The players of the Dorsey baseball team have a motto: S.T.N., which means “shock the nation.” The work the Dons do both on and off field is enough to shock anyone.
“I told them in order to shock the nation, we have to do something shockable,” said S. Erron Ginyard, the assistant coach of the Varsity team.
In the Coliseum League, Dorsey lost only one game and finished with an overall record of 16-10. The team also coaches for the Prime Time Games, a peer-mentoring program that allows students with developmental disabilities a chance to play sports and compete against other schools.
University, Venice, and Los Angeles High School are also involved in the Prime Time Games program, according to head coach Peter Dobson
“The kids with autism allowed these guys to help them win the championship,” Dobson said.
Some students with autism at Dorsey wanted players Malcolm Smith, Christopher Floyd and Alexander Madueke to run for student body offices. All three teammates were voted in; Smith was student body Vice President, Floyd became student body Treasurer and Madueke became student body president.
Floyd had to take advance placement exams for both calculus and computer science during the final week of in-season baseball.
Their success off the field mirrors their proficiency on field. Sophomore pitcher Julian Williams struck out 10 batters in the Dons’ season opening game against the Venice Gondoliers (27-7 overall, 11-1 Western League). Dorsey ultimately won the game 2-0.
“Last year, I wasn’t even close to being the ace,” Williams said. “This year, I’m kinda like one of the head guys to go to.”
Dorsey won both of their matches against the Crenshaw Cougars 22-3 in their first meeting and 10-0 in the second.
“[I] hit a grand slam against Crenshaw,” Smith said. “We were already blowing them out and it was bases loaded and coach called a time and… he said ‘well, the only way we getting these runs in [is] if you hit it over the fence’.”
Senior shortstop Madueke earned 19 runs and 18 hits during the season. Madueke serves as captain and Floyd is co-captain. Having a leadership role was a learning experience.
“This year, I’ve been trying to focus on establishing a fine line between being a leader on the team and being a friend,” Madueke said. “Sometimes they don’t mix very well.”
Playing at the division 1 level did not come without challenges. Floyd recalled losing to the Granada Hills Highlanders in a 22-6 rout.
“They came with a whole different experience that we really never faced before, they had faster pitching,” Floyd said. “After the first at bats with their different pitchers, you have to make the adjustment.”
The Dons earned a playoff berth, but they lost 0-10 to the Carson Colts (19-15 overall, 6-4 Marine League).
In 2014, the Dons won the City Section Championship 9-6 against the defending champs, the Van Nuys Wolves. Madueke and Smith were a few of the players that were members of the championship team.
“We were so in sync since the beginning of the year,” Madueke said. “Everyone was on the same page, everyone knew what we wanted and we knew what we had to do.”
