Arizona ace Taylor McQuillin selected by Cleveland Comets in NPF Draft

Arizona Wildcats ace Taylor McQuillin was selected by the Cleveland Comets with the first pick of the second round of the National Pro Fastpitch Draft on Monday.

McQuillin, the sixth overall pick, is expected to join the Comets once the Wildcats’ season concludes. The senior left-hander is 15-5 with 1.28 ERA this season. She has compiled 157 strikeouts in 125.1 innings.

The Mission Viejo, Calif. native has been a driving force behind an Arizona team that is 35-7 overall, 12-0 in the Pac-12, and currently riding a 17-game winning streak heading into this weekend’s home series against Stanford.

McQuillin has posted four shutouts in her last five starts. Her 1.28 ERA is the best mark of her career.

“What I like about McQuillin is the fact that she moves the ball throughout the zone,” said NPF analyst Barbara Jordan. “She doesn’t sit on one corner. She can attack with her curve on both sides of the plate. She can throw her rise up in the zone. This year she has fine-tuned her change of speed, but the biggest thing about Taylor McQuillin this year is she is enjoying the game with her teammates. She is so much more mature and she is a big reason we will see the Wildcats return to the Women’s College World Series.”

McQuillin was the second pitcher drafted. Florida ace Kelly Barnhill went No. 1 overall to the Chicago Bandits.

McQuillin is the first Wildcat to be drafted since 2017 when Danielle O’Toole, Katiyana Mauga, Mo Mercado and Mandie Perez were selected.

The Comets are partners with Team Mexico for the 2019 season, meaning their roster will be loaded with international talent. They will play half their home games at Sprenger Health Care Stadium, the home of the Lake Erie Crushers, a baseball team affiliated with the independent Frontier League.

Here is how the Arizona softball team reacted to McQuillin being drafted: