BLADENBORO – West Bladen junior Garrett Dunham has been named the 2024 Southeastern Athletic Conference Baseball Player of the Year. Dunham starred on the mound, at the plate and at shortstop as the Knights finished 2nd in the league.
At the plate Dunham batted lead-off, stole 11 bases and finished with a .338 batting average, 23 hits in 22 games, 17 runs scored, 6 runs batted in, 2 doubles and a .464 on-base percentage. He delivered a walk-off single in the 8th inning of a key 2-1 win over Fairmont as the Knights won 6 of their final 7 conference games to claim 2nd place in the SAC ahead of Clinton and Fairmont. Against SAC foes Dunham batted .448. At shortstop he was part of 7 double plays.
But it was Dunham’s work on the mound that cemented his POY selection. The right-hander struck out 60 batters in 38.2 innings, posted a 3-2 record with 1 save and recorded a 1.27 earned run average. Against conference foes Dunham did not give up an earned run.
Dunham pitched a 4-hit shutout with 18 strikeouts as the Knights clinched 2nd place with a 1-0 win over Red Springs. In the 2-1 win over Fairmont, Dunham pitched a 3-hit complete game with 9 strikeouts in 8 innings. In the Knights 6-1 win over conference champ Midway, he worked a complete game 8-hitter, smacked 2 hits and scored twice.
In a 4-2 win over Clinton, Dunham retired the final 5 batters – 3 via strikeout – to record the save. He pitched 6 shutout innings and struck out 12 batters in a win at East Columbus.
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