You could say that Cougar third baseman Dillon Robinson has baseball in his blood. His brother Darek played for Southern Idaho and Dixie College, where he was an NCJAA All-American before going on to play for the St. Louis Cardinal organization. He is also related to to Jordan Smith of the Cincinnati Reds, and Egan Smith of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Robinson was born in American Fork, Utah, to Randy and Jan Robinson. He played for Lone Peak High School where he showed promise early on, being named two-time All-State as well as the Deseret News 5A MVP in 2010. After completing his senior season for the Knights, Robinson reported to the Utah Marshalls - a team comprised of some of the best high school players from five states.
Marshalls Coach Tyson Littlewood stated in a 2010 interview with Daily Herald's Becky Beaton that Robinson had "a lot of power even with a wood bat, and he's got power to all fields, which is rare at this age. It's his best asset." Littlewood also commented on Robinson's fielding, making the comment that he had the skills to play just about an position. "He can throw, and he'll be able to play wherever he's needed at the next level."
And where the Cougars needed him was at third base - the position he still plays as a junior.
Robinson currently leads the Cougars in batting average, slugging percentage, and on base percentage. Defensively he has a .957 fielding percentage, 3 errors, 41 assists and 25 putouts. He has played in 31 games this year and has hit at least .500 in 13 of those games, and .750 or higher in five of them. He really showed his value to the team when he went down with an ankle injury in the ninth inning of game against Nicholls State. After being subbed out in the ninth inning of the win, he missed the next seven games that shot the Cougars into an eight game losing streak. Over the course of the season he has missed nine games, and the Cougars have yet to win without him in the line-up. Twice this season he has had games where he contributed three RBI's, once in a loss against Kansas and once in a win against Pacific. VTF's Kevin Kennedy referred to Robinson as a player to watch and a possible "rock for the Cougars next year."
Fortunately, you don't have to wait until next year to see Robinson in action. You can catch the Cougars this afternoon at Miller Park as they play host once again to Loyola Marymount for the last game of a three-game series. The game starts at 1:00 MDT.