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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
For a long while, Dover-Sherborn has been known as a lacrosse hotbed, but the spring of 2017 proved to the world that times are a changing in DS after the varsity baseball team’s magical run to the Division III state championship game, winning the South Sectional and Eastern Mass titles along the way.
Even after the conclusion of their 2017 season out in Worcester on June 17, the Raider baseball team and coaching staff were not yet done achieving, as senior captain and pitcher Ryan Sliwinski was named to the Boston Globe All-Scholastic team.
Game after game, it seemed as if DS had an endless supply of aces and stud relievers, with the likes of Sliwinski, Owen Webb, Holden Ferrari, and closer Jake Scurrah all taking the hill in key situations. But, when Sliwinski had his name called every fourth or fifth day to head out to the mound, he gave 110 percent on every pitch he threw while also doing his fair share of damage at the plate - not to mention the classroom. Following his time with the Post 110 6 Legion squad (Medfield) this summer alongside teammate Hank Reinhart, the man teammates call “Slew” will head to Keene State this fall to play baseball.
The recognitions and awards for the Dover-Sherborn baseball program didn’t end with Sliwinski, as head coach Steve Ryan was named Division III High School baseball Coach of the Year. A humbled Ryan says that while the award is truly an honor, it is his players who deserve the recognition.
“This past month has been a blast of positivity for Dover-Sherborn baseball,” said Ryan. “The Coach of the Year award was nice, but it belongs to the players more than me. No coach has ever won that award and deserved it more than his or her players.”
Ryan also discussed how he and his team embraced being the last ones standing out of all the spring sports in DS.
“One of the bonuses of our playoff run was the publicity baseball received,” said Ryan. “We were the only show in town at the end of the year. All the other sports’ great seasons ended before us, so people began to pay attention to our baseball team. People knew who we were and wanted us to do well and represent the town with pride.”
In the future, Ryan hopes that DS continues its trend of building a winning baseball tradition.
“Moving forward, I believe success begets success,” said Ryan. “I hope baseball players in Dover-Sherborn continue to work hard because they want the excitement that the 2017 team experienced. I think people in town would like us to return to the state championship game and finish the job.”
On June 18, the athletics department announced Steve Ryan as the new head football coach at Dover-Sherborn Regional High School.
Congratulations to Coach Ryan on the award and on receiving the reigns to the football program, to Ryan Sliwinski on earning All-Scholastic and for an excellent athletic career at DS, and to the entire Raider baseball team on an extremely exciting and successful season.
