Stockdale graduate Sean Mullen has been getting a lot of attention for his work on the mound.
The 2018 graduate has turned heads at the high school level, turning in a 1.30 ERA in his senior season with the Mustangs, which was capped off with a dominant 12 strikeout performance to capture Stockdale's first Division 1 Valley title since 2009.
Now, he's getting the attention he deserves.
"The amount of time, the amount of nights I've spent in bed dreaming about it and thinking about it and envisioning it and seeing it in my head, it's crazy because it's real now, it's getting real," Mullen said on Monday.
There's a chance Mullen could be drafted during the 2018 MLB Draft, which kicked off Monday. But if he isn't chosen in the round he wants, he's committed to going to UCLA next year, where he says he's wanted to go since he was a child.
"You just knew as he grew and progressed that he was gonna be special," said Stockdale's head coach Brad Showers.
Mullen struggled in his freshman year on the varsity team, sporting a 5.58 ERA. He says those struggles helped shape him into the pitcher he is now.
"You need that mental backbone in baseball, and that freshmen year gave me that and I will carry that for the rest of my baseball career."
After his freshmen year, Mullen turned in ERAs of 1.94, 3.48 and 1.30 in his sophomore, junior and senior year, respectively. The draft will run through Wednesday.
