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A promising crop of juniors highlights the 2012 Champion Newspaper all-county baseball team.

Redan junior pitcher/shortstop Wesley Jones is the Player of the Year after leading the county with a .538 batting average. He was also one of the top pitchers in the area, posting a 4-1 record with a 2.21 earned run average.

Although no DeKalb players were taken in the Major League Baseball draft earlier this month, Jones could be the next in a long line of Redan players selected. The Raiders have had seven players drafted since 2007. Several are on major league rosters, including Brandon Phillips, P.J. Phillips and Chris Nelson.

Four of the six pitchers selected to the all-county team are underclassmen, including two juniors. Chamblee junior Patrick Gaulden leads the all-county pitching staff with a 10-2 record and a 1.56 ERA. His 10 wins broke the Chamblee school record of nine set in 1985 by David Jensen.

The other junior pitcher to make the team is Dunwoody’s Logan Elliott, who tied Gaulden with a county-low ERA of 1.56. He posted a 4-1 record with 36 strikeouts in 36 innings.

Two sophomore pitchers also made the team—Sean Guenther of Marist and Kelvin Wimbish of Southwest DeKalb. Guenther was the workhorse on the mound for the War Eagles, pitching a county-high 65 2/3 innings with 62 strikeouts. He was 6-4 with a 2.33 ERA. Guenther was strongest in the postseason, going 3-0 as the War Eagles advanced to the third round of the Class AAAA state tournament.

Wimbish was 5-1 with a 2.66 ERA and was strong at the plate, hitting .469 with 23 RBIs and a county-best 13 doubles.

Several other underclassmen made their presence known as well. Junior catcher Quincy Nieporte of St. Pius led the county with seven home runs and did not make an error all season. Junior James Moody of Miller Grove led the county with 39 stolen bases and batted .456. Arabia Mountain junior Alfred Francis batted .519 and tied for the county lead with 32 runs scored.

The seniors on the all-county team also were very productive this season. Decatur’s Brent Polston and Miller Grove’s Sean Charleston both had a batting average higher than .500 and Michael Frechette led the county with 39 RBIs.

THE CHAMPION 2012 ALL-COUNTY BASEBALL TEAM

P Brandon Baker, Redan, Sr.

P James Cunningham, Dunwoody, Sr.

P Logan Elliot, Dunwoody, Jr. 

P Patrick Gaulden, Chamblee, Jr. 

P Sean Guenther, Marist, So.

P  Kelvin Wimbish, Southwest DeKalb, So.

C Zachary Lowe, Arabia Mountain, Jr.

C  Jared Martin, Dunwoody, Sr.

C  Quincy Nieporte, St. Pius, Sr.

INF  Griffin Davis, Marist, Sr.

INF Somto Egbuna, Chamblee, So.

INF  Alfred Francis, Arabia Mountain, Jr.

INF Jabari Gayle, Miller Grove, Sr.

INF Wesley Jones, Redan, Jr. 

INF  Devin Kalil, Marist, Jr.

INF Chad Mabini, St. Pius, Sr.

INF Deion Sellers, Cedar Grove, So.

INF  Myles Sims, M.L. King, Sr.

OF Sean Charleston, Miller Grove, Sr.

OF  Michael Frechette, Druid Hills, Sr.

OF  James Moody, Miller Grove, Jr.

OF Brent Polston, Decatur, Sr. 

OF Denzel Washington, Cedar Grove, Sr.

OF Sean Wilson, Lakeside, Jr.