Stoughton All-Stars Have a Ball in Cooperstown

Submitted by Bruce Dolinsky:

On August 6, 2011 a Stoughton baseball team of 11 boys and three coaches checked into Cooperstown All Star Village culminating a year of planning and fundraising. 

The team consisted of a group of 12 and 13-year-old boys: Daryn Avila, Josh Chuba, Jack Connelly, Ryan Dolinsky, Jake Gibb, Pat Hagerty, Nick Hardy, Justin Hutchinson, Chris McNulty, Nick Spohn and Ryan Sullivan. 

The coaching staff was comprised of Bruce Dolinsky (manager), Greg Spohn and Jim Hutchinson.

Cooperstown All Star Village throughout the summer that are attended by elite teams from across the country.  The week the Stoughton team attended, there were also teams from California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

On August 6 the boys checked into their home away from home, the Ted Williams Room in the Fenway Park bunkhouse, and received their uniforms and pins.  Immediately they started bonding with boys from other teams and traded pins with them.  Due to the weather, the opening ceremonies and skills competition was cancelled, but that did not diminish the excitement of the day.

On August 7 the boys woke up excited to play their first game of the tournament.  In the first game the team took on the Golden Gate Sliders from the San Francisco area.  Nick Spohn led off the game with a line drive home run to get the Black Knights on the board. 

Although the game ended in a loss, the boys spirits remained high knowing they had another game that night.  In that game, against the Finger Lakes Falcons of New York, the boys prevailed behind the stellar pitching of Justin Hutchinson and Daryn Avila.

On Monday August 8 the boys opened the day with a game versus the Forest City Fury of North Carolina, the eventual runner up for the week’s tournament.  The highlight of this 6 inning loss was Jake Gibb’s home run over their version of a Green Monster fence. 

The second game of the day was against the East Meadow Mustangs of New York, in which the boys from Stoughton endured another 6 inning loss.  Highlights in this game were home runs by Jack Connelly and Josh Chuba and some outstanding fielding by Pat Hagerty and Chris McNulty.

Tuesday August 9 saw the boys open up versus the 5 Star Academy Dirt Dogs from the Huntington Beach area of California, the eventual champion of the week’s tournament.  In this game Jake Gibb hit a home run as far as anyone had seen one hit at Cooperstown All Star Village, and then in the next at bat Josh Chuba hit a foul ball that would have left Fenway.  The quote from the California team’s manager was “my word!!!” 

More outstanding fielding from Nick Hardy and Ryan Dolinsky could not prevent the Black Knight’s third straight 6 inning loss. 

Later that day the boys took on the St. Charles Knights of Illinois.  This game saw the Black Knights jump out to an early lead with home runs from Nick Spohn and Ryan Sullivan.  Although rain interrupted the game, the game was continued on Wednesday morning, and the offense of the Black Knights was not interrupted and the boys were able to prevail with a final score of 15-7.

So after pool play had ended the boys from Stoughton were 2-4 and as it turned out were seeded 16th out of the 22 teams there and would play the Finger Lakes Falcons, again, for their first playoff game. 

In this game the Black Knights got out to an early lead but couldn’t hold it against the feisty Falcons.  Going into the 5th inning Stoughton was down a run.  Then with Jake Gibb and Josh Chuba on base, Jack Connelly came to bat and hit a 3-run Green Monster homer to put the Black Knights up by 2.  The boys held on in the 6th and won their first playoff game. 

That win allowed them to face the Freehold Falcons of New Jersey, the top- seeded team of the week, for their next playoff game.  By that point the boys had run out of luck—but not spirit—and they lost 12-2 in 5 innings.

The success of the team is not based on their overall 3-5record, although it is very impressive versus the caliber of teams that were in attendance at Cooperstown All Star Village.  The success of this team is in the work that all the boys, and their families, did to get there. 

Also their success could be seen in the way they acted while there.  Every one of the boys on this team spent many hours raising the money so that their team could get to Cooperstown.  And while there, this group of 12 and 13-year-old boys, or young men, conducted themselves in a manner such that they brought respect and pride to both their families and their town. 

This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that all the families are grateful they got to share with each other and with their sons.

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Check out a team photo in the media gallery above.

For additional photos of this age group from Stoughton Hockomock Summer League Baseball action, click on the links below: