After a rocky start to the postseason, the Dartmouth baseball team advanced to the District 9 Championship before falling to South Attleboro on July 20 9-1.

In the Legion championship game, South Attleboro picked up an early 0-2 lead, but Dartmouth made it a one-point game with a run in the top of the sixth in a game marred by a tough South Attleboro pitcher, bringing the score to 1-2.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, South Attleboro batted several singles, bringing in a 1-9 win for the team and knocking out Dartmouth's shot at the state championship.

“For five innings, we played good defense,” said team manager Kurt Dreher. “I felt it was a winnable game, but in the sixth it got away from us.”

Before facing South Attleboro, Dartmouth got into the tournament with a loss against Freetown, due to the double-elimination tournaments rules. Dartmouth held a 3-1 lead with two outs remaining and Freetown up at the bottom of the seventh, but Freetown tied it with a run due to an error and a single, and later picked up the win.

The team bounced back from the early loss by powering through their next three games, beating Fall River 12-1, Acushnet 1-0, and picked up a 9-4 win in another face-off with Freetown.

Dreher said the postseason run ended a successful season for the young team, made mostly of players with only junior varsity experience. At the beginning of the season, Dreher said he wasn't sure what to expect.

Dreher said strong pitching and a strong defense pulled the Dartmouth team through this season. Next year, he expects improvement.

“A lot of the younger kids got experience this year,” Dreher said. “Moving forward, next year can only translate to a better season.”