Tournament return a home run for youth activities association

Aug 16, 2021

There was baseball aplenty in South Dartmouth this past weekend as Crapo Field saw the Dartmouth Youth Activities Association’s annual John B. Steele tournament return to its diamonds.

The 12U tournament, which began on Friday, saw 16 teams from across the South Coast, Rhode Island, Cape Cod, and the Boston area.

“We’ve got Mashpee, Sandwich, and Lincoln, Rhode Island,” Tournament Director Jim Vieira said of some of the entrants. “Really all over the place.”

Dartmouth had two teams compete this year. 

The 12U team saw tough losses against Mashpee and the Whaling City All Stars, along with a 0-0 tie with the Maplewood team from Fall River.

The 11U team, meanwhile, saw two nail-biting wins over the weekend — including a morning walk-off 6-5 win against Swansea on Saturday. 

“Yeah that was a close one,” Coach Jared Gioiosa said. “We were down 5-3 to start that final inning.”

The 11Us went on to the quarterfinals on Sunday, where they lost 12-2 against Maplewood.

Gioiosa said that despite the losses, this year’s tournament “was a good one.”

His son Dominic, 11, agreed. 

The young slugger, who went 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs, said he especially liked keeping active at the plate.

“It’s just fun to play the game,” he said.

Ultimately, Whaling City left Dartmouth as the tournament’s champions following a 5-2 win over New Bedford’s South End Youth Athletic Association.

The previous weekend saw the 10U teams compete, with Dartmouth facing losses against Maplewood, Fairhaven-Acushnet, and a walk-off to Dennis-Yarmouth.

Overall, Vieira thought it was a very successful tournament return following last year’s Covid cancelation — even through the weekend heatwave.

“It’s tough weather, but kids are kids,” Vieira laughed. “After masks and all that, it was time for people to finally get out and have fun.”