The Roanoke Rapids based Yellow Jackets 12U Allstar travel baseball team competed in their first tournament of the fall this past weekend in Rocky Mount and won with a perfect 4-0 record.
After a comfortable victory in their first game, they erased a 5-run deficit in the second game to win 9-8 and go 2-0 in pool-play on Saturday. Sunday in the semifinals, the Yellow Jackets erased a 2-run deficit by scoring 3 runs in the final 3 innings to win 3-2 in their final at-bat and advance to the championship game. In the final game the Jackets again rallied, this time erasing a 3-run deficit on their way to 12-9 victory and the tournament championship.
This team is made up of the Roanoke Rapids 11U Allstar team and started traveling just 1 year ago in an effort to strengthen their knowledge and skills to better compete in future Allstar events.
Last fall this team won just 1 game all season, and just 1 year later they have won their first tournament. They are making great progress and will continue to compete in the upcoming year leading up to the 2019 Allstars which will culminate with the SouthEast Regional games being played in Roanoke Rapids.
The progress this team has achieved in such a short amount of time is the result of hard work by these young men as well as large community support for this program. With regard to support, the team would like to thank those who have contributed this fall in helping make this success a possibility including Sheriff Wes Tripp, Merritt Piping, MJ Price Construction, Rightmyer Machine Rentals, Rheasville Truck and Auto, Farm Bureau Insurance (Ricky Barnes), and Patton Mechanical. If anyone is interested in following the team and/or contributing please contact Joey Elias (804-305-4925 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
Tournament team picture above, from left to right:
1st row: Collin Elias, Tyler Pearce, Bryce Ott, Connor Hammack, Ayden Brantley, Jackson Midgette, Landen Briggs
2nd row: Caleb Hall, Avery Garner, Gannon DeBerry, Seth Tickel, Carson Duncan, Wil White
3rd row: Coaches Joey Elias, Brandon Duncan, Scott Hall and Kevin DeBerry
