Feisty Slayton Takes Charge as Royal Swats Marmonte Foe Channel Islands, 9-2

If Royal High senior Shane Slayton isn’t the region’s finest catcher, he certainly is the loudest.

Slayton had three hits Friday, pushing his season batting average to .510, and drove in four runs to extend his total to 30.

Yet equally important were his verbal outbursts that helped keep pitcher Paul Taylor in line during a 9-2 win over visiting Channel Islands in a Marmonte League game. Royal improved to 13-5 and remained in first place in the league with a 7-1 record.

When Taylor’s pitches sailed high in the strike zone in the early innings, Slayton screamed at Taylor and zipped the ball back at him. Taylor, who solemnly nodded in agreement, went on to limit Channel Islands to six singles and improved to 5-2.

“Yeah, he really gets on me,” Taylor said with a grin. “But it’s good for me. He doesn’t let me think. He does my thinking for me.”

Slayton is such a take-charge type that the home plate umpire had to talk to Royal Coach Dan Maye about Slayton’s concern over what the catcher perceived as an inconsistent strike zone.

All in an afternoon’s work for Slayton.

“I try to take charge in every situation that I can,” Slayton said. “All my pitchers know I’m going to scream at them. It’s the only way we’re going to win and the only way our pitchers are going to be successful.”

There was little doubt about Royal’s opportunity for success against struggling Channel Islands (16-4, 5-3). The Raiders began the week in a first-place tie with Royal but suffered two consecutive losses that dropped them into a third-place tie with Newbury Park (10-8, 5-3).

Channel Islands played without two injured starters, and ace Angel Aragon was unavailable because he threw seven innings Wednesday. The outlook darkened when starter Alex Zavala (3-1) hit the first two batters and walked four in the first two innings.

Fittingly, a wild pitch allowed Ryan Martinez to score from third and gave Royal a 2-0 lead after two innings.

“I anticipated that we’d get beat, but not that bad,” Channel Islands Coach Don Cardinal said. “We weren’t ready to pitch.”

Jose Gastelum’s run-scoring single cut Channel Islands’ deficit to 2-1 in the third, but Royal extended its lead to 6-1 with a four-run rally in the third that was highlighted by Slayton’s two-run single.

Royal finished with 11 hits, including Dave Landaker’s 420-foot home run to center field in the sixth.

“The nice thing about (Friday) is that we just came out and hit the ball,” Maye said.

Landaker and Taylor each had two hits and seven Highlanders had at least one. Taylor, who walked four and struck out three, needed only a few reminders from Slayton after the second inning.

“Usually when he gets on me, the next pitch is a strike,” Taylor said. “So I can’t argue with that.”

If Taylor did, it could earn him a black eye from the feisty, 200-pound Slayton.