Small Ball, Pitching Pace Dedham 10s to State Tourney Win [VIDEO]

The Dedham 10s are a team used to scoring six or more runs - often a benchmark for victory, but on Tuesday, a couple stolen bases and timely hitting were the only things needed for Dedham.

"Home runs are great. Those are cool. But, put it in play and see what happens. That's what we did tonight," coach Andy Shumway said.

The 10s beat Burlington 3-0 in the Cal Ripken Baseball state tournament Tuesday evening in Revere to advance to the semifinals against Kingston on Thursday in Revere.

"We've played [Kingston twice last year] and they beat us both times," Shumway said. "Our team is markedly improved [...] I wouldn't bet against us." 

Dedham tallied a run in the first inning when first baseman Ben Dean notched an RBI double to score Nolan FitzPatrick on a ball that split the outfielders. Dean finished with a pair of doubles in two at-bats.

In the fourth, Dean swiped third base and scored on a sacrifice bunt by third baseman Ben Shumway. 

Dedham twice stole third base and both times the runner scored.

"If you get pieces moving on the defensive side, it gets things thrown off - and it did," Shumway said.

Second baseman Will Chu came through in the fifth to put another insurance run on the board with a bloop single to right that scored Billy Casey.

On the mound, started Alex Cherry picked up the win with three innings of scoreless baseball and five strikeouts. Shawn Nosky came on in relief and fanned two batters, both of which came after a lead-off double in the top of the fifth inning.

Dedham coaches have turned to the 1-2 punch of Cherry and Nosky since the 2010 district tournament and their run through the New England regional tourney.

"It's that same old thing. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. It is our formula," Shumway said.