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Rising to the challenge
Northeast rebounds from loss to win Area II tourney
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Daric Miller watched his team through the fence in the dugout for the first two innings.

He peered through, patiently waiting for a chance to play as his Victoria Northeast 11- and 12-year-old All-Stars scored five runs in the first inning and before his coach called on him in the second inning.

He didn’t let the idle time get him down.

When let loose, Miller drew a walk and then delivered a three-run home run to cap off an 11-0 win for the Northeast 11- and 12-year-olds over Bloomington on Friday at Elder Field.

“We don’t call it subbing, we call it a rotation,” said Miller who hit six homers in the regular season. “It never bothers me to come in off the bench. I just want to win. It hit the sweet part of the bat and I knew it was gone.”

The win sealed the Area II District 27 championship for Northeast and sets up a meeting with Northwest which went undefeated through the Area I bracket. The two teams play tonight at 7 p.m. at Elder Field. Northwest needs one win to advance, while Northeast needs a win tonight to force a deciding game for the District 27 championship on Sunday at 7 p.m. in Cuero.

“It’s going to be fun,” Miller said. “We have to beat them. We beat them last year and the year before.”

Bloomington’s season ends after picking up wins over Victoria Southeast on Wednesday and Northeast on Thursday. Friday’s game was the third meeting for the two teams this week, and had Northeast’s leadoff hitter eager to put the rivals away.

“I was really ready to beat them and move on,” said Jonathan Ortega who drew two walks and scored two runs. “The beginning pumped our team up.”

Northeast jumped out quickly and batted through its lineup in the first inning. Jerry Vasquez and Trent Wiley each had RBI for the team, while Tyler Stocker drove in two runs with a double down the third baseline.

Northeast finished the Area II District 27 championship game with nine hits as a team, and with eight different players scoring runs.

“We just needed to hit the ball and work as a team,” said Josh Cantu who started the game in right field. “We were confident and played defense good.”

The defensive effort from the team led to a four pitcher no-hitter for Northeast. Hunter Perkins started the game and was relieved by Ortega, Sam Blano and Vasquez.

“No runs were scored and the defense helped out a lot,” Perkins said. “We were ready to win and move on. We couldn’t let down just because we were ahead. We just have to keep the sticks going and we can beat anyone.”

Derek Folmer, Daniel Casares and Aaron Lopez all reached base for Bloomington with walks.

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