GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Five former Tusculum College student-athletes continue to pursue their baseball dreams as they play professionally this summer. Brandon Dickson, Ben Swaggerty, Maikol Gonzalez, Rob Currie and Kevin Hammons are currently on the active rosters for their respective clubs.

Dickson is in his fifth year in the St. Louis Cardinals' organization, but first with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League. He is a starter in the Memphis rotation where has posted a 4-3 record in his nine starts. The 6-5, 190-pound right-hander has a 3.48 earned run average, while limiting the opposition to hit .243 against him. In his 57 innings of work this season he has recorded 38 strikeouts.

In 2009 with the Double-A Springfield Cardinals, he posted an 8-10 record with a 3.78 ERA. In made 28 appearances, including 20 starts where he pitched in 147.2 innings. He struck out 112 and pitched a shut out. In 2008 with Springfield, he went 7-8 with a 3.51 ERA in 23 appearances, including 17 starts.

The Marbury, Ala. native started the 2007 season with the Class-A Palm Beach Cardinals of the Florida State League. He would move on to the Swing of the Quad Cities where he went 11-7 in his 31 outings, including 23 starts as he amassed a 3.50 ERA in his 144 innings, including 84 strikeouts. Dickson made his professional debut in 2006 with the Johnson City Cardinals of the Appalachian League where he posted a 1-0 record in his nine appearances with the Red Birds.

In his first and only season at Tusculum (2006), Dickson went 5-2 with a 3.39 ERA. His 24 mound appearances are tied for the second most in a season at Tusculum. He tallied four saves in his 58.1 innings to go along with 37 strikeouts. Dickson garnered South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Week honors and played an important part in Tusculum's 40-14-1 campaign, including a conference championship.

Swaggerty, who was signed as a non-drafted free agent with Kansas City in 2007, has been a solid left-handed performer in the Royals' organization. He is in his second season with the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals where he is 1-1 with a 5.00 ERA, but is currently on the disabled list with the Texas League affiliate. Last season with the Naturals, the 6-1, 185-pound southpaw went 4-1 with a save and a 4.33 ERA in his 26 relief appearances and was named the team's Pitcher of the Year.

He started the 2009 campaign with the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the Royals' Class-A Advanced affiliate in the Carolina League. In 2009, he posted a 3-1 record with two saves in his 15 relief appearances. Swaggerty posted a 3-2 record and a 2.66 ERA in his 32 outings with the Blue Rocks in 2008.

Swaggerty started off the 2008 season with the Burlington Bees in the Midwest League where he posted a 1-0 mark in his 12 outings. He started his professional career in 2007 with the Idaho Falls Chukars in the Pioneer League as he went 1-0 with a 3.03 ERA. He made 24 appearances out of the bullpen, including a save with 51 strikeouts in his 35.2 innings of work.

Swaggerty, a native of Knoxville, Tenn., posted an impressive 5-0 record and a team-best six saves in his 24 appearances in his senior campaign at Tusculum. During that 2007 season, his save tally was 35th in the nation (NCAA Division II), while posting a 1.69 ERA with 61 strikeouts. He especially shined during TC's postseason run, recording a pair of saves during the 2007 NCAA II South Regional. He tossed three innings in Tusculum's 4-1 win over nine-time national champion Florida Southern College. The following day, he scattered two hits and struck out four in TC's 7-6 win over nationally-ranked Florida Gulf Coast University. He led the Pioneers to the championship game of the 2007 South Atlantic Conference Tournament. In his three appearances, he pitched eight innings, allowed two hits, struck out seven and recorded a save. For his efforts, he was named to the SAC All-Tournament Team.

During his collegiate career, Swaggerty appeared in 44 games, recorded 117 career strikeouts and posted an 8-2 record on the mound.

Gonzalez is in his third season of professional baseball in the Colorado Rockies' organization and is currently with the Modesto (Calif.) Nuts (Class-A Advanced). He is batting .233 this season with Modesto, including .321 in his last 10 outings. In his 40 games, Gonzalez has 27 hits, including seven doubles, four triples and 10 RBI. He has also posted six stolen bases and scored 24 runs.

The Maraca Ibo, Venezuela native was selected in the 35th round by the Rockies in the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. He made his professional debut with the DSL Rockies in the Dominican Summer League going 2-for-2 at the plate. He was later sent to Casper, Wyo. to play at the Rockies' Rookie League affiliate. Gonzalez batted .358 with the Ghosts, including seven doubles, two triples and 13 RBI in his 25 games with the club.

Last summer, he opened with the Class-A Asheville Tourists for three games, but was later promoted to the Modesto where he was a mainstay in the line-up as he batted .282 with 15 doubles, seven triples, two home runs, 42 RBI and 19 stolen bases.

Gonzalez led the nation in 2008 with his .468 average was a Tusculum and then-South Atlantic Conference record, claiming NCAA II National Statistical Champion honors. He also broke the TC and then SAC single-season record with his 103 hits in 2008. For his efforts, he was named the Daktronics South Region Player of the Year for a second straight season.

He was a consensus All-American for a second year in a row, being recognized in 2008 by the American Baseball Coaches' Association, D-II Sports Information Directors of America (Daktronics) and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. The two-time All-SAC honoree accounted for 21 doubles, seven triples, five home runs and a team-best 58 RBI. His 30 stolen bases were also a new school record in 2008.

During his two-year career at Tusculum, Gonzalez established new TC record for batting average (.457), triples (21) and on-base percentage (.522). His batting average is currently ninth all-time in NCAA II history, while his triples tally is tied for 12th in the national record book.

Currie, a 6-6, 230-pound right-hander from St. Charles, Ill., was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 12th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. He pitched last season with the Helena Brewers (Rookie League) of the Pioneer League where he posted a 4-2 record with three saves and a 3.57 ERA. Currie made 24 relief appearances, going 35.1 innings and posting 35 strikeouts.

Currie was the 376th overall pick, becoming the highest selected player for Tusculum head coach Doug Jones. Currie became the fifth player to be drafted during the Jones' era and 15th overall to sign professionally.

Currie, who was the ace of the Tusculum bullpen in 2009, earned a spot on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II All-America Team. He made 21 appearances in his senior campaign and posted a 5-1 record with a 1.21 ERA to go along with six saves. The six saves were the fourth-most ever by a Pioneer reliever. Currie limited the opposition to a .213 batting average, while striking out at team-best 57 with only 20 walks in his 52 innings of work.

He was named to three NCAA Division II All-Southeast Region teams in 2009, including Daktronics, NCBWA and the American Baseball Coaches Association. Currie was also an All-South Atlantic Conference First Team selection.

In his two seasons at Tusculum, Currie posted a school record 2.11 ERA in his 38 mound appearances for the Pioneers that included nine starts, including a nine-inning complete game effort in TC's 4-2 win over Catawba College in the 2008 SAC Tournament championship game. For his efforts, he was named to the SAC All-Tournament Team.

Currie recorded 97 strikeouts in 102.1 innings pitched in a Tusculum uniform. He tallied a 9-6 career mark to go along with seven career saves, the seventh most in school history.

Hammons, a 6-3, 195-pound left-hander is in his first season with the Washington Wild Things and second in the Frontier League. In his three outings this year, he has an 0-0 record with a 1.50 ERA with 10 strikeouts in a dozen innings pitched.

Hammons was drafted in the 24th round by the Florida Marlins in the 2007 MLB Draft, where he played one season with the Class-A Jamestown Jammers of the New York-Penn League. During his rookie season, he went 3-0 with a 3.63 ERA in 22.1 innings pitched.

Hammons had a stellar senior campaign in 2007 as he posted a 9-1 record with a 2.77 ERA. He was named to the Daktronics All-America Second Team and the NCBWA All-America Second Team. He struck out 80, while walking just 23 in 74.2 innings. He was tabbed the 2007 Daktronics South Region and SAC Pitcher of the Year, while also being selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV First Team. During his two seasons at Tusculum, the Jonesborough, Tenn. product went 11-2 and accounted for a 4.10 ERA.

Tusculum College, located in Greeneville, Tenn., is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, USA and is a NCAA Division II member of the South Atlantic Conference which is comprised of 10 colleges and universities in Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

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