“With all the demands and requirements to make a baseball team successful, I believe there are three major components every player must possess:
Desire, Commitment, and Effort. It is my hope
that my teammates, from Little League through college, believe I contributed all three to the best of my ability”.
- John Dumont
“John Dumont was a great baseball player and he’s a good man.”
- John Winkin
John Dumont, son of Emile and Janice Dumont, moved with his family to Brunswick, Maine from Virginia in the summer of 1968. All five children were very active in sports, especially football and baseball, and with his four siblings, Ray, Bill, Annette and Andy, John learned very early to hone his competitive skills.
John was involved in Little League baseball growing up outside Washington, DC, and was consistently selected to his league All-Star teams. His love, enthusiasm, and general success in baseball seemed to be evident at an early age. There is no doubt that his competitive spirit and focused work ethic was due to the examples set by his father. John can remember spending hours on the baseball field with his other brothers working on all aspects of the game with his father pitching and hitting grounders and fly balls until it was dark. John credits his success in sports to a total family effort.
Entering Brunswick High School as a sophomore, John fit in well and managed to find lifelong friends who all had similar interests in football and baseball. During his high school years he played baseball for Coach Art Bishop, who really helped John understand the idea that baseball needs to be fun. One of Coach Bishop’s comments that always got a laugh was when he would say a particular player “couldn’t hit that pitcher if he was swinging a surfboard”. There were several times in the future that John wished he had a surfboard to swing. In the summers, John played for Smith Toby American Legion making the state tournament in Togus in 1969 and again in 1970 where they were runner-ups.
John actually got a chance to play four games at Fenway Park. The Boston Record American newspaper used to sponsor a talent search throughout New England, highlighting the best young players in this part of the country to play a series of games at Fenway. John was selected by Frank Mahone and other Red Sox scouts to play in the semi-finals and finals both in 1970 and 1971. He was the only player in Maine to have been selected both years, and managed to hit a double off the Green Monster. In his senior year in High School, John was elected captain of both the baseball and football teams and was selected to the first team Class A All-State football team. In addition, he received the Brunswick High School Warren Pearl Award, a senior award voted by faculty for athletic ability and sportsmanship.
At the University of Maine, John played one year for Coach Jack Butterfield and then two for Coach John Winkin. During his three years of college baseball, John was consistently at the top of the team in batting. He hit .317 his sophomore year, .359 his junior year, and .312 his senior year. In 1975 he had 13 doubles, 5 triples, and 4 home runs and was named to the All Yankee conference 1st team as a designated hitter. In 1976, the year the University of Maine went to the College World Series, John was selected to the All-Northeast Region 1st team, All-New England 1st team and All-Yankee conference 2” team as an outfielder. In addition, he was selected to represent the University of Maine in the All-New England All-Star Game both in 1975 as a catcher and in 1976 as an outfielder. John was the only Maine player chosen both years. He is very proud of the fact that his 1976 team still has the highest winning percentage of any Maine Baseball team.
During his years at UMO John set 6 University of Maine Baseball records: most times at bat in a season (136), most doubles in a season (14), most total bases in a season (79), most career hits (100), most career total bases (158), and most career doubles (30). His lifetime batting average was .320. In 1975, John helped lead the Black Bears to the Yankee Conference championship and runner up to the Northeast Regionals. In 1976 the team won the New England Championship, the Northeast Regional Championship and placed 4th in the College World Series. In the College World Series John was the first University of Maine baseball player to hit a homerun assuring a victory over Washington State. Jack Leggett, Head Baseball coach at Clemson University and former teammate, stated in a book on Maine Baseball, by Augie Favazza. “ Dumont tagged one and we were on our way”. John also spent his summers playing ball in the Twilight League from 1972-74 and 1976-78, and in the Cape Cod League in 1975 for the Harwich Navigators.
Not being content waiting for baseball season to begin, John was also a three-year starter for the UMO Black Bear Football team as a tight end from 1973-75, being selected All-Yankee conference 2nd team in 1975. John was one of the last Division I athletes to play both football and baseball at the University of Maine.
In 1978 he began teaching at Brunswick High School and coaching baseball and football. For eight years he coached the Varsity baseball Dragons to several KVAC Championships and in 1986 reached the Western Maine finals with a 17-1 record. John won over 100 games as a varsity coach and was selected Coach of the Year 3 times. He also coached football at Brunswick High School for 10 years. In 1986 John decided to move in to the college coaching ranks and joined the football staff at Bowdoin College, a stint that lasted eight years.
In 1997, John took the leadership and coaching role to bring back football to Mt. Ararat High School. After two years of hard work and active fundraising from many involved people, the Mt. Ararat football program was reinstated.
John and his wife Stephanie live on Bailey Island, also spending time in western Maine on their farm where John likes to work with his tractor, cut wood and hunt. He has just completed his 38th year of teaching at Brunswick, and during summers works for L.L. Bean as a shooting and hunter safety instructor. Over the years he’s coached numerous Little League, Babe Ruth, and Legion teams in the greater Brunswick area. He’s taught many children, including his own, Brett and Emily, to love the game of baseball. His knowledge and passion for the game has benefited countless youths, both on and off the field. John Winkin once said to a mutual friend, “John Dumont was a great baseball player and he’s a good man.”
