SHELBY — The Bath 12U All-Stars loaded the cars on Wednesday with game-worn equipment and high expectations. They left for the 330-mile trip across the state as the smallest town represented in the Little Tarheel 12U State Tournament. They returned Sunday afternoon champions.

Having to knock off perennial all-star powerhouses and tournament contenders, some towns and others entire counties, en route to lifting the trophy, the accomplishment should be considered improbable, an upset of mammoth proportions, downright impossible. But for the players and the coaching staff, the underdog mantra was not observed, the team’s talent never questioned and success a subconscious expectation.

“Those kids, they bought into the philosophy, bought into the journey and gave everything they had. They trusted in one another,” said head coach Michael Craig. “I’ve never been around a group of kids who were able to feed off of one another and really trust each other like that. I’ve never been associated with a group of kids that have been able to do what this group has been able to do.”

Playing open-base rules — 70-foot base paths, 50 feet between the pitching rubber and home plate and leading allowed — Bath closes out the all-star season with a 13-2 overall record (including invitational tournaments), a District 7 title and a 2015 Little Tarheel State Championship. Unlike teams that draw players from townships and counties, all 11 players hail from one institution, Bath Elementary School, and were selected from an area less than two square miles.

Entering the state tournament, held at Shelby City Park, Craig knew his team could compete with anyone, but was unfamiliar with the competition’s ability, other than the neighboring Washington 12U All-Stars, who received an at-large bid for the tournament after finishing second in the district.

Powered by the right arm of pitcher Matthew Adams, Bath coasted to an 11-1 victory over the Hickory 12U All-Stars in the opening round. Adams, pitching all six innings, allowed no earned runs on one hit and no walks.

After a slow start, Bath broke the score open in the third with four runs and continued to add insurance from there. Jacob Whitesell and Douglas Dixon combined for four hits and three RBIs, while Cameron Craig reached base in each one of his at bats, including a fifth-inning double.

The win earned Bath a matchup with a tough Garner team in Round 2, but Beaufort County’s finest would erase a four-run deficit against Wake County’s top 12U team, taking the contest, 10-7.

The story in Game 2 was Douglas Dixon, whose two homers ultimately proved to be the different down the stretch. On the mound, Dixon also tossed two hitless innings, allowing no walks and recording two strikeouts.

The early-inning offensive struggles from Game 1 continued for Bath in the quarterfinals, as Garner posted a four-run first. After a scoreless second, Bath exploded for seven runs in the third on an error, a three-run homer from Douglas, a sacrifice fly by Jack Biggs and a single by Caleb Alligood.

Garner posted three more runs in the sixth, but another homer from Douglas in the fourth, coupled with runs in the fifth and sixth innings, aligned a matchup between two rivals in the semi-finals.

 

Beaufort County teams battle it out for championship bid

“We knew what (Washington) had and they knew us,” Craig said. “They came out swinging and were up on us by three runs. Then we had a big inning in the second where we scored nine. They kept battling and wouldn’t go away … There was a lot of energy exhausted on both sides.”

In the first inning, Washington’s Robert Pollock walked and Paul Skirko singled. And it was cleanup hitter Logan Hale who provided the first jolt in the rivalry matchup, putting one over the wall and giving his team an early 3-0 lead. Bath had its answer in the top of the second, however, as hits from Biggs, Alligood, Carter Boyd and Adams, along with walks to Craig and Dixon, a homer from Ryan Woolard and a bases-clearing grand slam from Tyler Modlin, resulted in a nine-run frame.

Despite the large deficit, Washington would begin to chip away, scoring three in the second powered by a Hundley Stallings single and a Pollock homer, one in the third inning on yet another homer from Hale and three in the fourth inning on a single from Hayden Anderson and homers from Pollock and Mason Weaver.

“Both me and (Washington coach) Tony Hale knew whoever got through that game stood a good chance of winning the state championship and whoever lost it would more than likely lose the following game just because of the amount of energy both teams had to exhaust,” Craig said.

With the score knotted at 10 runs apiece, it was a five-run fifth from Bath that broke the deadlock. While both coaches knew entering the contest that that no lead was safe, Bath would hold Washington to a scoreless fifth and sixth, taking the semi-final game, 17-10.

For Washington, Hale finished the day 2-for-3 with two homers, while Pollock also notched two homers and two walks. For Bath, Dixon went 3-for-3 with a double and a walk, while Alligood, Biggs, Modlin and Woolard all notched two hits apiece.

The game featured a total of five lead changes, 24 combined hits (10 of the extra-base fashion) and nine errors.

 

Bath faces off against tournament host Cleveland County in title game

Only the tournament host Cleveland County stood in the way of Bath capturing its first Tarheel State Championship, an objective the group of 11 players set nearly two months ago.

“I told these kids when we first got together back in June that we’re going on a journey, one we broke down into three goals,” Craig said. “The first part of that journey is the practice stage, which will include not only practice, but the invitational tournaments. The second part of the journey will be to ultimately win the district tournament, which they did. The third part of the journey was the state tournament with the ultimate goal being a championship.”

With a 10 a.m. first pitch, the offensive onslaught from the previous day still ringing in the players’ ears, the team picked up right where they left off. Bath struck for three runs in the first off a walk and hits by Craig, Dixon and Adams. The top of the order continued its production in the second, as Dixon followed a Boyd walk and a Craig single with a two-run homer.

After two hits and a double from Adams, resulting in three more runs in the third, Bath put the game out of reach in the fourth inning on back-to-back-to-back homers from Dixon, Adams and Woolard, giving the visitors a walk-off, mercy-rule victory in the championship game, a 17-7 win.

“We did it on strong pitching, strong hitting and some great defensive plays up the middle,” Craid said. “We had a strong defensive effort from our shortstop, second baseman and centerfielder. The kids really came together and really played well not only through the state (tournament), but the district (tournament) too.”

Craig and Adams both finished the day 4-for-4, while Dixon and Woolard each notched three hits.

 

Craig earns second title, this time as a coach

Craig met with his team prior to the championship game against Cleveland County and spoke not of intangibles or strategy. Rather, the stage itself was the topic of discussion.

“It told the kids it will be a journey you’ll never forget, one you’ll remember everything along the way — every team you played, your first at bat, your last at bat,” he said.

It’s an experience Craig went through as a 12 year old, playing for the 1985 Washington 12U All-Stars, a team that battled through the open base tournament in Oak Grove and was eventually crowned state champions. Thirty years have passed since then, but Craig remembers every nuance, whether it was digging into the box for the first time, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a triple or hoisting the championship trophy.

The 2015 tournament also featured a team in the 1985 showcase — Garner, which defeated Craigs’ Washington team before falling in the championship game. At the 13U level in 1986, Washington again made a run at the trophy, but fell to Garner in the semi-final game.

Now, as a coach, Craig navigated a new team of local players, including his son Cameron, to a Little Tarheel title.

“To be given the opportunity twice in one life to have gone and played in a state championship, then to come back and coach one 30 years later and have your own 12-year-old son play, to coach a group to do the same thing you did, that’s pretty special,” Craig said. “I feel blessed and honored to have had that opportunity.”