Tiverton 10U Baseball Team Defeats Taunton To Take Autumn Baseball Title

A team of Tiverton Little Leaguers won the World Series of the Autumn Baseball League (ABL) on Saturday, Nov. 5, completing an undefeated playoff run with a convincing two-game sweep over rival Taunton Independent to claim the 10U division championship. Tiverton completed its gritty, season-long performance with two tough-fought 3-2 and 9-8 victories over a talented Taunton team.

The Tiverton players, coaches and family members spilled onto the field to celebrate the victory following the final out.

“Let’s hear it for the little town of Tiverton,” shouted Tiverton Little League President Claudia Linhares during the post-game ceremonies.

Tiverton was the smallest town to compete in the 10U division, facing the much larger communities of New Bedford and Taunton, as well as opponents from Swansea and Fairhaven. Many of the teams used players assembled from different leagues, but the Tiverton team only included players from the town’s Little League system.

In the first game, Tiverton took the lead with a three-run third inning rally behind singles by Nathan Medeiros, Trent Rogers, Will Brigham and Josh Schneider. Nick Amaral powered home two of the runs with a double to left-center field. Taunton chipped away at the lead with runs in the third and fourth innings, but Tiverton shut them down the rest of the way with a dominating pitching performance by
Carson Hart and strong defense featuring unassisted double-plays by Medeiros and Rogers and the leadership of catcher Nick Braz.

“That was a tough game,” said coach Peter Hart afterwards. “Taunton is an aggressive base-running team, but Carson kept them off the base paths, and the defense did the rest.”

In the second game, Tiverton scored a quick run in the first on hits by Nick Amaral and Garrett Nolan. Taunton responded with five runs in the bottom of the frame, but Nolan came into the game to settle things down on the mound. Tiverton got a run back in the second inning when Nick Braz stole home.

In the third inning, Tiverton used clutch two-out hits by Josh Dore, Nick Braz, and Matthew Potvin to score five runs and take a 7-5 lead. The remainder of the game was a back-and-forth affair with Taunton, regaining the lead with three runs in the fourth inning and Tiverton once again battling back with the
winning runs in the fifth inning. Nolan helped his own cause by leading off the fifth with a double. Hart, Dore, and Braz followed with singles to complete the scoring.

But the story of the second game was the clutch pitching of Garrett Nolan and stellar defense by the Tiverton team. The outfield was led all season by Matthew Gacioch, Robert Whalen, Toby Foltz and center fielder Matthew Potvin, who cut off a ball that was headed into the gap in the fifth inning of the deciding game with a sliding save, holding the batter to a single. Nolan stranded runners at first and second to stifle the rally.

The infield defense was anchored at third base by Josh Schneider, who contributed several key plays, and the steady leadership and fielding of Will Brigham at shortstop. In the decisive bottom of the sixth inning, the infield tandem of Carson Hart and Josh Dore turned in two sparkling defensive plays. With one out in the inning, Hart ranged far to his left to field a grounder, spin, and flip it to Dore at first. Then, with the tying run at second base following a Taunton double, Hart ranged even farther to his left to field a low grounder, spun, and tossed it to a stretching Dore for the final out.

“We got some hits today, but pitching and defense wins games, and that’s something this team never forgot," Manager Steve Schneider said, speaking to the team after the game.

Tiverton completed the season with a 13 and 5 record, including the four playoff victories. Taunton finished with a record of 12 and 6. Two of those victories came at the expense of Tiverton in a sweep of a regular-season double header. Tiverton was happy to return the favor in the World Series.

“It was a privilege to watch these kids learn and grow as ballplayers and as individuals," said Coach Ron Potvin.

Following the game, ABL president Herm Bomback told the two teams it was the "best defensive performance by little leaguers" he'd seen 59 years. He handed out trophies to the Taunton team, and commemorative baseball bats to the Tiverton team.

The Tiverton players, coaches and families lingered on the field for 30 minutes afterwards, signing each other’s bats, taking pictures and celebrating the victory.

“What an unbelievable group of kids,” Schneider added.

The team consists of: Nick Amaral, Nick Braz, Will Brigham, Josh Dore, Toby Foltz, Matthew Gacioch, Carson Hart, Nathan Medeiros, Garrett Nolan, Matthew Potvin, Trent Rogers, Josh Schneider and Robert Whalen.