Paxton King knows his way around the baseball diamond. He canplay first base and the outfield, but his favorite position is onthe mound where his southpaw delivery dazzles opposing batters.

As a junior, King compiled a 7-4 record. In 62.2 innings, hestruck out 90 batters and walked 23, compiling a 1.01 ERA.

At the plate, King batted .320, collecting 18 RBIs and 9 doubles.For his all-around performance, he has been selected The DAILYLEADER’s Mr. Baseball and Player of the Year on the 2007All-Lincoln County Baseball Team.

Joining King on the Dream Team are teammate and catcher MitchPappas, the DL’s Most Valuable Defensive Player; and BrookhavenAcademy’s Corey Dickerson, Most Valuable Offensive Player.

Also named to the pitching staff are Jarred Rogers of Loyd Star andZach Watson of Brookhaven Academy. Pappas is joined behind theplate by Zach Williams of West Lincoln and Kolby Byrd of BrookhavenAcademy.

The infield consists of Brookhaven’s Bud Britt and Elliott Warren,Will Gatlin of Brookhaven Academy and Seth Avants of BogueChitto.

In the outfield are Peyton Greene of Enterprise, Keith Franklin andT-Boy Lynch of Brookhaven Academy and Hunter Speeg of Loyd Star.The designated hitters are Taylor Newman of Brookhaven andDickerson.

Utility players are Cole Newell and Cody Ratcliff of Brookhaven andDavid Moak of Bogue Chitto.

King, 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, is the 17-year-old son of Stan andCindy King. He wears jersey No. 19. He throws left and batsright.

Asked about his improved pitching skills, King said, “I was able tothrow curves for strikes this season. I could hit the cornersbetter with my fastball, too.”

Recalling the season, King said, “We had a pretty good year. Ourteam could have gone farther but we didn’t’ have very goodluck.”

The Panthers lost a pair of 1-run heart-breakers to D’Iberville inthe opening round of the state playoffs. They finished 20-13 andwere runners-up to Terry in the Division 6-4A Tournament.

King said he was honored to be named MVP in Lincoln County. He hasbeen selected to participate in the USA Tournament of the Starswhich will be held June 18-25, near Raleigh, N.C. The USA’s JuniorOlympic Baseball Team will be selected from the group of 144players.

In school, math is King’s favorite subject.

“Paxton is as good as any player we’ve had at Brookhaven,” said BHS8th-year head coach Randy Spring. “He gives us a chance to winagainst any team we go up against. He he very composed and matureon the mound.”

Spring said King could easily have finished with a 9-2 record. “Hehad some tough-luck losses. He pitches well every time out. Heworks hard to get bigger and stronger.”

King is playing for the Mississippi Stars this summer, an elitetravel team. It will compete in the Sun Belt Classic in Oklahomalater this summer.

Pappas caught King every game this season and knows him well.”Paxton has real good control. He only throws (fastball) 86 but hecan throw it on a dime. He works real well with the catcher.”

King said his favorite recollection of the season was Brookhaven’snarrow win over Lawrence County in the division tournament. “Weheld them to one run and Taylor Newman hit a home run to win it inextra innings.”

Corey Dickerson (6-2, 195), a junior, is a 3-sportstar for Brookhaven Academy, excelling in football, basketball andbaseball. His ability to spray hits to all fields made him anoffensive threat. He hit a county-high 10 home runs and boasted a.515 batting average. He collected 39 RBIs.

He uses a 33-inch, 30-ounce TPK Warrior bat. He throws right andbats left.

“My dad always showed me how to bat left-handed,” said Dickerson.”My dad has right-handed golf clubs so I hit cross-handed ingolf.”

Asked about his batting philosophy, Dickerson said, “I want toprotect the plate. I have confidence the pitcher won’t throw it byme.”

Dickerson, fresh off the basketball court, homered twice in hisfirst outing when the Cougars beat Bowling Green. He helped histeam win the District 6-AA title and reach the second round of thestate playoffs.

Brookhaven Academy coach Stephen Cooksey said Dickerson is a giftedhitter.

“Corey has great hands and he has good presence at the plate,” saidCooksey. “He gets a lot of intentional walks. He does great thingsfor us with his bat.”

Cooksey said opposing pitchers would intentionally walk Dickersonto avoid his bag bat. “Corey is a very clutch hitter. In mostsituations, he was walked at least once or twice in every game. Hecan hit balls that are bad pitches.”

Mitch Pappas (6-1, 170), a senior, has signed ascholarship with Copiah-Lincoln Community College. He batted .327this season and notched 16 RBIs. Recognized for his strong arm, hewas selected to play in the Class 4A/5A All-Star Baseball Game.

“I’ve played catcher since Pony League (Dixie Boys) when I moved toBrookhaven,” said Pappas. “Our team didn’t have a catcher so Ivolunteered.”

Asked about his position behind the plate, Pappas said, “Myfavorite part is throwing people out. You are involved every playof the game. You are the leader on the field.”

Pappas said one of the keys to nailing a base runner is learninghis tendencies. “You watch their hands and the way they lean totell if they’re going to run.”

At Co-Lin, Pappas said he plans to major in accounting. This summerhe is playing a 60-game schedule with the Jackson 96ers.

“Mitch is an extremely talented catcher,” said Coach Spring. “Hehas a great throwing arm. Most people don’t try to steal onhim.”

Spring said Pappas excelled in the classroom, too. “He was No. 21in our graduating class of 167 seniors. He should be a success incollege”

Jarred Rogers, a senior, also has signed withCo-Lin. He compiled a 6-3 record on the mound, helping Loyd Starreach the Class 2A playoffs. He had 76 strikeouts and a 2.98 ERA.At the plate, Rogers batted .417.

Zach Watson, a senior, compiled a 7-5 record forthe Cougars and was named his team’s MVP. In 72 innings, he had 54strikeouts and 21 walks. At the plate, Watson batted .356.

Kolby Byrd, a sophomore, batted .323 for theCougars. He hit 2 homers and had 16 RBIs.

Zach Williams, a sophomore, batted .328 for theBears. He hit 2 homers and had 21 RBIs.

Bud Britt, a sophomore, batted .422 for thePanthers. He had 38 hits and 22 RBIs.

Will Gatlin, a freshman, played first base for theCougars and batted .466. He had 39 RBIs.

Elliott Warren, a senior, batted .322 for thePanthers. He had 15 RBIs.

Seth Avants, a sophomore, batted .564 and hit 3homers for the Bobcats.

Keith Franklin, a senior, batted .451 for theCougars and had 24 RBIs.

Peyton Green, a junior, batted .415 for the YellowJackets. He hit 5 home runs.

T-Boy Lynch, a senior, batted .406 for theCougars.

Hunter Speeg, a senior, batted .339 for theHornets. He hit 4 homers and had 27 RBIs.

Taylor Newman, a senior, batted .454 for thePanthers. He hit 9 homers and led the county with 40 RBIs.

Cole Newell, a senior, batted .315 for thePanthers. He hit 4 homers and had 21 RBIs.

Cody Ratcliff, a sophomore, hit 5 homers for thePanthers and batted .421.

David Moak, a senior, batted .500 for the Bobcatsand hit 3 homers.