State champions Dennis-Yarmouth 10U Baseball heads to New England Regional Tournament

The undefeated state champions Dennis-Yarmouth 10U All-Star baseball team will represent eastern Mass. against the region’s best at the Cal Ripken New England 10U Regional Tournament in Windham, New Hampshire.

The tournament takes place July 20-25, while first pitch for Dennis-Yarmouth is Saturday at Griffin Park in the first of three games pool play games. Dennis-Yarmouth will face New Hampshire (Keene) and Connecticut (New Canaan) and Maine (Noble) across two days.

The top six teams in pool play then advance to a single elimination playoff with the championship game on July 25. The prize for the champion is a spot at the 10U World Series in Crown Point, Indiana.

“I hope these kids have a lot of fun,” head coach Dustin Aiguier said. “What I want them to be able to take away from this experience is how special of a moment they have created for themselves.”

The Eastern Mass State champions secured passage to the regional tournament in dramatic fashion after Johnny Bryant drove in the game-winning run in a walk-off to beat Chelmsford.

Dennis-Yarmouth outscored their opponents 53-12 in the state tournament, while Brooks Cambal was named Most Valuable Player for his pitching. He had a 3-0 record and allowed only three runs in 14 2/3 innings.

“It’s like death by a thousand paper cuts. We do a lot of the right stuff, and we keep doing it and doing until we wear teams down,” Aiguier said.

In 20 games so far this summer, Dennis-Yarmouth has amassed 247 runs, 193 hits, 119 walks and 37 stolen bases. Five players have at least 20 hits and 16 RBIs.

They don’t just beat teams, they beat teams.

“This team just loves to be together, whether it’s before or after practice or away from the field,” assistant coach Chris Marsh said. “Last year we turned heads, and no one knew what to expect but this year they knew what we were about.”

Dennis-Yarmouth has had a sensational summer of success, having claimed the District Eight Championship, Taunton West Championship and Eastern Mass State Championship.

They’re not looking to stop now.

Committed to success

For a 10-and-under team, the players are committed to getting better and they’re not shy to let the coaching staff know they want more.

“We’ll hold a five o’clock practice and they’ll be there at 4:30 ready to go, and if practice ends at seven then they’ll be ready to keep going,” Aiguier said. “That rubs off on everyone on the team, that’s awesome to see.”

Aiguier will routinely send out a group text saying that he’s bringing his son Kennedy, the team’s top hitter, down to the batting cage and four of five teammates will turn up looking to join in.

It’s the little things that set this team apart and have allowed them to have the summer they’ve had and given players a chance at such a young age to build tools to add to their repertoire.

“A lot of our job is actually managing expectations,” Marsh said. “Their expectation is to win every game, but I try and tell them every day to play as hard as you can, play as a team and have fun.”

Marsh is head coach of the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School baseball team and already sees several parallels that bode well for the future of many of the youngsters on the team for whatever path they choose.

Work ethic and dedication

It’s the work ethic and dedication compared between the two teams—10U and high school—that stands out as similarities and the driving force for success. When the coaching staff says practice is over after the current drill, the players will urge to keep going.

Marsh joked that if they played the Boston Red Sox, the team would think they were going to win, and they’d be sorely disappointed if they didn’t.

“Coaching kids like this is any coach’s dream,” Aiguier said.

Allen Gunn covers high school sports for the Cape Cod Times . You can contact him at agunn@gannett.com and follow him on X at @allentgunn.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: State champions Dennis-Yarmouth 10U Baseball heads to New England Regional Tournament