Standout Dunn Does it All for Saugatuck
April 22, 2016
By Dave Sontag
Reprinted from Prep Baseball Report
At times, he wears a uniform under his uniform.
The attire that rests inside his baseball jersey has an “S” on the chest. The “S” should stand for Superman. For Saugatuck multi-athlete Blake Dunn, he doesn’t think playing four varsity sports each school year is newsworthy.
“Personally, I have never wanted to give up on any sports. I have the support from all of the coaches. I never wanted to close the door to any of the sports,” Dunn said.
The talented junior is currently competing on his school’s baseball and track & field teams. He hopes to end his high school career earning 16 varsity letters, an unprecedented feat in Saugatuck history.
Dunn has been the starting quarterback for three years and starred on the basketball court for three winters. In an age when many high school athletes prefer to specialize in one sport, Dunn has a different attitude.
“High school only happens once,” Dunn said. “My parents are behind me and my coaches all support me.”
So how does Dunn prepare for each of his spring sports?
Track coach Rick Bauer allows Dunn to conduct his workouts in the morning – before school. Baseball coach Dave Gawlak then works with Dunn after school on the diamond. Game and meet conflicts are minimal during the spring sports season.
It helps that Saugatuck’s athletic director is Bill Dunn, Blake’s dad. The veteran AD has not scheduled many events when baseball and track are competing on the same day. However, Blake did have to make a decision his freshman year when both the track and baseball teams traveled to Bloomingdale High School on the same day.
Blake said that day at Bloomingdale was the most memorable he has had during his high school career.
“I started off playing baseball that day and singled in my first at bat,” Dunn said. “I then changed into my track uniform and won three straight events.”
Dunn won the 110-meter hurdles, the 300 hurdles and as part of the 800 relay before changing back into his baseball uniform.
With the “S” etched on his chest, how did Dunn cap his full day of competition?
“I went back to the baseball field and hit a home run in my next at bat,” Dunn said.
Dunn not only intends to earn 16 varsity letters in his high school career, he also has earned all-state recognition in all four sports. He’s also recently been added to the MHSAA football record book for his accomplishments this past season.
Which sport does he like the best?
“I love them all so much. I really don’t know which one is my favorite,” Dunn said.
As an elementary student, Blake grew up on the gridiron with his dad, who is also Saugatuck’s football coach. Being a coach’s son, Blake serves as another coach on the field.
“He’s always hung around the field,” Bill Dunn said. “Ever since second or third grade, Blake has been around me on the football field.”
The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder said there is nothing like “the Friday night lights in football and the Friday night crowds in basketball.”
“I have limited opportunities to play sports. I don’t want to miss out on any of them,” Blake Dunn said.
Demonstrating talent on the basketball court, Dunn scored 51 points against Lawton this winter. He finished his junior year with more than 1,000 career points.
Dunn’s offseason schedule consists of playing travel baseball and working out with the school’s basketball and football teams.
“I don’t wear myself out playing one sport and possibly getting hurt,” Dunn said.
Dunn does realize that college coaches encourage athletes to play multiple sports. In fact, statistics have proven that high school athletes who specialize in one sport are at an increased risk of injuries – especially knee and hip injuries.
David Bell, a professor of kinesiology and orthopedics and rehabilitation at University of Wisconsin, said after his school completed its recent study “Prevalence of Sport Specialization in High School Athletics” that parents need to be more cognizant of their children specializing in one sport.
Athletes who trained in one sport for more than eight months during the study were more likely to have a history of knee and hip injuries, Bell reported.
The MHSAA also is currently spearheading a task force to promote multi-sport participation.
“For years it seemed educators were alone in promoting the multi-sport experience as the best for young people,” Executive Director Jack Roberts said. “Major college football coaches, members of the USA Women’s World Cup Soccer championship team, Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz, PGA golfer Jordan Spieth and others demonstrate to us that the multi-sport experience is the healthiest and happiest way to participate in youth sports.”
While playing four sports has kept Dunn busy athletically, he has been able to keep his grades solid. He holds a 3.95 grade-point average with a rigorous schedule.
The two-way baseball player has made a verbal commitment to play at Western Michigan University after high school. He is not sure if he will continue at WMU on the mound or as a catcher – or both.
“They have talked to me about maybe catching and then closing on the mound,” Dunn said.
Staying close to home does not surprise his dad.
“He’s really a down-home kid,” Bill Dunn said of his son. “The relationship with Billy (Gernon, WMU’s coach) is awesome.
The elder Dunn is proud of his son’s work ethic.
“He has God-given skills, but he works at it.” Bill said. “I remember him coming off of a basketball game on a Friday night and heading to Kalamazoo the next morning at 6:30 to work out for three hours.”
The talented junior has been clocked pitching at 90 mph and ran a 6.7-second 60-yard dash.
The script for Dunn has been storybook-like. Peeling off one uniform only to compete in another sport, he has carved quite an athletic career.
But while Western Michigan is waiting for the multi-talented athlete to finish high school, Blake will continue doing what he does best – performing at the highest level on his way to 16 varsity letters.
PHOTOS: (Top) Dunn has starred in football, basketball and baseball during the 2016-17 school year. (Middle) Dunn also was a Lower Peninsula Division 4 champion last spring in the 300 hurdles and as part of the 1,600 relay. (Top photos courtesy of the Dunn family, middle photo by RunMichigan.com.)
Healthy Tomlinson Gives Portage Northern Major Reason to Dream Big
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
May 14, 2024
PORTAGE – Ty Tomlinson ended last season as a member of the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association all-state Dream Team.
This season began as more of a nightmare for the Portage Northern senior.
The lanky shortstop stepped up to the plate for his second at-bat of the Huskies’ opening game and started legging out a double.
“On my way to first base, my first step out of the box, I heard a nice little pop,” Tomlinson said. “Coach (Ben) Neal was screaming at me because he thought I wasn’t hustling. Turns out I was just barely making it to the base.”
That’s because the “pop” was a hamstring injury that sidelined him for nearly half the team's games so far.
“It was rough,” the senior said. “Definitely not how I wanted to start my year. I played three years without getting hurt, and to start the year off like that, especially after all the work we put in this off-season, I was really excited to see it pan out.”
His dad, Ryan Tomlinson, said he knew right away what happened.
“I saw it,” he said. “I knew what happened without talking to him. He’s a very competitive kid.”
Ryan Tomlinson is no stranger to seeing injuries. After 20 years, he recently retired as Western Michigan University’s women’s tennis coach. The first thing he did after Ty’s injury was set his son up with a trainer.
“Ty would get up at 6 a.m. to work with my trainer, then go to school, then come home to work in the training room,” Ryan said.
The injury kept the shortstop out of the game, but not out of the action.
“It was hard on a personal level because I’ve grown up as a competitor, but we have so much depth,” Tomlinson said. “I did a lot of the pitch charting, so I was in the game every pitch. As much as I hated being away, we still played great.”
While Tomlinson was sidelined, senior second baseman Ryan Juodawlkis lost his infield partner.
“Me and Ty, we’ve been a duo for years,” Juodawlkis said. “We have great chemistry.
“We’ve played together a long time. We grew up together playing ball since 11-U. We’ve always been on the field together, talking to each other and communicating.”
With Tomlinson out, Brice Welke, one of two sophomores on the team, stepped in at shortstop.
“It’s always harder to adjust to someone else, especially a younger guy,” Juodawlkis said. “It’s the communicating, who’s got the bag for a steal, who’s gonna hold a runner on.”
Prepping to contend
When the schedule comes out at the beginning of the season, the first two dates the Huskies circle are against Mattawan and Portage Central, Tomlinson said.
Central is the crosstown rival with players who are friends outside of school, and Mattawan is the team that ended Northern’s last two seasons in Division I District Finals.
Northern, ranked No. 15 in Division 1 this spring, was to take a 16-5 record against eighth-ranked Mattawan into a contest scheduled for last Thursday. But the devastation from the EF2 category tornado two days earlier resulted in school being canceled for three days, postponing the game.
“They know they still get to play, so they’re not too heartbroken about (postponing the game),” second-year head coach Adam Cardona said. “A few have been without power a few days, no one lost their homes, but some of their families have been affected, which I know is weighing on them a bit. Praise the Lord, everybody is safe.
“With everything that’s going on, I think they understand it puts baseball in perspective; there’s bigger things than baseball. I think they’re ready to get back into it and get some of that normalcy back.”
Games against Mattawan and Portage Central, especially, are a good indication of the Huskies' playoff potential.
“Our pitchers need to throw strikes and provide weak contact,” Juodawlkis noted as keys to making it past Districts. “Don’t try to do too much and put the ball in play.”
Senior catcher Braden Welke added, “It’s going to take better situational hitting and a lot better moving runners over (to advance).”
Baseball is in the Welkes’ DNA.
Their father Ben played college ball, and their grandfather Tim Welke, as well as a great uncle, Bill, are former MLB umpires.
While their grandfather is at most games, he doesn’t try to “umpire” them.
“He more just talks and chats with the umpires. Both give me plenty of stories and pointers,” Braden Welke laughed.
Cardona said Welke is one of the best catchers in Southwest Michigan.
“That dude just loves the game of baseball,” Cardona said. “He’s happy to be out here every single day.
“Behind the dish, he calls everything. He sees the game and knows the game well.”
Welke said he likes being in control.
“I like being able to touch the ball every single play,” he said. “You’re always in the play, always talking. You’re kind of the leader on the field.”
Other seniors on the team are Maxwell Pidgeon, Jack Mick, Antonio Parsayar, Keegan McIntyre and Danny Tafoya. Juniors are Nolan Ratliff, Seth Bartlam, Drew Clyne, Thomas Horein, Mateo Icaza, Izaak Bobbio, Finn Malek, Nolan Wilson, Andrew Wagster, Braden Hembree, Mason Wesaw, David Li and Evan Elkins. Evan McIntyre is the other sophomore.
Diehard fans
While his dad played and coached tennis, Ty Tomlinson knew at an early age it was not for him.
“I grew up playing tennis along with baseball and other sports, trying other sports out,” he said. “Tennis was just not for me.
“I was not the fleetest of foot back in my day, so I couldn’t move around the court all too well,” he laughed. “Dad and I would kind of butt heads a little bit, so I was ‘I’ve got to move on.’”
Ryan Tomlinson is a huge Detroit Tigers fan.
So huge, that his three sons’ names are all derived from former Tigers greats including two Hall of Famers.
Ty is named for Ty Cobb, while his 11-year-old brother is Graydon Gibson (from Kirk Gibson) and his 7-year-old bother is Myles Kaline (Al Kaline).
However, the two younger Tomlinsons are finding their niche in hockey right now.
Ty Tomlinson originally committed to play baseball at University of Michigan next season. But after feeling he found a better fit at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., the shortstop de-committed and opted to head south to play for the Division I Atlantic 10 Patriots.
“Plus it’s warmer,” he laughed. “I’m not a fan of the cold, and apparently neither is my hamstring.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Portage Northern’s Ty Tomlinson smiles during an at bat. (2) Ryan Juodawlkis stands in for a pitch. (3) Huskies coach Adam Cardona. (4) Catcher Braden Welke puts on his equipment. (Action photos courtesy of the Portage Northern baseball program; head shot by Pam Shebest.)