Running down high school sports in Marion County

I can’t help but feel that the sports season is just running away from me. I take a look at the calendar and before I know it, baseball and softball has marched into the postseason. Imagine the heartbreak of watching your Tar Heels get clobbered a game before the national final, the NBA regular season closes and you’re left praying that the Lakers don’t get the league favor of returning to the Finals, while the 76ers get the toughest draw.

I tear up when I realize my 49ers team squandered away a top 10 draft pick that gets used by the Patriots this weekend. Not to mention the ATL Braves stumbling out the gates in the toughest division in baseball. How am I going to make it through the summer with just one championship boxing event worth seeing — Miguel Cotto versus Antonio Margarito, July 26.

Excuse me for the digression, it’s a rough time of the year. However, this past week was a great run for local sports fans as their teams are closing out the regular season. A job well done to coaches Greg Hill and Hal Lambert with the Auctioneer baseball teams.

Hill’s junior varsity squad looked good with Kody Stevens on the mound and the “burner” Cedric Timmons added speed to the squad. You have to love his confidence to breakout like Willie "Mays" Hayes on attempts to steal bases, even without being given a sign to do so.

Coach Craig Hopkins gets a standing ovation for maintaining the Foxes J.V. baseball program. Hopkins has plenty of experience coaching at various levels of the sport and his squad looked good in their win over Mullins on a recent Saturday. We better keep our eyes on Devon Sanders, Chris Washington, C.J. Hopkins and Justin Gause.

Congratulations to varsity baseball coach Tony Boyer in his first year with the team. The Marion High School Swamp Foxes are cracking into the playoffs with a great finish in a very tough region. Marion will take on Buford in the first round.

“We’re heading into the playoffs and looking to start the second season,” Boyer said. The Foxes ended the regular season with a 5-3 loss to coach Greg Dozier and the region champs Dillon.

“I’m just so excited for the guys that we got it done and we get a chance to play at home in playoffs,” Dozier said, adding that Foxes pitcher Jarrott Hooks was phenomenal on the mound. However, the Foxes were in contention throughout the season, and ended up splitting victories with one of the top teams in the state.

“That says that you got two teams that are pretty close and I believe if we go out and play with the heart and passion that we have, I think we can have a pretty good run playoffs,” Boyer said. The coach said he’s proud of an incredible group that has finished 17-5 during the regular season.

I think a round of applause should go out to coaches Lynn and James Shelley. The Lady Foxes softball team’s formula of dominant pitching and aggressiveness at the plate have led to a return to the playoffs.

I recently was fortunate to see firsthand a competitive match played between the Mullins and Marion soccer teams The Foxes usually keep a solid team on the field and have playoff experience. Mullins, on the other hand, has had to work its way up from the ground floor. This season, the Aucs have really improved under new coaching and increased participation.

The game was aggressive with both teams refusing to get bullied. The Aucs played the game close despite giving up an early goal to go down 1-0.

The highlight event of this past week had to be the regional track meet at Marion High School.

The games lasted the entire day and plenty of student athletes competed and showed off their good sportsmanship. The lower state championship bids was enough to have everyone giving it their all and Marion County will be well represented.

I’m checking for Delecia Williams and Crystal Grant coming through for Marion in the shot put and discuss events. Williams has qualified for state three years in a row and is ranked number eight in the shot putt.

As for the summer, I just might be okay. Mullins could possibly field a Junior Legion baseball team and Marion Post 5 seems to always come through for me, providing great games that lead to great stories.

And, just for the record, here is a list of the players. Marion J.V. baseball team: Deanny Felix, Grayson Gasque, Devante Gilbert, Dylan Godbold, C.J. Hopkins, T.J. Jackson, Kennan Johnson, D.J. Kelly, Devon Sanders, Tillman Sanders, Matt Shelley, Chris Washington; Mullins J.V. baseball team: Cody Pressley, Cedric Timmons, Craig Baxley, Matthew Rabon, Kody Stevens, Ethan Allen, Kenny Wayne Jackson, Cey’Qwuan Ritter, Fabien McGill, Heath Gerrald, Justin Odom, Jared Jackson, Laverne Page, Kaleb Jackson, Christopher Watts, Pranav Patel, Tavon Swinton, Eloy Serna, Wil’Jon Reaves; Marion boys soccer team: Marc Bahan, Preston Blackmon, Christopher Brown, Cody Bullard, Ben DeMarco, Quenlen Duncan, Dustin Godbolt, TT Hemingway, Corey Herring, Zi Huang, Eduardo Juarez, Dipan Patel, Jacolgan Rowell, Joey Sanders, Matt Scruggs, TJ Taylor, Brian Trail, Jacob Tucker.