THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016

When an offer comes up too good to pass up, you take it.

It happened when Coeur d’Alene “AA” American Legion baseball coach Zach Clanton was named the new head coach at Wenatchee Valley Community College a few months ago.

Ironically, it was the opportunity that landed the Lumbermen their next coach.

THE LUMS named Kevin Dunton the new coach on Friday, replacing Clanton, who resigned shortly after the season to focus on his duties at Wenatchee Valley.

Dunton is quite familiar with the Lums’ program, coaching the under-14 team from 2011-15.

“I’m just excited to get going,” said Dunton, 53. “I’m getting to the point in life where you’ve got to take these kind of opportunities when they come up.”

Dunton played at Menlo-Atherton High in Atherton, Calif., and played on the Palo Alto American Legion team, winning two state championships and advancing to the American Legion World Series in 1980.

“I am just fond of Legion because that’s what I did when I grew up,” Dunton said. “This program here is similar with the two different high schools to pull together instead of rivals. It’s a similar community and a really strong baseball town and care about the legion program. Everyone that coached had something to do with it as a kid and really took an interest in how they were doing.”

At Palo Alto, Dunton shared the field with Bob Melvin, the current manager of the Oakland Athletics, as well as current Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh.

“Those teams were stacked,” Dunton said. “It was a blast to play on those teams with those guys. A lot of us still keep in touch and there’s a lot of memories of playing with those guys.”

DUNTON ALSO played professionally in the Alaska Baseball League and played in the Montreal Expos organization after graduating from Santa Clara University.

“I played briefly,” Dunton said. “I played long enough to know to get a real job and move on with my life.”

Dunton currently works in law enforcement.

“I’ve very grateful that my schedule is going to allow me to do this,” Dunton said. “My assistant Mike Borowski (who was an assistant for the Coeur d’Alene baseball program in 2016) is a good coach and has a lot of experience in Orange County as well.”

Coeur d’Alene finished fourth in the state tournament at both the AA and Single-A level this summer.

“Zach did a good job getting the program to where they are now,” Dunton said. “And I’m hoping to get it to the next level.”

“Kevin is known for his leadership, integrity and dedication to the game,” Coeur d’Alene American Legion baseball president Mike Thompson said. “He understands the importance of American Legion baseball in our community. I am confident in his experience in coaching winning teams and helping our baseball players to grow and succeed as young men.”

“I’m just a firm believer in fundamentals,” Dunton said. “If they show up and play hard and come willing to learn and improve themselves, we’ll be good. That’s always been my philosophy. My goal is the kids have a good experience and want to play again next year. I’ve had a lot of good experiences with baseball and played for a coach that had been at the school for 40 years.”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.