Mullican?s blast wipes out Warriors – Three-run shot lifts Pioneers to District 7-AAA road win
Last September, J.J. Taylor and the White County football squad handed quarterback Kyle Mullican and his Pioneer teammates a disheartening 17-0 loss.
Seven months later, on a different field of competition, Mullican got his revenge.
The Pioneers? junior outfielder tripled off Taylor on his way to scoring a game-tying run Monday night, then struck for the killing blow ? a three-run homer ? to nail down a 4-1 District 7-AAA victory for the Pioneers.
Clint Newman added to his team-high total with his 22nd RBI, and Josh Mullins pitched a complete-game four-hitter as the Pioneers upped their league record to 5-4 and their overall mark to 10-14. White County fell to 1-8 in the district and 10-11 overall.
The Warriors got to Mullins early with Caleb Arnold reaching on an error to start the first inning and later scoring on a single by Todd Holman. Taylor followed with another single, but the Pioneers got out of the inning when Blake Rice lined out to Chase Basham at short, who then doubled Holman off of second.
Mullins retired the next eight batters he faced, and gave up just two more hits the rest of the way as his personal record for 2007 improved to 4-2. He struck out six batters and didn?t issue a walk.
Down 1-0 entering the top of the fourth, the Pioneers got on the board when Mullican blasted a triple to deep center field, then trotted home on Newman?s sacrifice fly. Casey Talbert walked and stole second, but was left stranded as Taylor fanned the next two batters he faced on the way to an 11-strikeout performance.
The pitchers? duel was broken open in the Pioneer half of the seventh inning. After Taylor fanned Basham for the first out of the frame, Justin Bouldin drew a base-on-balls, and Zach Fisher?s bunt to Taylor was thrown away, putting runners at the corners.
Fisher took second with no throw, but Lane McCoy was struck out for the second out of the frame, and the possibility of extra innings was looming when Mullican ripped a Taylor pitch to the opposite field, clearing the fence in right for his third homer and RBIs 11, 12 and 13 on the year.
Taylor singled to open the bottom of the seventh, but Mullins nailed down the win, striking out Blake Rice, Seth McDonald and Drew Haston to end the game.
Mullican finished 2-for-4, while McCoy and Mark Harvey had the Pioneers? other hits. The Warriors got a 2-for-3 night from Taylor, with Holman and Rice each adding singles.
The Pioneers and Warriors were scheduled to play the second game of their league series Tuesday night at Patrick Ramsey Field. The contest wasn?t completed by Tuesday?s press deadline, but a complete report will be featured in Friday?s Standard.