Dover Dirt Dawgs advance to Sweet Sixteen at weekly Cooperstown tourney

Brandon Brown, Fosters Daily Democrat
·2 min read
The Dover Dirt Dawgs advanced to the Sweet Sixteen at its week-long tournament at Dreams Park in historic Cooperstown, New York. It was the furthest a local town team has advanced at the Dreams Park weekly summer tournaments.
The Dover Dirt Dawgs advanced to the Sweet Sixteen at its week-long tournament at Dreams Park in historic Cooperstown, New York. It was the furthest a local town team has advanced at the Dreams Park weekly summer tournaments.

The Dover Cal Ripken 12-year-old baseball team made history in the past week at historic Cooperstown, New York.

The Dover Dirt Dawgs advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of their recent 84-team, week-long tournament at Dreams Park, the furthest a local town team has gone in Cooperstown. The Seacoast Pirates club team placed fifth in 2018.

"We were lucky," Dover head coach Tim Pine said. "We had 11 kids out of 12 who can pitch, really 12 out of 12 could pitch, but we used 11, so that really helped us conserve pitching for when we got to the elimination rounds, and we were able to have our top pitchers go."

Members of the Dover Dirt Dawgs pose outside the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Members of the Dover Dirt Dawgs pose outside the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

The team consisted of Ben Cheek, Cade Cunio, Connor Fogarty, Ben King, Trey Longuil, Owen Lovering, Connor Lynch, Sam MacGregor, Tucker Montecalvo, Bryce Peck, Jonnie Pine and Brandon Skowron.

After winning six of its first seven games, including three straight in the elimination round, Dover lost to Stars Baseball out of Virginia, 12-1 in the Round of 16. Stars Baseball went on to win the tournament.

The Dover Dirt Dawgs pose at the entrance of Dreams Park in Cooperstown, New York.
The Dover Dirt Dawgs pose at the entrance of Dreams Park in Cooperstown, New York.

"To make that top 16, I was just so proud of the boys," Pine said. "They just played their hearts out every game, they gave me everything they had and that's all I can ask for."

Dover scored 70 runs on 76 hits in the tournament, belting 18 home runs as a team.

Dover opened the tournament with a 7-0 shutout win over Waconia AAA (Minnesota), followed by a 7-4 win over Reston Warriors Black (Virginia) and a 20-3 win over the Roxborough Outlaws (Pennsylvania).

Then, Dover took its first loss, 19-1 to Iconic Baseball (Illinois), 19-1. Dover bounced back with three straight wins, outscoring opponents 34-4 over the stretch of games before falling to Stars Baseball. Dover beat 310 Baseball (California), 16-1, Marblehead Magicians (Massachusetts), 13-1 and Canes Tri-State (New Jersey), 5-2.

"We had a good first game (against 310 Baseball) in the elimination round," Pine said. "Our pitching really helped us keep the scores low."

While Pine said the entire offense was clicking throughout the week, on the pitching side, he said Cheek, King and Pine stood out.

During some of the free time, the team visited the Baseball Hall of Fame, play whiffle ball with other nearby teams, traded pins, and watched a lot of games.

"Parents were able to take the kids out for dinners, experience downtown Cooperstown, and really take in the history, not just of baseball history, of Cooperstown," Pine said.

Dover made history, enjoyed its time and made a memory it'll never forget.

"It was an amazing experience, unlike anything we've ever had," Pine said. "It really was a big mix of skill levels; you had travel teams, town teams and teams that were from multiple states, it was amazing."

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Dover Dirt Dawgs make historic run at Dreams Park in Cooperstown