BY RYAN O’CONNOR

Though the Matty Dobens tournament, established in 1988, was originally open solely to Manchester teams, the early 1990s saw a reformation allowing District 1 teams throughout central and southern New Hampshire to participate.

Enter Goffstown.

In addition to beating tournament host Manchester South in the 1999 title contest, the locals won the 2005 and 2006 Matty Dobens crowns, including a 14-0 victory  against Derry in last year’s championship game, completing a second consecutive undefeated season.

This year, however, Derry Blue exacted revenge, winning a tight title-game match-up against Goffstown, 2-1, on July 21.

Kyle Chisolm pitched a third complete game, but lost his second to Derry in six games after receiving one run combined in both outings.

Goffstown’s lone score in the finale came early in the game when Chisolm, Dylan Skinner and Ryan Hall reached on base hits before Kyle Perron knocked the lead runner home on a fielder’s choice RBI.

Skinner and Hall were thrown out at home on close plays later in the game.

“My team played as hard as they could and I am very proud of them. Unfortunately, in the championship game, we faced a team that had very good pitching,” said manager Sean Skinner. “The championship game was the best game I have ever been involved in.  Of course we wanted to win, but the effort and the intensity my players played with was amazing.”

Prior to the championship loss, Goffstown scored 65 runs and allowed 28. Its other defeat came in the first game to the same Derry Blue team, 4-0.

Skinner’s squad rebounded, though, and won the next three in handily, including a 15-4 triumph against Atkinson, a 17-9 defeat of Manchester West and a 23-4 pounding of Manchester Central.

A 3-1 record following round-robin play earned Goffstown the second seed and a first-round bye in the six-team elimination tournament.

In the second round against Danville, the locals came back from a 9-3 third-inning deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth and win it, 10-9, behind a Cameron Bond RBI in the bottom of the

“To see that many people from our community watching a minor league all-star team is very impressive to me,” said Skinner.

“I think this is part of the reason that Goffstown has so much success in youth baseball.”

Chisolm posted a deceiving 1-2 record in Matty Dobens play.

Both Skinner and Peter Steckowych finished 8-for-15 at the dish to share the team lead with a .533 batting average, though Skinner held a higher on-base percentage (OBP), .632 to .588.

Skinner also started and won the Atkinson game.

Chisolm finished with a .333 batting average and .684 OBP, including 10 walks,  and Perron compiled a .333 average and notched Goffstown’s only hit in the opener against Derry.

Kyle Jalbert batted .308 and was the winning pitcher against Manchester Central, and Chace Dearborn, who started at catcher all six games reached base at a .667 clip.

Jake Romein and Ryan Hall both hit .400, with Romein producing five RBI against Atkinson and Hall posting a .600 OBP and scoring the winning run against Danville.

Others contributing heavily to Goffstown’s 2007 run included Connor Fitzgerald and David Wright, who each hit .375 and  posted a .667 on-base percentage; Bond, who hit .385 with a .429 OBP; and James Gallagher, who reached base roughly every third at bat.