When Dave Chase was in the Northern League back in the 1980s, his team from St. Johnsbury, Vt., would spend a week or two playing games in Cooperstown, N.Y., home of the baseball Hall of Fame.
Now, more than 30 years later, Chase has started a new tradition in Cooperstown with his baseball team from Hopkinton.
Chase first took the Hawks to Cooperstown in 2007, a trip that saw Hopkinton’s David Brandt pitch a perfect game and nearly hit for the cycle (single, double, two triples). Chase and the Hawks have been back to Doubleday Field a half dozen times since that first trip. The latest installment of the pilgrimage came last weekend as the Hawks traveled to Cooperstown, hit the Hall of Fame and beat Mascenic on Saturday, 5-4.
“You get on this little tiny school bus with 14 kids and you drive for five hours, so you’ve got to talk about something,” Chase said. “So you squish everybody in there and start talking about the game and playing, and the next thing you know you’ve bonded and you get to be a tighter group. I just think it’s a really good way to build success with your program.”
The Hawks made the five-hour trip in Friday morning, went to the Hall of Fame that afternoon, watched a game between high school teams from Connecticut and Pennsylvania at Doubelday and that night partook in some more classic male bonding – bowling.
After the bowling there was a comprehensive team meeting. The Hawks went 16-3 last year, reached the Division III semifinals and had plenty of talent back, but they had started just 1-4 this season. So they had a heart-to-heart that centered around not trying to do too much and staying focused.
“We talked a little bit about how Babe Ruth had sat in that dugout (at Doubleday), how Barry Bonds had sat in that dugout and all these former greats had played on that field (the annual Hall of Fame Classic is played at Doubleday),” Chase said. “And we talked about our guys have this opportunity to do this, to play on this field, and we asked if we’re really focused on what we’re doing. And it was kind of like magic because the next day we went out and beat a good Mascenic team.”
Hopkinton’s Kyle Slevira had a little something to do with that magic as he retired the first nine Mascenic batters he faced and wound up going the full seven innings in the 5-4 win. Slevira also had two hits, as did Jacob Walling, who scored the game-winning run in the fifth after Masenic had tied things at 4-4 in the fourth.
“Slevira pitched his butt off the last two innings, we made a couple plays and all of a sudden everybody forgot about being 1-4,” Chase said. “Now we’re 2-4, the whole attitude has changed and we’re hoping that’s going to build going forward.”
The Hawks weren’t the only local baseball team who made the trip to Cooperstown. Concord played at Doubleday on Monday and came away with a 10-5 win over Winnacunnett to improve to 3-2. Kurtis Stadnicki went 3-for-3 with two doubles to lead the Tide offense and Jared Grondin pitched six innings and had three strikeouts, but everyone who made the trip added his own touch to the game.
“Great experience playing at Doubleday Field,” Concord Coach Scott Owen. “All 15 players contributed in the win.”
The New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association is now accepting applications for its Student Leadership Committee. Students must be in 10th grade or above and play at least one NHIAA sport to be eligible.
According to the NHIAA website, the committee is, “a platform for positive change, enthusiasm, devotion, leadership, and most importantly, it’s an avenue for student-athletes to make a difference. The purpose of the Student Leadership Committee is to promote leadership, sportsmanship, community service and wellness in NHIAA member schools.”
The committee will meet once a month in Concord and is also sponsored by Life of an Athlete, a program that promotes excellence through sport. For more information about requirements and to find the application forms, go to
loanh.org/for-student-athletes/nhiaa-student-leadership-committee/?platform=hootsuite
The high school schedule is light this week due to April vacation for many schools, but there’s still some intriguing contests on the calendar in the next few days.
On Wednesday the Kingswood softball team (4-2) will travel to Pembroke Academy. The Spartans were in the Division II semifinals last year and have started 4-1 this year under first-year Coach Ashley Gladu.
The Merrimack baseball team (5-1) will travel to Concord (3-2) on Thursday afternoon. And Saturday’s big event is the Coe-Brown Invitational, which includes track and field teams from Merrimack Valley, Pembroke, Belmont, Bishop Brady, Bow and Kearsarge.