Van Dolah Ready To Make An Impact At Holy Cross

Cayden Van Dolah SS / 2B / The Taft School, NH / 2025

SIMSBURY, Ct. - A visit to Holy Cross was all it took for Cayden Van Dolah.

“The second I stepped on campus I knew it was right for me,” the incoming senior at Taft High School in New Hampshire said. “Once they gave me an offer, I had no other interest in pursuing other schools.”

It was ninth grade year of high school when the 45th-rated 2025 shortstop in New England began thinking college baseball was a strong possibility.

“I was a starter at Taft as a freshman,” Van Dolah reflected. “It was at that point I knew it was realistic. I wasn’t sure at what level, I just put my head down and went to work.”

Improvement followed for the 15th-ranked senior in New Hampshire.

“At this point I have more power in my bat than a year ago,” the 18-year-old related. “The biggest improvement is my strength. It all started when I went to MVP New England, working on my speed and mechanics.”

Matt Burns, at MVP, is credited by Van Dolah with playing a vital role in his baseball journey this past year.

“WIthout him I’m not close to where I am now,” the fourth-rated senior shortstop in New Hampshire explained. “The way he runs MVP New England is different from other travel teams with how much he cares about his players. He wants them to succeed and he pushes them.”

Mike Mastrocola, his coach at Taft, has been another key part of getting to the point of being a Division I commit, as well as Prep Baseball.

“With PBR the biggest thing they helped me with are my metrics,” Van Dolah noted.

But the recruiting process did have ups and downs according to the 207th-ranked 2025 in New England.

“It wasn’t crazy stressful until this year, my junior year,” related Van Dolah, whose other college visit was to Middlebury College. “As a sophomore I wasn’t stressing over it, but when junior year came around and I was seeing others committing, I knew I had to get working.

“Fall of my junior year, schools started reaching out. I narrowed down my list to high academic schools. Dartmouth was my number one choice for a long time.”

But when Holy Cross entered the picture that all changed.

“One of the best pieces of advice I received is you want to go to a school that if you get a career-ending injury you still want to go there,” Van Dolah pointed out.

The feeling once a commitment was made was “unreal” according to Van Dolah.

“For the first day or two I didn’t feel committed,” the Taft senior explained. “My head was still spinning. It was a massive weight off the shoulders. I have a lot of gratitude to everyone that helped get me there, to my family and for all they did. It’s such a great school with a great culture.”

A 3.95 student on a 4.0 scale, Van Dolah is planning on majoring in biology and following that up with med school, all while playing an important role in the baseball program.

“I’ll bring a winning attitude and leadership,” he said. “I’m going into my third season as a captain at Taft and I value that leadership role.”

As for the baseball program at the Patriot League university located in Worcester, Ma, just 90 minutes from home, Van Dolah has a lot of anticipation.

“They have a great baseball program with everything around there,” Van Dolah noted. “I wanted coaches that care and when I first talked with (head) coach (Ed) Kahovec I saw that. It’s similar to my high school coach.”

There is more that stood out about Holy Cross on his visit on June 16.

“It’s a beautiful campus and the baseball field is awesome,” Van Dolah said. “Everything just felt right.”

Holy Cross sees the 6-1 178-pound middle infielder making an impact on the diamond.

“My frame is projectable,” Van Dolah said. “They said I have a high ceiling.”