Graduation Sport Type

1986 Baseball Athlete

Chuck Taylor, a Class of 1986 graduate, was an All-Star caliber baseball player for the Rye Neck Panthers. Taylor broke multiple school records during his playing career and still holds many of those records to this day. Taylor had the rare paired talent of not only being a dominant pitcher, but also being a menace at the plate on offense. Taylor had the arm to shut down opposing offenses and the bat to help his team pull ahead; a hard to come by pairing of skill sets. 

During his senior campaign, Taylor led the Rye Neck Panthers as Team Captain in 1986. On the field, Taylor had a career pitching record of 23-8 with an impressive 1.72 ERA. Taylor achieved many milestones on the mound including notching 309 career strikeouts and pitching 9 shutout games. At the plate, Taylor had a career batting average of .456 and hit 18 doubles, 7 triples, 10 homeruns, and batted in 76 RBIs. 

Due to his vast achievements on offense and defense to help his team to victory, Taylor was named a three time All-League Player, three-time All-Section Player, three-time Team MVP, two-time Conference C South MVP, and a two-time Daily News All-Star. 

After his playing career at Rye Neck, Taylor took his talents to Concordia College in Bronxville, NY where he received a scholarship for his academic and athletic achievements. In his Freshman year at Concordia, Taylor experienced the highlight of his collegiate career. Concordia was playing in the Knickerbocker Conference Championship at Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets at the time. Taylor, a lifelong Mets fan, came in relief to close out the game and picked up the save for Concordia, recording 2 ⅓ scoreless innings pitched on the mound. This impressive statline along with a baseball resume filled with prestigious accolades cemented Taylor’s spot in the Rye Neck Athletics Hall of Fame.