HICKORY, Pa. — The 12U River Valley Renegades battled the heat and a collection of challenging competition to earn a second-place finish in Fort Cherry’s 12U Baseball Classic.

The Renegades, a group of all-star players from the local River Valley Youth Baseball League, went 3-1-1 in the tournament, outscoring their opponents 39-29.

The locals posted wins against Avonworth (5-2), South Fayette (11-3) and Waynesburg (19-10) before falling to Beaver in the championship game.

What made the effort most impressive was the tournament featured teams predominantly rostered with 12-year old players. The Renegades, meanwhile, have just two 12-year olds with the balance of the roster being 11-year olds.

In the semifinal contest against Waynesburg the Renegades fell behind 6-0 before rallying with 12 unanswered runs. The pinnacle of the exciting game was a 10-run fifth inning where River Valley sent 13 hitters to the plate with eight different runners scoring in that frame. One inning later, the locals sent 11 more hitters to the plate while posting five more runs ultimately putting the game out of reach.

That wasn’t the only game in which the locals trailed before rallying. Against South Fayette the team was down 3-0 in the first inning before scoring the final 11 runs of the game. The Renegades also fell behind 2-0 to Avonworth but would go on to score the final five runs of that contest.

For the tournament, Gio Birch paced the locals with seven runs scored and six hits, while Max Kinsey added six hits. Rocco Longo scored six runs and had five hits. Ethan Fisher and Kayden Kosek each had five hits. And Greyson Pirl drew five walks in seven plate appearances.

On the mound the Renegades were represented quite well all weekend. Brantley Weaver was dominant in 7.2 innings pitched. He struck out 15, while giving up just one earned run. Dalton Smith gave up one earned run and struck out six in six innings of work. Dom Volino and Brady Fennell each worked four innings and gave up just two earned runs while combining to strike out five.

A unique tradition Fort Cherry does with its annual tournament is it has the opposing coach pick the MVP for each game. Birch, Longo, Weaver, Smith and Kosek were awarded MVP honors for the Renegades.