The Dorchester Little League 10-and-Under All-Stars captured the Mayor’s Cup championship last week by defeating crosstown rivals and No. 1 seed Parkway in a nail-biting 2-1 game. Dorchester entered the championship game as the second seed after defeating Mission Hill and Charlestown in the opening weekend, then defeating Mission Hill again in the quarterfinals and Allston-Brighton in the semi-finals.

The championship game was a thriller. Dorchester struck first in the top of the first inning when Quinn “Q-Tip” Taylor singled and immediately stole second. Andrew “Lefty” O’Malley drove in Taylor with a grounder past the second baseman, putting Dorchester up 1-0. Dorchester’s pitching and slick fielding kept the score locked at 1-0. Taylor threw a three-pitch bottom of the first, inducing grounders that James “The Flash” Janulewicz, Thomas “Terrific” Quinlan, and Taylor gobbled up.

Parkway scratched a run across in the bottom of the fourth inning, setting the stage for a terrific ending to the championship game. With two outs in the top of the sixth, with the game still at 1-1, Brayden “Buck” Buckley laced a double to right. With the go-ahead run now in scoring position, Colin “C-Y” Yandle — having come back from summer vacation to play in the championship game — grounded a single just past the reach of the second baseman, driving in Buckley and sending the bench and the crowd into a frenzy.

Confident in their pitching and defense, Dorchester headed out for the bottom of the sixth to defend the 2-1 lead. Buckley struck out the first Parkway hitter looking. The next batter smashed a grounder between the first and second basemen that Janulewicz got to and threw to first for the second out. Needing only one out to seal the win, Buckley induced another ground ball to the shortstop. Quinlan smoothly gathered the ball and fired a strike to O’Malley at first to capture the Mayor’s Cup championship for Dorchester.

While the players celebrated together on the mound, the many family and friends in attendance congratulated the boys on a fantastic season. The Mayor’s Cup championship was the second tournament title this summer for Dorchester’s 10U team. Earlier, they won the Little League District 9 Championship, defeating South Boston, Allston-Brighton, and Charlestown, and earning a spot in the Massachusetts Section 3 Tournament.

Dorchester received key contributions from every player to win both championships. Raymond “Ray Ray” Nunez, Matthew “Matty O” O’Loughlin, Jayson “The Kid” Damas, and Brandon “Mr. Smile” Clark had big at bats in both tournaments and made key plays in the field. And Christian “C Notes” Noto and Mickey “Boom Boom” Quinlan chipped in huge pitching performances in the early Mayor’s Cup games.

In the first game of the Sectional Tournament, Dorchester, in a true team win, defeated a tough Brookline team that won the state championship last season. Taylor, Buckley, Janulewicz, T. Quinlan, and O’Malley combined to give one of the best pitching performances of the summer, holding a powerful Brookline offense to single run in a 3-1 victory.

Despite the big win over Brookline, Dorchester finished just one run short in the tiebreaker to play in the Section 3 championship game. Coaches Neil Janulewicz, Dan Cotter, Marty O’Malley, and Pat Ryan agreed that this group of players was one of the best to coach. They always picked each other up and battled as a team.

Dorchester has seen a lot of success on the diamonds of the city this summer. The Dorchester Little League 12U team won the Williamsport District 9 tournament and finished as runner-up for the Mayor’s Cup. The ADSL Softball program claimed the Mayor’s Cup a few weeks ago.

Congratulations to all!