Mets draft pick has local ties

Justin Dunn, a former student at Brookside Elementary School in Baldwin, could be headed for Major League baseball. A pitcher, he was selected by the Mets in the first round of the 2016 draft, No. 19 overall, on June 9. 

Even though Dunn, 22, grew up an avid Yankees fan, with Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera among his favorite players, he said he could not be more thrilled to be playing for the other team in New York. “He’s very honored to be part of this wonderful team,” said his father, Edmund Dunn. “It will be a surreal moment when Justin takes the mound at Citifield. Hopefully it won’t be against the Yankees.”

Like many boys, Justin started playing baseball in Little League. He played with the HBQBD Little League in Queens Village when he was 7. After his family moved to Freeport, he played in the Baldwin Little League and played travel baseball for the Freeport Red Devils. 

He was 9 when he played in his first major tournament, his father said, and when he was 12, his travel team, the New York Outlaws, won the Cooperstown Dreams Park Tournament. “He pitched that final game,” Edmund said. “There were 100 teams from all over the country, and this was the first time a New York team won.” 

Following the win, Justin spoke with Newsday, and recounted the feeling that his team had going into that last game. “We were underestimated a lot,” he said.

At 14 he was just 5 feet 5 and 110 pounds, and there were coaches who overlooked his powerful arm, but Jeff Trundy, a coach at Gunnery High School in Washington, Conn., wasn’t one of them. “He knew [Justin] would grow, and believed in him,” Edmund said. Justin had won a scholarship through the Academic All Star Program, and attended Gunnery. “His coach took him to another level,” Edmund said.

Drafted out of high school in the 37th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013, Dunn elected to attend Boston College instead of signing a pro contract. He was primarily a relief pitcher until early this spring, when he was thrust into the Eagles’ starting rotation. 

Dunn, who’s now 6 feet 2 and 185 pounds, features a fastball in the low to mid-90s and also throws a curve, slider and changeup. He thrived while helping lead B.C. to a 35-22 record and its first regional title in program history. In six regular-season starts he went 3-1 with a 1.22 earned run average, 32 strikeouts and 12 walks. He also had a win and two saves out of the bullpen early in the season. 

In three years with the Eagles, he appeared in 45 games and worked more than 125 innings. He recorded nine wins and seven saves, with a 3.66 ERA and 130 strikeouts. He became the fourth Boston College player ever to be drafted in the first round, and the first pitcher the Mets drafted in the opening round since Matt Harvey in 2010. 

“I tell folks that Justin’s not just a pitcher,” his father said. “He’s a baseball player who doesn’t like to lose. He’s very competitive, but also level-headed, and he has composure on the mound.” 

Being drafted by the Mets is “the culmination of a life-long dream for my son,” Edmund said. “This is what he’s wanted all his life, to be a baseball player.”