For many baseball fans, Darion Radcliffe will always be remembered as a member of the 2012 Little League World Series championship team from Tennessee, a group of young ballplayers whose journey captivated the country. But more than a decade later, Radcliffe is writing a new chapter—one that has nothing to do with bats, gloves, or championship banners.
Under the name Doze Daze, the former youth baseball standout has released his new EP, All 7’s, a deeply personal project that reflects the highs, lows, setbacks, and self-discovery that have defined his journey since stepping away from the diamond.
Many fans were introduced to Radcliffe’s story through OWN’s One Golden Summer, which chronicled what happened to members of that celebrated Little League team after their championship run. While some teammates continued pursuing baseball at higher levels—including standout pitcher Tate Hodges, who played collegiately and professionally, and DJ Butler, who continued his baseball career through college—the documentary also revealed the struggles Radcliffe faced after his playing days.
For Radcliffe, those challenges included substance abuse, a path he says began after unknowingly smoking a laced blunt as a teenager.
“If I could change one thing, I probably never would’ve picked up that first blunt,” Radcliffe reflected. “Looking back, I feel like it changed the course of my life in ways I wasn’t prepared for.”
Rather than allowing those experiences to define him, Radcliffe found a new outlet through music.
“If you watched the film, you know a lot happened after baseball,” he said. “I got involved with drugs that had a major impact on my life. Music became my replacement. It’s the closest thing I’ve found that gives me that feeling of peace, escape, and emotion without having to use anything. In a way, music became my therapy.”
The decision to pursue music wasn’t made overnight. As baseball became increasingly competitive, Radcliffe began questioning whether the sport was still the vehicle that would lead him toward the future he envisioned.
“My teammates and I would always talk about becoming rich and successful,” he explained. “I realized there were different ways to do that. Baseball had been my dream, but I knew I needed to find a different route, and music became that route.”
That transition wasn’t always easy.
Growing up, many in his community viewed him as the kid most likely to escape difficult circumstances through athletics. Choosing music over baseball left some people confused, including those closest to him.
“I felt like a lot of people saw me as the kid who was supposed to get us out the hood,” Radcliffe said. “At first, I don’t think many people saw the vision.”
Perhaps the most emotional moments from One Golden Summer involved his mother, whose pride in his baseball career was evident throughout the documentary. Even today, those scenes remain difficult for him to watch.
“Everything I do is for my mother,” he said. “Hearing her say she wishes I was still playing baseball is hard because I know how much happiness that brought her.”
Now, with All 7’s, Radcliffe hopes listeners will get to know him beyond the baseball field. The three-track project showcases different styles and moods while drawing inspiration from a recurring number that has become significant in his creative process.
“The project is called ‘All 7’s,’” he explained. “Whenever I’m mixing music, a lot of the settings that sound right to me end up landing on the number seven. I started seeing the number everywhere, and it kind of became my personal angel number.”
While some members of Tennessee’s championship squad continued chasing baseball dreams, Radcliffe has found a different lane. His story serves as a reminder that life after sports isn’t always linear and that success can take many forms.
For Doze Daze, the journey from Little League champion to recording artist has been anything but conventional. But after everything he’s endured, All 7’s represents something bigger than music—it’s proof that redemption, healing, and reinvention are always possible.
