Local roundup: Winterville 12Us win Cal Ripken Southeast Regional, headed to World Series

The Winterville 12U All-Star baseball team won the Southeast Regional over the weekend in St. Johns, Fla., and advanced to the Cal Ripken World Series for the first time.

The Winterville club advanced through pool play with a 3-1 record, losing only a 10-9 heartbreaker in last Wednesday's opener to eventual division champion and south Florida representative Auburndale.

The locals rebounded from the one-run loss with a pair of one-run wins on Thursday, 5-4 over Madison County (Tenn.) and 1-0 over Jacksonville Beach (Fla.).

The Winterville 12s made it three straight with a 5-2 win over Stafford (Va.) on Friday to round out pool play.

In the championship bracket, Winterville took out Okeeheelee (Fla.) in a 3-0 shutout before taking the title with a 5-4 revenge win against Auburndale.

The World Series is slated to begin on Friday in Branson, Mo.

Little League

The North State 8-10 baseball team is one of three Greenville Little League teams embarking on their respective postseason tournaments this week, and the club was a perfect 3-0 heading into Tuesday's semifinal round.

On Saturday in Wilson, the 8-10s opened Tournament of State Champions play with a 3-0 win over Taylors (S.C.) before taking down Nolensville (Tenn.) on Sunday.

North State defeated Warner Robins (Ga.) on Monday, setting up a Tuesday semifinal clash against Taylors.

This Saturday, at 10 a.m., the Tar Heel 9-11 team is back on the field, also in Wilson, to open its TOSC against Tennessee (Murfreesboro). The 9-11s follow that by taking on South Carolina on Sunday and Florida on Monday.