Dartmouth High School varsity baseball has had its latest success against Westport High School, 7-3, in what Head Coach Mike Frates likened to a five-inning long “dogfight.”

“It was sloppy at times,” Frates said, noting that defense “kicked it around a little bit” and the pitchers played well but could have been closer to the strike zone at times. 

He said in terms of offense, the team “scrapped it together.” 

Frates added the team isn’t going to be hitting multiple home runs in a game, so they know what they need to do to be successful and that means making those improvements.

“We just have to show up to play every game,” he said. “We play a tough schedule because those are the type of teams you're going to see come tournament time.”

The team currently stands at 5-1 for the season and will play its next league game against B.M.C Durfee High School on Thursday, May 9.

Looking ahead, Frates said the team maintains the same goals every year: Make it to the tournament, win the league and play as long as possible.

“They're a good group to be around — they're fun to be around — so I don't mind showing up to the ball field every day,” he said. “The wins and losses take care of themselves in the end, but to have a quality group that works hard — that’s what I care about the most.”

In regard to the day’s game, Senior Captain Donovan Burgo said, “It was an ugly win for us, but you know we got it done. Westport played a great game against us and we just did what we could to get the win.”

Burgo said he’s been playing baseball for as long as he can remember, adding, “It’s a real honor to be voted by my fellow teammates to be a captain.”

He said his goal for the team this season is to make it to the playoffs. 

“We came up short last year and we got a lot of new guys, but we’re just doing whatever we can to make it to playoffs — that’s the final goal,” Burgo said.

“It's going good so far, but you know, we still got some things we can work on and just getting better each day,” he added.