Joplin, Mo. -- Jacob Taylor has just become the second Missouri Southern baseball player to sign a professional baseball contract with the Oakland Country (Mich.) Cruisers of the Independent Frontier League. Taylor joins fellow former Lion teammate CJ Maffei, who joined the Cruisers in June.
Gera Alvarez is the manager of the Cruisers and former Major League player Dimitri Young is the Vice President and senior advisor of baseball operations. Young is also on the coaching staff of the Cruisers, who are located at Waterford Township in southeast Michigan.
Taylor's season highlights included slugging 15 homers, which were just one away from tying the MSSU single-season all-time home run record. He also ranked second on the Lions with a .426 batting average and also drove in 51 runs.
His solid season was capped by being tabbed as a first-team All-MIAA performer and a first-team All-Region pick by the ABCA. Taylor was also a Daktronics second-team All-Region selection.
Taylor also produced a team-high six triples while being tied for the team-lead with 16 doubles on the season. His six triples also led the MIAA, along with conference highs in slugging percentage and total bases.
For the season, Taylor helped the Lions secure their second straight appearance in the MIAA Postseason Tournament, finishing with a 28-26 overall record and a third-place tournament finish.
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