Baseball Buddies Sign Letters of Intent

’s head baseball coach George Dummar will be doing a lot of juggling next year with two sons playing Division 1 baseball and a full schedule for the high school team. In the 10 years that he’s coached at BHS, he’s also proud to note that nearly 30 players have gone off to play ball in college – seven of which went to D1 schools. “You look at the talent pool that is out there – baseball is a tough sport. You just look at how hard it is to play at the next level.”

Dummar is even more proud this year because his son Nick Dummar and his best friend Connor Moriarty have just signed national letters of intent to play baseball in college for the 2011-2012 season. To boot, both of them, beamed George, have received monetary scholarships to their respective schools as well.

“I am with these kids everyday and I can tell you how hard they worked for it.”

Nick and Connor have been childhood friends since age 6 when they met on the ball field playing in Branford little league. Just a little more than a week ago, Nick, who plays shortstop for BHS, signed with the University of Hartford and Connor, currently the BHS pitcher, signed with University of New Haven. Both boys marked the occasion together officiating their letters at the Community House.

“It was really exciting to step onto the next level with a friend,” said Connor with Nick adding, “It was really cool since we’ve been playing together.”

“My job as a coach,” George said, “is to build quality young men. When you have certain kids who have those qualities, you nurture them so they can go on to the next level… I couldn’t be prouder of both of them.”

The boys, who also play Basketball for BHS, have been playing sports together all through childhood and have seen each other’s accomplishments side by side through the years. In 2010, Connor earned the title of Most Valuable Pitcher while Nick was named Most Valuable Hitter.  Their most valued baseball achievement together, they said, was winning the Southern Connecticut Conference Oronoque Division last year.

While they both agreed it would have been fun to attend the same college, they are both proud of one another and happy to see each other’s childhood dreams start to come to fruition even if it’s at different schools. “It will be cool,” Connor said, “to watch each other play and see how well we succeed.” Nick said of his buddy, “I hope he has fun at college like any other kid and has a great pitching career right off the bat.” They are grateful to be playing in the same state.

Reflecting on four years of playing baseball at BHS under coach Dummar’s guidance and even more years during little league when George was a coach there, Connor said, “He’s been like a second father figure to me and he’s taught me a lot about baseball and being a good person through the years.” Of his dad, Nick said he enjoyed playing for him because “he knows how to separate being a coach and being a father.”

Nick said he has hoped to play in the major leagues after college and though his favorite team is the New York Mets, he said he’s happy to play for anyone if he gets drafted. For Connor, aptly a New York Yankees fan, he would like to play professional baseball but also has his sights set on a communications career with a focus on radio and music.

To the young athletes coming up in the game, Connor and Nick agreed that fun is a priority in baseball. “Keep working hard,” Connor added, “and enjoy the game because it’s a beautiful thing.”