A River Forest cop, Dosen balances family, work and the game

Fame this year. Dosen, though, is making a name for himself in softball.

The 24-year-old will be hitting in the heart of the order when his team, Meatball City, competes in this year’s No Gloves tournament. He’ll also be using his speed to run down balls in the outfield. His team is not among the elite eight teams that received a bye but they’re still hoping to “sneak up on some teams.”

Dosen has been sneaking up on people ever since he started playing softball. The right hander first played as a fill-in for Traffic. He immediately had “beginner’s success.” Opponents underestimated the power of the 5-feet, 9-inch batter. “Nobody knew who I was so I had the element of surprise.” After seeing him hit a few homers and doubles, “they figured out I could hit.”

San Bernardino. Dosen was a 300 hitter at Cal State and admitted he “was obsessed with stats” during his college career. But like many young ballplayers, Dosen gave up on his MLB dream when he was 18.

After graduating from Cal State with a business degree, Dosen spent that first summer playing 16-inch softball in the Wheaton League. He had already been around the game his whole life and enjoyed the laid back atmosphere. College baseball may have been pressure-packed but Dosen doesn’t even know his stats in softball.

He does know that Meatball City is above .500 in the Melrose Park league this season and they’ve been undefeated in Westchester. “Making the routine plays leads to winning softball,” said Dosen. This emphasis on de-