The 'lil Birds started off the 2012 season with the Greater Midwest Baseball 3-Run Dinger Tournament at Ellisville Athletic Association. 

For the 6th consecutive time, spanning over parts of three seasons, the Rawlings Cardinals came home with trophy hardware.  Things started off slow for the 'lil Birds losing two close pool play games by a total of 4 runs.  The second day of the tourney was a different story however, with the Cardinals taking early command of their first game and took an 18-3 victory.  In the Consolation Championship game the boys jumped out to an 8-0 lead and were led by the dominating pitching performance of Nick Koester, who took a no-hitter into the fifth inning.  In the end the Cardinals came out with an 8-2 Championship victory and Nick threw a one hitter.