Georgia Gwinnett College Baseball Assistant Coach John Topoleski has become quite accustomed to the ritual of jumping into the dogpile on a baseball diamond to celebrate a team-clinching championship.
He's happily done it for three straight seasons.

In 2021, Topoleski was an assistant coach as the Grizzlies captured their first Avista NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho.

Then, for the past two summers, he has helped guide the Bourne Braves (Massachusetts) to win prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League titles.

The Braves placed fourth in the 2023 West Division standings, after completing the regular season with a 23-20-1 record. The team then opened postseason play by sweeping a three-game series against the Cotuit Kettleers (Massachusetts) before winning series-deciding road games against Hyannis Harbor Hawks (Massachusetts), 12-4, and Orleans Firebirds (Massachusetts), 5-2, to capture the postseason championship.

In 2022, Bourne won a three-game series against the Falmouth Commodores (Massachusetts) before sweeping Hyannis and Brewster Whitecaps (Massachusetts) in the final rounds. The Braves were the division's regular-season champion with a 23-14-7 record.

"This year was more special (than 2022) because nobody expected us to win after coming up through the playoffs as the fourth-place team in the division," said Topoleski. "We set the tone from the beginning in June. We wanted the players to get better each day as a player and then win the championship as a team. The entire roster came together and was there for the right reasons."

GGC Head Baseball Coach Jeremy Sheetinger was proud that Topoleski brought a winning spirit from the Grizzlies to the Cape Cod Baseball League, a premier summer collegiate league for Major League Baseball prospects.

"We're extremely proud of Topoleski and his accomplishments these past two summers with the Bourne Braves," the coach said. "Winning in the Cape Cod League is never easy and to do it for two consecutive years is really an extraordinary accomplishment. He's a winner in every sense of the word and has been a tremendous piece of our GGC program. It has been so rewarding to watch his past two summers end in dogpiles (on the diamond)."

Topoleski has been a GGC assistant coach since the 2021 campaign, coaching first and third bases, along with leading the development of the Grizzlies' infielders and outfield position groups. The program has captured three conference championships and made consecutive three trips to the NAIA World Series.