Top Row: Coach Gavin Mish, Coach Dave Crabbe, Charlie Crabbe, Declan Burke, Ryan Frigiani, JT Taylor, Peyton Shusda, Coach Mike Shusda, Coach Keith Taylor. Bottom Row: Andrew DeSimone, Christian Selmi, Quinn Burke, Liam Loffler, Noah Mish, Don Alphas, Lucas Pion.
The Dover Sherborn U12 baseball team bookended its amazing four-year Tondorf tournament run with a championship win over Holliston this past July.
After winning the whole thing, also against Holliston, as U9s in 2019, they made it to the finals in 2020 as U10s. They lost that championship series to Medway, but came roaring back in 2021 as U11s, going undefeated in pool play through 10 games. A close semifinal loss to Medway had the boys hungry for their last Tondorf season in 2022, and they wouldn’t disappoint.
In a tournament typically led by strong pitching, the DS U12s put up a team batting average of .347 and an on base percentage of .422 -- not to mention an incredible 24 home runs, total. Their pitching did just as well, putting up an amazing team ERA of 1.29. This talent on both sides of the ball led to a ridiculous run differential on the season of 102 runs for and 29 runs against. After beating Wayland, 5-2, in the semi-finals, DS would face their nemesis from three years prior, Holliston, in the finals. In the best-of-three series, Dover Sherborn was strong, to say the least, winning game one, 7-0, and finishing things with a 13-4 win in game two.
The bookend was complete: winners in 2019 as U9s, and winners in 2022 as U12s.
The Dover-Sherborn U12 boys also got a chance to showcase their talents this year in the Cooperstown Dreams Park tournament over the July 30 weekend. The tournament brings in teams from all over the country, and one from Canada -- 84 teams in all in 2022. In a world full of club baseball, DS was one of only a small handful of town teams to join the tournament, and certainly one of the smallest towns. Expectations may have been low due to playing against powerhouses from Chicago, New Jersey, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Colorado, but once again, the DS U12s were strong. They ended pool play with a 3-2 record, which was good enough to earn them a BYE in the 84-team single-elimination tournament. They then won two straight playoff games for an amazing run into the final 32, and eventually lost to the overall #9 seed, a club team from Encino, CA (population 45,000).
These boys have talent to say the least, but more than that, they are a team -- a team that has created memories on and off the field. With only a couple of years before they join the high school ranks, the future looks bright for DS baseball.
