BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Baseball team has hired Will Dawson as the team's pitching coach and will serve as first-base coach it was announced recently. Dawson comes to Bristol to replace Brandon Shileikis who was hired in the same role by Amherst College in December.
 
"I am extremely proud to welcome Will Dawson to the RWU baseball family," said Head Coach Kevin Kelley. "Coach Dawson is a true student of the game with great work ethic.  His positive energy, and passion for the game really showed in the interview process and I firmly believe he will have an immediate impact on every student-athlete within our program."
 
A resident of Warren, Dawson comes to RWU from Wheaton College (Mass.) where he served as Volunteer Assistant Coach and Assistant Pitching Coach for the past three seasons. During his tenure with the Lyons, they enjoyed great success, participating in the 2021 NCAA Division III College World Series after winning the New England Region while also peaking as the number six ranked team nationally by d3baseball.com. While there, he oversaw a pitching staff that was among the best in the nation, leading all Division III schools in team WHIP (1.03), and ranking second in BB/9 (2.18), fourth in K/BB ratio (3.70), and fifth in team ERA (2.54).
 
During the summer months, Dawson has handled pitching coach and first base coach duties for the Ocean State Waves in the New England Collegiate Baseball League since 2020. In addition, he also has spent time as a pitching instructor and other related roles for various baseball development facilities and clinics.
 
As a player, Dawson spent time pitching for the Community College of Rhode Island, then transferred to Fitchburg State for two seasons before completing his college career with Rhode Island College in 2015. With the Falcons and Anchormen, he recorded 19.2 innings pitched across 13 outings while striking out 12.
 
Dawson inherits a pitching staff that finished third in the Commonwealth Coast Conference in team ERA (5.04), fourth in K/9 (8.61), while recording a 1.54 WHIP and is slated to return 87.5% of their innings pitched from a season ago.