Outfielder Cedric Hunter is finishing strong in his third minor-league baseball season.

Hunter, a 2006 grad of ML King, was batting .325 with 11 homeruns, 80 RBI, 12 stolen bases and 97 runs for the Lake Elsinore (Calif.) Storm, a minor league affiliate of the San Diego Padres, heading into the California League playoffs. After fading somewhat at the end of last season due to fatigue, Hunter, who has played 129 games this spring and summer, is recognized as one of the hottest players in the league.

Hunter said in a recent phone interview that his 2008 season has been totally different from 2007.

"It was nowhere near the same," he said. "My body held up this year. I knew what to expect this year, I knew what was coming up, and I knew how to adjust my body and stuff." During the season's last 10 games, the left-hander batted .388 with 19 hits, three homeruns, eight RBI and 11 runs.

Hunter, 20, said he has had a good season.

"I've been real consistent this year," he said.

Although Hunter put up the best numbers, he was not the lone player with South DeKalb roots who performed well on minor league fields this season.

Former Redan second baseman Travis Jones was batting .248 with 16 homers, 75 RBI and 15 stolen bases this season for the Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach Pelicans, which is heading into the Carolina League playoffs.

The 2007 Atlanta Braves draft pick, who is in his second minor league season, is one of five Pelicans who were named to the league's postseason All-Star team.

Colorado Rockies 2004 draft pick Chris Nelson, 22, also put up solid numbers with the Modesto (Calif.) Nuts and Tulsa (Okla.) Drillers this summer.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound shortstop played eight games with Modesto this season and 68 games with Tulsa, a Double-A team in the Texas League. In 76 games the former Redan star batted .221 with four homers, 35 runs, 41 RBI and six stolen bases.

Dominic Brown, another former Redan player who is a Philadelphia Phillies draft pick, batted .291 with nine homeruns, 54 RBI and 22 stolen bases this season, his second year in the minor leagues.

The left-handed Brown plays for the Lakewood (N.J.) Blueclaws in the Class A South Atlantic League.

Shortstop P.J. Phillips, another Redan grad, batted .274 with eight homeruns, 54 RBI and 33 stolen bases this year for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, a California League team.

The 6-foot-3, 170-pound right-hander is a 2005 Los Angeles-Anaheim Angels draft pick.

First-year minor league player Xavier Avery, a 2008 draft pick by the Baltimore Orioles, played for the Gulf Coast League Orioles this year.

He batted .280 with seven RBI, 27 runs and 13 stolen bases.