Mullins baseball team hoping to earn a spot in the AA state playoffs

           Mullins – The Mullins High School baseball team did not get off to a good start, losing its first eight games. However, the Auctioneers had only played two Region 8-AA games prior to Easter, so with six more still to play there was plenty of opportunity left.

           “It would be great for my players to be able to turn it on now toward the end of the season and make a push towards the playoffs,” said Mullins head coach John Elliott, who is in his second year. “I think we are capable and we have a few more pieces clicking now, so I'm excited for it.”

          The Auctioneers haven’t reached the state playoffs since the 2018 season. Four teams from the 5-team Region 8 will advance to their respective district tournaments. Mullins had 2-game, home-and-home series remaining with Marion County rival Marion and Lee Central. It had single games left with Andrews and Kingstree.

         Mullins lost to Andrews 14-1 in a home contest while falling to Kingstree 16-10 on the road.

         The steadiest batting order has had junior second baseman Joshua Dozier leading off followed by junior catcher Mykell Raysor and senior shortstop Taymore Owens. Junior third baseman Lonnie Alston is batting cleanup followed by sophomore leftfielder Andre Littlejohn, sophomore centerfielder Jaylyn Davis, sophomore first baseman Christian Cornejo, freshman rightfielder Kevin Gerald and pitcher/centerfielder Adam Shaw.

           Owens, Alston, Dozier, Raysor, Davis, Littlejohn and Shaw are all returning starters.

           “All of my returning players from last year are excited for another season and are working hard toward winning a few more games in the region in hopes of a playoff berth,” Elliott said.

         Owens, Alston and Dozier have been stroking the ball for the Auctioneers. Owens was batting .538, Alston .462 and Dozier .375. Unfortunately, no one else is batting over .200.

         “Taymore Owens has been hot offensively to start the year,” Elliott said. “Mykell Raysor and Lonnie Alston’s bats are heating up as well. We are also happy to have Joshua Dozier back from a injury as his bat helped out greatly last season.”

        Raysor is batting .143, Gerald is hitting .167 and Davis is batting .091.

        The Auctioneers had 41 stolen bases with four players leading the way. Owens had 12 stolen bases followed by Raysor with nine, Alston with seven and Dozier with six.

       Without a doubt, pitching has been the biggest issue for the Auctioneers. They have yet to have a game in which they allowed fewer than 10 runs.

       “We have had some issues with pitching and pitching counts, but we are working on getting some others ready to fill in,” Elliott said.

           Doing most of the pitching are Owens, Alston, Raysor and Shaw. Others who have seen time on the mound are Davis, Littlejohn and Gerald.

           Other members of the team are junior Lebron Avant, junior Kion Cribb, junior Zayan Grant, eighth-grader Alex Cornejo, freshman Kryshon Davis, sophomore Desmond Drew, rightfielder Altavious Cantey, senior AJ Hayes and eighth-grader Ron Reaves.