Jet Sports Training Male Athlete of the Month: Local youth baseball talent Carlo Rivero

Tucson youth Carlo Rivero is coming off an impressive performance in front of USA Baseball coaches last week at Cary, N.C., and he is closer to being part of this country’s youngest assembly of baseball talent in international competition.

Rivero was one of 24 players to advance to the U12 Team USA extended training camp in preparation for the 12U Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier from Sept. 20-29 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Of the 24 in the extended training camp (a date not yet announced), 18 will play in Honduras.

“It was a blessing to be over there and to get invited from the 12U USA team,” Rivero said Monday night after Sunnyside’s Little League with Rincon. “Hopefully, I can make it to the World Cup and beyond that.”

For that performance and how he is playing for Sunnyside in the District 12 tournament, Rivero is the Jet Sports Training Male Athlete of the Month for June.

“I felt happy because there were a lot of players who were really good,” Rivero continued about his experience at North Carolina. “It shows all the hard work that me, my brother and my dad always put in.”

Sunnyside Little League’s Carlo Rivero pitched a solid 5 1/3 innings with a no-decision in his team’s 2-1 loss to Rincon in a winners bracket game of the District 12 LL tournament at Manzanita Park. He allowed only two hits with an unearned run while striking out nine and walking… pic.twitter.com/889LAu39UX

— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) July 2, 2024

Rivero is the younger brother of former Sunnyside Little League standout Francisco Rivero, who was a member of the 2019 team that came a game away from reaching the Little League World Series at Williamsport, Pa.

Francisco has trained in the Dominican Republic since playing for Sunnyside that year. A catcher, he impressed Dodgers scouts at a showcase event in Venezuela last year.

“I can look up to a person who is already with the Dodgers, and he can train me even more,” Carlo said of his brother. “The things that I don’t know, he can tell me. If I’m messing up on something, he can train me.”

Their father Francisco Sr. was the manager of the Sunnyside Little League team in 2019. He hails from Venezuela and was a farmhand in the Milwaukee Brewers organization as a right-handed pitcher.

Francisco Sr. also coaches Carlo with the Dirtbags baseball club.

Yet another Rivero baseball standout is on the way with the youngest, Dariel, a member of Sunnyside’s Little League team with Carlo.

This is about as big of a Little League game it can get in Tucson without the teams playing in the championship. Traditionally the best run LL organization – Rincon – playing against perennial power Sunnyside in a District 12 winners bracket game at Manzanita Park. The game also… pic.twitter.com/dVQ7JAqoh2

— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) July 2, 2024

Sunnyside lost to Rincon 2-1 on Monday despite Carlo pitching a solid 5 1/3 innings and hitting a solo home run well beyond the right-field fence.

Carlo reached the pitch-count limit of 85 pitches and had to be relieved after striking out the first batter of the sixth inning. He allowed only two hits with nine strikeouts and two walks.

His counterpart, Hudson Haner of Rincon, also pitched very well, striking out 10, walking two and allowing five hits in a complete-game performance.

In order to win the district title and advance to the state tournament, Sunnyside must eventually have to beat Rincon twice coming out of the elimination bracket (if those teams meet in the championship round).

“We can definitely beat them, if they (his Sunnyside teammates) can keep that energy up,” he said.

FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!

ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District.