The Muskegon Clippers have had some West Michigan Conference connections on their staff over the years.
While some things are changing, others are staying the same.
Steve Cutter, a Hart native who spent the last two years coaching North Muskegon’s varsity baseball team, is no longer serving as the Clippers’ general manager and pitching coach. He and his family have relocated to the Lansing area. In August, he accepted the head coaching position for the powerhouse Lansing Community College baseball team.
While Cutter has departed the Clippers organization, another coach from the West Michigan Conference is staying put. Brian Wright, who has been Shelby’s baseball coach for more than 40 years, will return for his eighth season as the Clippers’ third-base coach and defensive coordinator.
With the retirement of Clippers head coach Walt Gawkowski, who also coached at North Muskegon, the team has announced the hiring of Logan Fleener. The native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., takes the helm for the Clippers as they continue in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League in their fifth season. Fleener was a Clippers player in 2016.
Fleener was a four-year letter winner at Blackman High School prior to beginning his baseball career at Roosevelt University in Chicago. While playing at Roosevelt University, Logan served as a team captain and earn first-team all-conference honors at shortstop. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Roosevelt and master’s degree in organizational leadership from Trevecca Nazarene.
Fleener’s coaching resume includes stops as an assistant at Roosevelt University, Trevecca Nazarene University and Tennessee Wesleyan College. He also coached with the Rochester Honkers of Northwoods League in 2018.
In Cutter’s absence, the Clippers also have announced the hiring of a new pitching coach. Dion Felger will assume those duties after serving as a private pitching instruction in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. He played college baseball at Roane State Community College, Youngstown State University and Ohio Valley University (2014-18). He graduated from Youngstown State in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
The Clippers are a team of college players that plays in a summer wood-bat league. The season runs in June and July, and the team plays its home games at century-old Marsh Field in Muskegon.
