Fair Haven Dawgs put together stellar summer

The Fair Haven Diamond Dawgs 10U tournament baseball team consists of only kids from Fair Haven, and as a result, the Dawgs entered the USABL this spring and played against towns many times the size and draw of Fair Haven.

However, the Dawgs persevered and finished the spring season with a 5-5 record and fell in the first round of the playoffs.

Once the tournament season began, things came into place and the Dawgs were a force to be reckoned with. They played the Memorial Day Beach Blast against AAU competition and went 2-2 - with both losses coming by one run, including a loss to the eventual champion. Next up was the 4th of July Beach Blast, where the Dawgs ran the table at 4-0 and received the No. 1 seed for the playoff round. They beat Marlboro, Colts Neck, Jersey Shore Hurricanes and LS Lightning, then beat Colts Neck again in the semifinal round before falling to the Teaneck Titans (a strong AAU team), 7-4, to finish in second place.

The Dawgs also hosted the FH Summer Heat Annual event, and were returning champions from last year. They went 2-1, however, lost to the JS Hurricanes who eventually made the finals. Last up was the Hazlet Tournament, which has been a traditionally difficult venue for Fair haven teams. This season the Dawgs won all of their first-round games against Howell, Rumson and Cheesequake, and battled Hazlet and won the semifinal before losing the championship game to a powerful Middletown squad.

When all was said and done, the Dawgs finished with a 13-5 tournament record, with two second-place showings. Throughout the tournament play, the Dawgs used three pitchers - Thomas Culligan, JT Jennings & Boots Smith - and the trio did an excellent job of keeping the team in every game, with few exceptions. In addition, catcher Michael Alescio did most of the catching duties and drew compliments from almost every umpire who had to stand in front of him.

Coming from a town of just 6,000 residents, the Dawgs proved that good things can come from small places as well.

The players are Brian "Boots" Smith, Jack Donlon, JT "Papi" Jennings, Brian Dunphy, Peter Righi, Thomas "Cully" Culligan, Michael Alescio, Petey Martin, Colin Heath, Christopher Drummond, Charlie Whitelaw, Liam O'Connor and Jimmy Purcell.