Slipper fits for Dirt Dogs

The Fountain Valley/Huntington Beach Five Star Dirt Dog White travel baseball team was somewhat of a Cinderella story.

Playing in Cooperstown, New York, the 12-year-olds had been together for only a month. They were playing against teams that had been together for years.

Yet, the slipper fit for the Dirt Dogs Sunday, as they captured the 12-year-old Cooperstown All-Star Village tournament championship by beating the Mission Viejo Thunder, 13-12.

The Dirt Dog White team had previously been beaten by Mission Viejo in the week-long tournament, 11-3.

But Jeremy Barahow, Nolan Winks, Reid Johns, Justin Mazzone and Joseph Cobian all hit home runs in the championship game to help upset the Thunder in the rematch.

The Dirt Dog white team was underdog for many of its other games, as well. After six games of pool play, the Dirt Dogs were seeded No. 10 out of 25 teams from around the country in the tournament (which also included teams from Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia and Ohio).

But the Dirt Dogs won all five of their elimination games en route to the title. Three of those opponents prior to being eliminated by the Dirt Dogs.

Barahow, Winks, Cory Treyes, Will Levin and Cobian all pitched excellently throughout the team’s 11 Cooperstown games. Sluggers Jake Scott, Mazzone, Dane Collaro, Johns, Barahow, Winks and Cobian all hit key home runs throughout the tournament.

Slick fielding by Will Levin, Cole Milburn, Ryan LeFevre, and Treyes also assisted throughout the tournament. Manager Chad Scott handled his team masterfully throughout the tournament.

— From staff reports