junior season, he had the second most RBIs in the state (60) and the second most homers in the Top of Iowa Conference (7), earning his third first-team All-State success of his career.
“Early on in my career, I had a little trouble with the racquet and I’ve always worked on that,” Taylor said. “But last year it was definitely nice to see all the work come together. For me it was a bit slower process than pitching.”
Taylor didn’t just shine with the diamond either.
He was also a four-year starter for Newman’s basketball and made the All-State first team as a junior. He had the 11th-most points in the state (537) and had the third-most rebounds in the conference (233). In his senior year, he was named to the All-State sophomore team with the eighth most points in the state (611) and most rebounds in the conference (293). He was also a regular on the football team for three years and caught 80 passes for 1,009 yards.
He believes he has learned a lot from playing various sports over the course of his life and hopes to benefit as he takes his talents as Hawkeye to the next level.
“The passion for it allows you to get better every day. If you want to go to practice and get better, it helps you,” Taylor said. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve competed in all kinds of sports at a high level. If you fail a lot and get beaten a lot, you can get better. I think this background enables my success today.”
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