On May 10, in a home game against its rival the St. Joseph Knights, the Righetti Warriors baseball team pulled off an extra innings win with a bases loaded single in the bottom of the eighth, giving the Warriors a 4-3 victory.
But it’s the performance on the mound from Righetti’s lead hurler, Jack Dunn IV, that has Warrior fans and coaches buzzing. In the match-up against the Knights, Dunn threw all eight innings, allowing just eight hits, no earned runs, and retiring three.
Righetti’s head coach Brian Tomooka said he couldn’t have been happier with Dunn’s performance.
“This was one of the best pitching performances of the year,” Tomooka said. “Jack threw some of his best pitches in crucial situations with Knight’s runners in scoring position. This didn’t surprise me at all because Jack is one of the most competitive pitchers that I have coached.”
According to Tomooka, part of what makes Dunn so successful as a pitcher is his ability to change speeds and keep batters guessing. But Tomooka said it’s Dunn’s composure and mental resilience on the mound that allows for his overall effectiveness.
Dunn, who has been playing baseball since he was 5 and pitching since he was 11, said he’s always wanted to be a pitcher. When he steps on the mound, he said, he just “focuses on throwing strikes and letting his defense help him out.”
With a team and league-leading earned run average (ERA) of 1.20, and holding onto fifth place for strikeouts in the league with 30, Dunn’s focused and poised approach on the mound is working. What’s even more impressive is that he manages a .324 batting average and a .432 slugging percentage, making him a well-rounded ball player.
So what’s next for the senior slinger? Currently, Dunn is being courted by three junior colleges—Allan Hancock, Cuesta, and Monterey Peninsula. As to which he favors most, Dunn said, “Everything is an option at this point.”
This article appears in May 19-26, 2011.