By Andy Walter

DOVER — Making the decision was one thing.

But facing the reality of stepping down as Dover High’s baseball coach was what was really difficult for Dave Gordon.
Gordon broke the news to his current players at a meeting last Monday.

“It was tough telling them face to face that I’m not going to be their head coach anymore,” he said. “A couple kids started breaking down and I broke down a little bit. When you care about something so much and then you let it go, it’s just tough.”

Gordon made the decision after 11 seasons (one of which was wiped out by the pandemic) as the Senators’ head coach. The 42-year-old Dover grad is the program’s all-time winningest coach with a record of 144-59.

In one memorable six-year stretch (2013-18), the Senators reached the DIAA state semifinals five times. They made the state tournament in all 10 years of Gordon’s tenure, winning Henlopen Conference titles in 2017 and ‘19.

With a seven-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter, Gordon thought it was time to prioritize his family right now.

“I just felt it was a good time personally,” he said. “I’ve got a lot on my plate now with two little kids. I just felt the program was in a good place. I felt it was just time to transition and maybe get another voice in there. It just felt right.”

Once word started getting around, Gordon said he received a number of texts from former players. He said it was gratifying to read the messages but also left him more emotional about his decision.

“I’m proud of the culture we built, of the experience a lot of the kids had,” said Gordon. “I’m proud of crossing that bridge and competing upstate in a tough environment. We were so close so many times. I was proud to just put that Dover jersey on and represent.

“It was about building a program, not just making a one or two-year run. It’s been over a decade now and I think it’s going to continue to be strong with a lot of the things that are in place.”

Including stops as an assistant at his alma mater, Delaware State, as well as Polytech High, Gordon has been coaching baseball for 18 seasons. He was twice named Henlopen Conference Coach of the Year.

Gordon said he owes a lot to coaches like DSU’s J.P. Blandin, Polytech’s George Eilers, former DSU coach Tripp Keister, former Dover coach Pete Young and others for helping him along the way.

He knows not being directly involved in the sport will be difficult once it gets closer to the start of the season.

“I think that’s when it’s really going to hit me,” said Gordon. “I don’t think it’s really hit me yet.”

Gordon said he feels good about the future of Dover’s program. His top two assistant coaches have been Jason Hunt and former player Nick Spadafino.

The Senators also have their relatively new facilities and a strong booster club.

And if anybody needs him, Gordon said he’ll never be too far away, either.

“I wish those kids the best of luck,” he said. “I’m still going to be there for them. I think it’s going to be pretty hard to keep me off the baseball field totally. I think I will definitely pop in here or there and check it out and help those guys moving forward.”