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Western Michigan baseball players continuing growth with Muskegon Clippers

Posted at 11:17 PM, Jul 09, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-09 23:17:22-04

MUSKEGON, Mich. -- The Muskegon Clippers play in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate Baseball League and feature a number of players with West Michigan ties.

Former Saugatuck High School standout Blake Dunn is coming off of his freshman season where he started 38 games as a two-way player for the WMU Broncos. This summer with the Clippers, he's been doing the same, playing right field and closing games with six saves on the mound, plus hitting .300 with two home runs.

"Often times we are bringing him in from the outfield, and we try to get him in the bullpen before he gets on the mound," said coach Walt Gawkowski. "But there have a couple instances where we have brought him in from right field and put him on the mound, so it's been tough. But Blake has a great mindset, and he is able to balance that."

His teammate at WMU, Jimmy Roche, is also playing with the Clippers this summer and is leading Muskegon at the plate as he tries to get bigger, faster, and stronger for his next season in Kalamazoo.

Gawkowski said Dunn's contributions have been huge for the team.  "Jimmy has just been outstanding. He has picked us up so many times. He has shown good power at the plate, he has driven in runs, he has hit in clutch situations, he has shown us tremendous leadership on the field and off. He has just been an outstanding player."