East Liverpool's River Valley Renegades 12U baseball team won the 2026 All-Star Tournament hosted by Springfield Township and Struthers Baseball League last Friday. (Submitted photo)

STRUTHERS – The River Valley Renegades 12U team won its second championship in a week when it won the 2026 All-Star Tournament hosted by Springfield Township and Struthers Baseball League last Friday.

It was an impressive showing for the Renegades, a collection of all-star players from East Liverpool’s River Valley Youth Baseball League, who had already won the Columbiana All-Star Tournament the Sunday before. In a span of six days the team played nine games.

In the tournament hosted by Springfield and Struthers the Renegades were forced to play a triple-header Friday night beating Boardman, 11-3, for the championship. There were plenty of fireworks in that game but before it got to that contest River Valley had to beat No. 2 seed Austintown, 4-0, as well as host Struthers, 6-3.

The shutout against Austintown in the semifinals was considered by some to be an upset. The Renegades, while a 12U team, roster only a handful of 12-year-old players, the rest are 10- and 11-year-olds. Austintown, meanwhile, was predominately 12 but that did not deter the Renegades.

The Renegades jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, added one more run in both the second and third and then rode the pitching arms of Grey Moore, Dom Volino and Colton Van Fosson for the shutout victory.

That propelled River Valley to the title game against Boardman – its third game of the day – where it did not miss a beat. With the lights on and the time approaching 10 p.m. any thoughts of fatigue were vanquished in the bottom of the first inning when catcher Rocco Longo blasted a two-run homer over the left center field fence. The shot, that traveled an estimated 200 feet, ignited the Renegades both on offense and defense.

On offense River Valley scored at least one run in every inning. It had nine hits and reached base safely 17 times.

But the defense would not be outdone, particularly, Jax Flint in right field. In the first and third innings Flint fielded would-be singles from his outfield position and threw out the runners before they reached first base.

While impressive, Flint was not alone in the outfield dominance. Earlier in the three-game evening, against Struthers, both Kayden Kosek and Amari Williams cut down runners trying to turn singles into a double. Both Kosek, from center field, and Williams, from left field, made their throws from the outfield fence with great precision that stifled any thought of rallies.

The pitching trio of Moore, Volino and Van Fosson anchored the Renegades. For the tournament, Volino threw six shut out innings, striking out 12 and giving up six hits. Van Fossen threw 5 2/3 shut out innings of his own, striking out four and giving up just one hit with Moore throwing five innings, giving up two runs on three hits while striking out 10.

Including pool play, River Valley went 4-1 in the tournament, outscoring its opponents 40-17. The Renegades were relentless pounding out 32 hits and stealing 40 bases.

From his lead-off spot in the batting order, Moore had six hits, including a triple and double, scored five runs and had an RBI and stolen base. For his part, Volino had five singles, scored six runs, had three RBI, stole seven bases and walked four times. Including his home run, Longo also had a double and single, while scoring five runs and knocking in a tournament-high six RBI. He stole two bases and walked twice.

When he wasn’t throwing out base runners from center field, Kosek had four hits, three of which were doubles, to go along with two runs, three RBI and two stolen bases. Van Fosson also had four hits, including a double, with two runs, four RBI, three walks and two stolen bases.

Cole Deshler had a stand-out tournament as well. With three hits, one of which a double, he scored five runs, tied for the team-high with seven stolen bases and walked twice. Caden Ferringer added a double, four runs, two RBI, five stolen bases and four walks.  Jax Flint had a single, two runs, an RBI, six stolen bases and two walks. Kai Knepper had a double, four runs, two RBI, five stolen bases and four walks. Williams added a single, two runs, an RBI, two stolen bases and two walks. Leo Ross had two singles, one run, an RBI and walked once. Porter Flint had two runs, two walks and a stolen base. And Ethan Fisher, battling a painful ankle injury the entire tournament, was still able to draw two walks and score a critical run in the victory over Austintown.

River Valley is now 7-2 on the all-star season. The Renegades are back in action next week in the Follansbee All-Star Tournament.