Ask John Carroll University baseball coach Marc Thibeault about freshman Dom Duggan, and he'll tell you with a chuckle that Duggan's one of the best players he's ever seen.

Then you realize he's not joking.

"Wherever we go, whenever we play another team, I'd say 99 percent of the time he's the best athlete on the field," said Thibeault.

"He has so many tools, some you can teach, some you can't," he added.

Duggan, a graduate of Seneca Valley, has been the starting center fielder at John Carroll this season, having earned the spot with a strong showing in fall ball.

"I knew we had two returning outfielders that started," said Duggan. They were unsure of the third spot, the center field spot. I just wanted to work hard and see what happens.

As it turned out, his play couldn't be dismissed.

"We knew Dom was a very good athlete coming in," said Thibeault. "We knew he had speed and figured he'd help us sooner than later."

In 36 games this season, Duggan is batting .357 with 24 runs scored, has three home runs, 24 RBI and has stolen 11 of 12 bases. He also has an slugging percentage of .550 and an on-base percentage of .415.

He's the leader in eight offensive categories for the Blue Streaks (20-16) and second in four others.

"He's made some adjustments offensively for the better of his game," said Thibeault. "You can see it. He's hitting the ball hard and hitting more with power."

Duggan attributes his success in being able to concentrate on baseball and on getting comfortable.

"This is my first year playing one sport. In high school, I played three (football and basketball were the others). In the whole off-season I got to prepare and it paid off big time.

"There's always an adjustment to college pitching. You have to find a comfort level and get used to the atmosphere. I've learned a lot in my freshman year," he added.

Another aspect to Duggan's game has been his play in the outfield. He's committed only one error so far and that came two weeks ago.

"He's getting better defensively," said Thibeault. "He's understanding a run may not mean as much and hitting the cutoff man so another runner doesn't advance is more important.

"He also has the best jumps on the ball, the best I've seen in a long time. He's getting better and he's right on track at being a fine player," he added.

The Blue Streaks lost 8-7 its first-round Ohio Athletic Conference playoff game against No. 1 seed Marietta.

John Carroll, the No. 4 seed, was scheduled to face Otterbein in the elimination game Friday afternoon while Marietta faced Heidelberg in the championship game.

Along with the team's success, Duggan has been able to enjoy his own as well, but he knew it wouldn't come easy.

"You just want to build on what you've done before," said Duggan. "You just correct your mistakes and things will take care of themselves."