By Jean DePlacido
When Dave Batchelor and his wife were looking at houses in West Peabody more than a dozen years ago, their oldest son, David, was only in the second grade.
On their trip through the city, they decided to check out Cy Tenney Field (now known as Lt. Ross Park), and a Little League game happened to be going on.
"I sat on a swing and watched the kids play ball thinking maybe one day one of my boys will play here," said Batchelor, who grew up in Chelsea.
The name Batchelor is now synonmous with Peabody West Little League and the tremendous success the program has had this decade.
Batchelor is the manager of the Peabody West Little League Williamsport all-star team. His team, which has already captured both the District 15 and Section 4 championships, will be playing for a state title this weekend at Harry Ball Field in Beverly when the state's Final Four converge beginning Thursday.
While Batchelor has coached in Peabody West Little League the last 13 years, all four of his sons have excelled in the program as well.
This, however, will be his last season coaching in Peabody West. Even though Batchelor's regular season team, the Diamondbacks, won the league championship this summer — meaning he could coach the league's Williamsport all-star squad again in 2010 — he's chosing to leave the program at the same time his youngest son, all-star Austin, graduates from little league.
Peabody West is a perfect 8-0 this year in all-star competition and has only allowed three runs combined.
"This is it for me," said Batchelor. "I've been coaching since David was 8 years old, and there have been an awful lot of high points. Next year my assistant coach, Steve Sabella, will have the Williamsport team."
Austin Batchelor, one of four returning players from last year's Peabody West all-stars, says the close bond of this year's group goes a long way toward their success.
"This team is really close," he said. "Most of us go to the same school (Higgins Middle School) where we're all going into the seventh grade except Sean McGrath, Cody Wlasuk, and Nick Bona, who'll be eighth graders. We talk all the time and do things together."
"Baseball is my favorite sport," added Austin, who is also a good basketball player. "I got my talent from my brothers, my Dad and my great-grandfather, Tom Fee, who played in the Red Sox minor leagues. They've worked with me out in the back yard from the time I was little."
Success with each son
A member of the Chelsea High School Hall of Fame for his exploits in football, basketball and baseball, Batchelor began his coaching odyssey with the Peabody West all-stars when his son David pitched for the 2000 club. That team won several games in District 15 before eventually being eliminated.
David Batchelor went on to play baseball and football at Austin Prep High School in Reading, where he was chosen to play in the Agganis Classic as a senior. He is now 21 and working for the Middlesex Sheriff's Department, following in his father's footsteps in law enforcement.
When son Beau played in 2003, Peabody West won the district title before losing to the eventual Williamsport Little League World Series team from Saugus American. At one point Peabody had the lead, but Saugus rallied to win the game.
Beau Batchelor, who just graduated from Austin Prep (where his father is the assistant varisty baseball coach), is the only one of the four boys who didn't pitch. Instead, he is a catcher and is going to Merrimack College to continue his career.
"I taught them to pitch, and they're all pretty good athletes," said the elder Batchelor, whose own Chelsea Little League team won the district in 1973 and '74. "All of them caught, too except Bobby. He didn't want to be a catcher."
Bobby Batchelor, now a junior at Austin Prep, was an 11-year-old on the Peabody West team that lost two straight to Danvers American in the district finals back in 2005. His father and Danny Marchese — who are once again paired up as a coaching duo this summer — had that team.
The following year, Bobby's team went all the way to the Eastern Regionals in Bristol, Conn. Despite being the favorite to go to Williamsport, Peabody West was upset by Connecticut in the semifinals. Papa Batchelor was there as a fan that year when Frank Benea and Ed Aiello coached the team.
Ready for the Final Four
Batchelor was back at the Peabody West helm last year when 11-year-old Austin and his teammates went to the state's Final Four in Worcester. They lost their first game to Parkway National of West Roxbury in eight innings, rallied to beat Westfield North (11-3), but were ousted by Middleboro in the semifinal.
"There have been a lot of good times," said Batchelor. "Rob Noe and I won 25 straight games with the Diamondbacks at one point. I've enjoyed managing all the Williamsport teams, too, and watching Bobby go to Bristol was special.
"The biggest heartbreak, without a doubt, was losing to Danvers in the district finals when they had to beat us twice. We were right where we wanted to be, but dropped two in a row."
Austin Batchelor, who pitched a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings against North Andover East in the sectional final this past Sunday, will be on the mound Thursday night in Beverly (7 p.m.) against the winner of Section 3. His father is headed for Norwood tonight to watch the Section 3 championship game and find out about his next opponent.
Batchelor, Matt Hosman, Michael Petrosino, and Matt "The Rat" Correale went to states as 11-year-olds last summer, so they take a leadership role for Peabody West.
"From the beginning we've tried to take it one game at a time," said Austin Batchelor, a shortstop when not on the mound. "Winning by the slaughter rule in the district (four times) was a surprise, but we haven't seen anything like that close game North Andover gave us (1-0 in the sectional final). We know every team in the States will be very good; they wouldn't get this far if they weren't."
Peabody West Little League has certainly been the beneficiary of the Batchelor's decision to make their home in the city.
