DRNVO All-Stars sweep weekend event

Jun. 23—The Deep River-Northview Optimist All-Stars 12U have the toughest task in the nation this summer, if they want to top their achievements of a year ago. We mean that literally.

A year ago, the same roster of players competed in the 11U division, and after finishing as runners-up in the North Carolina and Southeast Regional tournaments of Cal Ripken Baseball, went to the World Series and fought off elimination twice before emerging as national 11U champions. During the summer campaign, they went 15-5 against some of the best teams from across the entire country.

A year older, the players who finished third in the country three years ago as a 9U team before becoming champions in 2021 started their 2022 summer campaign as Deep River-Northview last weekend. Since last competing as DRNVO, they played as the Sanford Dirt Devils last fall and again in the spring, posting a 23-5-1 record and winning multiple regional tournaments, including one where they beat a field of 13U teams.

Whatever they call themselves at a given time, they remain tough to beat. Last weekend, they called on Factory Ballpark in Wake Forest for the USSSA Father's Day Classic and won all four of their games en route to the championship. One of the teams was another squad from Sanford, the DP Outlaws 11U AA, who they played twice. The other was the C35 2028 12AA Triplett team from Fuquay-Varina. Northview beat each team twice.

Saturday's first game was against the Outlaws, who were playing up in classification and had all sorts of problems with Northview. The latter scored seven runs in the first inning and added eight in the second, while the Outlaws were only able to get two hits against Northview pitchers Caiden Cox and Aidyn Williams. The game was called off after the top of the third inning due to the run rule.

Brody Brown and Luke Waters each had a home run for Northview, while Chaz Vought went 2-for-2 and drove in four runs. Ryan Byrd tripled in his only official at-bat while scoring twice and driving in a pair. Luke B. and Wyatt W. had hits for the Outlaws.

The Outlaws have been representing the community this season since March, competing against teams between the ages of 10 and 12. They have an 11-13 record this year, but seven of their losses are to 12 year-old teams, and they also have four wins against older teams. Staff from the Outlaws filmed the games with Northview and made it available online during the weekend.

Northview then had to face Triplett 12U, expecting a tough game, and that is what they got.

The teams combined for just three hits, but one of them by Cox ignited the conclusive rally in the bottom of the fifth inning. Northview was holding to a 2-1 lead when Cox led off the inning by smacking a 1-0 pitch into left field for a double. Northview decided to play for one run and Williams laid down what was intended to be a sacrifice bunt, but the Triplett pitcher threw the ball away at first base and Williams reached, with Cox moving to third.

At this point, things unraveled for Triplett.

Mitchel Bryant was hit by a pitch, and then Byrd looked at a 3-2 pitch to earn a walk and drive in Cox. Tripp O'Leary grounded out, but got Williams in for a 4-1 lead.

Triplett tried to strike back immediately in the top of the sixth, when a leadoff walk and two singles loaded the bases with just one out. The next batter also singled, driving in a run and putting the potential lead run on base. However, Brown, pitching for Northview, buckled down.

With the game on the line, he fanned the next batter on a 2-2 pitch for the second out, only to fall behind 3-1 in the count on the next one. However, he painted the black to get a full count, then cut him down swinging to end the game.

Triplett had taken a 1-0 lead in the first inning off starter Luke Waters, and might have had more if shortstop Ben Harrington and second baseman Williams hadn't turned a double play during the inning.

Northview tied in the bottom of the first thanks to a leadoff walk by Harrington, who later stole a base and scored on an error. Williams then led off the Northview second with a single and later scored on a groundout by Bryant, giving his team the lead at 2-1.

Brown pitched five innings in the win and struck out 12 batters.

Sunday morning saw Northview facing the Outlaws again. The younger team once again showed fight but was no match for the older defending national champions, falling 9-0 and getting just two hits. Cox and Bryant each worked two innings on the mound and allowed no runs.

The game was all but decided in the first inning, after Northview had loaded the bases for Williams with two out.

He got behind 1-2 in the count but then smashed a double into right field and cleared the bases. The inning ended with them ahead 4-0 after Bryant singled in Cox. Three more runs in the third inning and two more in the fourth completed the scoring.

Vought, who was 2-for-2, was the only player with more than one hit. Walker M. and Channing T. had the Outlaws' hits.

The second game on Sunday and the final one of the tournament was the rematch with Carolina 35's Triplett.

After taking them down to the final pitch on Saturday, the second contest between the two teams was a 13-3 blowout in which Northview led 10-0 after two innings.

The pitchers remaining for Triplett at this stage of the event were no match for Northview, which pounded out a dozen hits. Cox went 3-for-3, while Harrington and Brown each had two.

While Northview didn't have to play in this tournament, they chose to compete in it for a couple of reasons.

They wished to build cohesiveness for the team and acclimate to using the USA bats, a bat developed by USA Baseball in 2018 which has the characteristics of a wooden bat.

The USA bats are a requirement for the Cal Ripken State Tournament, which runs from Saturday through Monday in Winterville.