comeback trail

Taylor Tankersley was shipped out of the Florida Marlins’ big league camp last spring and then slipped off the charts when it was discovered he had a stress fracture in his left elbow. After surgery, the reliever’s 2009 season was a washout. The Vicksburg native and Warren Central alumnus — a first-round pick out of Alabama in 2004 — is battling back this spring. In three appearances, he has worked three innings, allowed three hits and three runs with three strikeouts. The Marlins would welcome a return to form by Tankersley, a power arm who was effective in middle relief (3.46 ERA, 95 K’s in 88 innings) in his first couple of big league seasons before scuffling in 2008.