The VandySports 100: No. 91, Taylor Hill

Taylor Hill, a right-handed pitcher who played for the Commodores on the 2011 College World Series team, makes our list at No. 91.

Honors and awards: 2011 All-Nashville Regional

In the VU record book: Career innings pitched: eighth (294)

Before VU: Hill attended nearby Mt. Juliet High, and was Tennessee's Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior after striking out 106 hitters in 82 innings. Was the MVP of his district in 2006 and 2007. Hill was ranked the No. 2 high school prospect in Tennessee by Baseball America entering the 2007 draft.

Freshman (2008): Hill pitched 16 times, including eight starts for a team that was eliminated in the Tempe Regional. He threw 12 2/3 Southeastern Conference innings, posting a 7.82 ERA and a 1-1 record spanning seven appearances. His first collegiate start came against Illinois-Chicago; Hill allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings.

Sophomore (2009): Hill made 17 appearances for a squad that was eliminated in the Louisville Regional. He made four starts, one coming in SEC play. Appeared seven times in league regular-season games, hurling 14 2/3 innings with a 5.52 ERA, 19 strikeouts and five walks and an 0-1 mark.

Junior (2010): Made 17 starts in 20 appearances for a team that advanced to the Tallahassee Super Regional. He started all 10 regular-season league games, posting a 2-4 mark over 65 innings, with 42 strikeouts and 13 walks and a 4.02 ERA. Had a complete-game win at LSU, picking up eight strikeouts against one walk, seven hits and two runs. Gave up six runs (three earned) in 3 1/3 innings against Illinois State in the NCAA tournament, but, rebounded to throw a scoreless 10th inning in the regional title game, picking up a win as VU defeated Louisville to advance to its first super regional since 2004.

Senior (2011): Hill started all 17 games in which he appeared, and went 3-0 with a 3.17 ERA, 12 walks and 43 strikeouts in 54 SEC regular-season innings for a team that finished in a tie with South Carolina and Florida for the league's regular-season title. Struck out 13 in eight innings, allowing just one run as the Commodores knocked off Belmont to win the Nashville Regional. Allowed one run on just four hits as VU beat North Carolina, 5-1, for its second and final win in the College World Series.

Post-VU: Hill was drafted by Washington in Round 6 in 2011 (187th overall). He had a 6.00 ERA over 21 Major League innings, all coming for the Nationals in 2014 and '15. He was still pitching professionally last season, but appears to have been released in the off-season.

Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: Hill was always a quality pitcher with excellent strikeout-to-walk ratios. If memory serves, his velocity started bumping the low-to-mid-90s and his game really took off during SEC play when he was a senior. Hill was also pitching well deep into games and did so in two vitally important post-season games that season.

One could object to Hill's selection based on his career 3.98 ERA, but, Hill's first three years at VU came in the hot-bat era that provided the three highest-scoring run environments across college baseball since coach Tim Corbin took over in 2003. (Hill also benefitted from a more pitcher-friendly environment in his senior season as the NCAA made significant adjustments to the rules for bats after the season.)

Hill pitched a lot of quality innings, was a key contributor on four NCAA tournament teams, pitched quite well as a full-time conference rotation member for two seasons, starred on VU's first College World Series team and saved his best for last in perhaps the most important games the baseball program had to that point. That makes him an easy call for the top 100.