GRAND FORKS — Tom Dosch was driving to Grand Forks on Thursday evening while listening to the Royals American Legion baseball game on the radio when his son, Matt Dosch, stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Tom, the University of Jamestown head football coach, was on his way back from camp to catch the doubleheader against Bismarck.
Matt hit a walk-off single,
securing a 3-2 win for Grand Forks
. Before he heard the game-winning call on the radio, though, Tom received a text from his wife.
“The text was all exciting,” Tom said. “I go, ‘I think I know what’s going to happen.’ But that didn’t ruin it — then it’s kind of fun, because it’s kind of relaxing.”
Tom arrived in time for the second game. Matt collected two hits, two RBIs and pitched the final two innings as the Royals walked off Bismarck yet again in a 5-4 victory.
Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
Tom won’t be watching Matt play for the Royals much longer. Instead, he’ll be coaching him.
Matt will play both baseball and football at Jamestown next year.
Tom, a former UND assistant and head coach at Northern State, was named the head coach of Jamestown in 2026.
“It’s once in a lifetime to play for your dad in college,” Matt said. “It’s amazing.”
Matt said he was recruited by a handful of area colleges, but with his dad at Jamestown, “It would have been pretty hard to win me over.”
“It’s exciting,” Tom said. “You try and separate yourself from being a dad and a coach. I just want him to have a good experience and be one of the guys. Obviously having the opportunity to be around him, seeing practices and games is good, but we recruited him because we think he has a chance to be a really good college football player, and the baseball program thinks the same way.”
Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald
Matt was a standout three-sport athlete at Grand Forks Red River.
He was the starting quarterback on the football team, a starting forward on the basketball team and a multi-position player on the baseball team.
“He’s just loved being around sports,” Tom said. “He’s found a way to manage his time and have some success in all three sports, and be a great competitor. That’s one thing I’d say about him — he’s a great teammate, and he’s always picking guys up in the dugout or on the bench.”
The arrangement won’t be entirely new for the father-son duo. Tom coached Matt in freshman football as well as youth baseball and basketball.
“He’s intense,” Matt said. “He doesn’t act like my dad out there on the sidelines, I’ll say that.”
Tom experienced that dynamic himself. He played for his father, Al Dosch, who had a legendary run as the head football coach at Strasburg High School.
“Sometimes it’s cool having your dad as a coach, and sometimes it’s not so cool,” Tom said. “You just try and make sure you want him to have a good experience and be around a good group of guys. And we’ve got a fantastic group of guys, coaches and players, in our program.”
Before he heads to Jamestown in the fall, though, Matt is focused on ending his time with the Royals on a high note.
“This is the most success I’ve ever had with this group,” Matt said. “We’ve been the eight seed, nine seed and 10 seed in my first three years, and now we’re right in the middle of the standings. … I’ve been playing with all these guys since I was 12, so it’s just a lot of fun.”
Matt’s performance against Bismarck on Thursday night was just another example of the high level of play he has brought to Grand Forks over the last few years.
“He’s just a fantastic kid,” Royals head coach Nick Chine said. “He’s so coachable. He wants to win. He loves the game. He’s very, very intelligent. You just can’t say enough about that kid. He’ll be missed when he’s gone, for sure. I really enjoyed coaching him over the last couple years.”
Alex Faber is a sports reporter for the Grand Forks Herald. A Michigan transplant, he graduated from Michigan State University in 2024 with a degree in journalism and minors in history and environmental studies.
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