By Christopher Tremblay

Way back into 1966, the Norwood Senior Babe Ruth League (ages 16-18) was established and since that time that time the Norwood nine has been able to capture a couple of South Shore League Championships (2015 and the last in 2020). 

This year, under the guidance of manager Steve Cline and coaches Mike Dooley and Matt Hajjar, Norwood has been able to venture where no Norwood Sr Babe Ruth Team has gone before. Norwood traveled north into Keene, NH, where they participated in the New England Regional Tournament as the Eastern Massachusetts representative.

“We have a lot of guys returning from last year, which was a grind,” Coach Dooley said. “So being able to represent Eastern Massachusetts and Norwood in the New England Regional Tournament means a lot to them and all the hard work they put in.”

Norwood, which is sponsored by Norwood Diamond Club, BMW of Norwood, and Boston Children’s Hospital, was up to the challenge this season looking to play good baseball the right way, while forcing their opponents to make plays. The local nine was very aggressive on the base paths which allowed them to capture many wins.

“We had a couple of blowouts, but the majority of our games were very close and those are the games that really matter,” Dooley said. “If you can handle the close games, then you should be alright; pressure makes diamonds.”

Leading up to the tournament, the coaching staff made it very clear that one bad inning could cost them everything, and unfortunately one inning was Norwood’s downfall in the tournament. In their opening game against the Worcester All Stars, Norwood allowed four runs in the first inning and then only allowed four more runs the rest of the way to their first loss. During their next contest against New Hampshire, the Massachusetts team once again had one bad inning and before they knew it, their inaugural visit to the New England Regional Tournament was done.

Some of the athletes that led the Norwood team this season were Quinn Burgess, who was one of the high school’s top hitters in the Tri-Valley League this spring, and the Sr, Babe Ruth team’s ace on the mound; Cam Badger provided Norwood with a big bat throughout the year, while Frankie Hernon gave the squad balance. 

In addition to Burgess on the mound, Michael “Big Train” Curran was ready to go and very reliable.

“He’s got Greg Maddox stuff on the mound,” the Coach said. “He doesn’t have a fastball to blow by you, but he can make you look really stupid. He was used more as a relief pitcher to shut the opposition down.”

Also on the mound was Nick Berardinelli who can also play many other positions on the field. According to Dooley, last season Berardinelli had some big moments for the team, and this year his rubber arm allowed the team to use him in multiple innings. Dooley also noted that the hurler is electric when he takes the ball and is always fired up.

Konrad Schletzbaum, another Norwood pitcher, threw a no-hitter this year while limited his walks. He is a kid that loves to pitch and throws gas. 

The remainder of the team is made up of Joey Manning, John Cavanaugh, Alex Hues, Dan Hachey, Jamie Crisp, Jack Kiley, Anothy Reardon, Jayden Moreno, and Dom Giampa.

Cline and his two coaches also won the Sportsmanship Award of the Regionals on how they coached and how the players played the game and conducted themselves on and off the baseball diamond.

International Babe Ruth League Baseball Board Member, George R Lally Jr, who had run the senior division in Norwood since 1994, stated that he was proud and honored how the Norwood team played and coached while representing the town on a New England level.

Although Norwood’s trip up north was short lived, the squad came back home and immediately found themselves playing in the South Shore League Tournament. In the second round, Quincy took the local nine to three games before Norwood took the series 2-1 to move into the Finals against Dorchester.  The winner of the two out of three series will be named the South Shore League Champions.