Travel softball team makes history at USSSA 16u Nationals
Front row: Courtney Marsh, Brynn Hallock, Rylee Whiting, Makenah Fanton, Hannah Southwick Powers, Lindsay Stuck, Kylee Whiting
Back Row: Matt Burke, Teagan Burke, Alexis Ireland, Calla McCombs, Jayna Thomas, Emily Stuck, Adrian Whiting, Scott Hallock.
By Sarah Powers,
The WELLSVILLE DAWGS TRAVEL SOFTBALL organization wins its 500th game at the USSSA 16u Nationals in Maryland.
In the summer of 2012, Matt Burke gathered up a few parents in the outfield of a youth softball game and presented the vision for the Wellsville Dawgs. And the rest is history…
Burke has since served as President, board member, 10u, 12u, 14u, 16u, and 18u coach and the Dawgs have benefited from strong parent support and excellent coaches. It is the commitment of people like Jason and Maureen Sibble, Angie Reitz, Andy Crawford, Elissa Burke, Rod Mascho, Adrian Whiting, Cary and Scott Hallock, Eric Stuck, Jess Millard, Doug Piper-and so many others who have propelled the organization to become a well-respected travel organization in the Southern Tier region of New York State.
Since 2012, the Dawgs have drawn players from local areas such as Wellsville, Belmont, Belfast, Cowanesque Valley, Bolivar, Ellicottville, and Eldred just to name a few. The organization places an emphasis on player development and creating a healthy teaching environment.
Long time Dawgs President, Angie Reitz said, “The Diamond Dawgs is a great organization that I was proud to be a part of and have my daughters a part of for more than 10 years.”
The Dawgs organization started from scratch in the summer of 2012. “We asked some parents to kick in $75 and started with t-shirts, a few practices, two local tournaments and have grown into a competitive travel softball organization in a little over a decade of existence”, said Matt Burke.
Burke continued, “It has been special to see how much our players improve during their time with the Dawgs but our most important focus is helping to develop players into quality young adults and great teammates and learn to compete no matter what the situation is. We truly have something special with the Dawgs and I am so proud and humbled to be a part of it.”
The Dawgs have won tournaments in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. In total, teams from the organization have won or been a finalist in 62 tournaments in their existence including a runner-up finish at the 2021 USSSA 16u Nationals in Virgina and a gold bracket runner-up finish at the 2022 All-Sanctioned 16u World Series in Columbus, Ohio.
Overall, the Dawgs have played almost 800 games and recently, they won their 5OOth game vs. the Blue Valley Mountain Lions from Bangor, Pennsylvania at the USSSA 16u nationals in Maryland. The Dawgs won their first five games in a row at Nationals against teams from Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and Delaware and earned the number six overall seed in the 50-team national tournament. Losses to Churchill Lightning from Maryland and Collar City from Troy, New York eliminated the Dawgs from the double elimination tourney.
Current Dawgs president, Adrian Whiting, summarized the organization by saying, “The Dawgs do softball different. It’s in their DNA to work to get girls better. We work on fundamentals, hitting and fielding, sure.. but what I’ve seen and have had the pleasure to be a part of is how this team treats each other and the respect they have built for the game, officials and their coaches. It comes from the top down, great coaching and great families really make this organization work. Because of that these girls are able to come together and work on getting better. The product of that is the ability to compete, and we have competed with some great teams across a bunch of states. It’s always exciting to look forward to.“
