Nick Mullinax hit a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the fifth inning on Wednesday, April 7, giving Dawson County a 16-5 mercy rule victory over Gilmer. 

The game-ending home run was Mullinax’s second of the night. He went 3-3 with five runs batted in and three runs scored in the game. 

“I felt great,” Mullinax said after the game. “I just wanted to go up there and get a hit both at bats. Just trying to help my team as best as possible at the plate.”

Kolton Rucker kicked off the Tigers’ offense with a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the first inning. Rucker went 4-4 with two runs batted in and three runs scored. 

All nine Tigers either scored a run or drove in a run during Wednesday’s big offensive performance. The team combined for 17 hits, with six different Tigers having multi-hit games.

“It’s contagious,” Tigers head coach Dwayne Sapp said after Wednesday’s win. “A couple guys got hits and now all the sudden everybody can hit.”

After Gilmer scored three runs in the top of the first inning, Jacob Poss pitched the rest of the game in relief. He threw four innings, allowing two hits, two walks and two earned runs, while striking out six Gilmer batters. 

“For the most part, our pitching was pretty good,” Sapp said. “[Poss] came in and threw strikes and that’s all we needed him to do.”

Kinkade Weaver hit well, going 2-3 with two doubles and driving in three runs. Freshman Sawyer Bearden went 2-2 with a walk, two runs batted in and a run scored. 

The Tigers won the first game of the series Monday, April 5 at Gilmer by winning 7-2. The Tigers now sit by themselves in fifth place in Region 7-3A, 4.5 games behind Cherokee Bluff for fourth place and a berth in the GHSA 3A state tournament. 

Dawson County (9-11, 3-8 in Region 7-3A) play region leader North Hall next week and would have to win multiple games to continue to statistically have a chance at a state playoff berth. 

“Hopefully, we play very competitive baseball with them,” Sapp said. “Pull off an upset or two and then go into our final series with some confidence and take a couple games there to end on a good note.” 

The Tigers finish their three-game series against Gilmer Thursday, April 8 at 5:55 p.m.