8u End of Season Rankings Recap 2018-2019

We made a late change to our 8u rankings, and moved East Rowan back up to #2. There were several teams who were just outstanding in this age group, but in the end we settled on Dirtbags Black as our #1 team this year in the 8u age group. Here we provide a recap and some rationale to how we ranked the teams in the manner we did.

  1. Dirtbags Black

    The Dirtbags finished with our #1 spot in the 8u age group, after posting a 23-5 record this spring and a 41-11 record overall as an 8u team. They ended the fall as our #3 team, with 4 of their 6 losses coming against teams that ended the fall #1 (East Rowan) and #2 (West Raleigh Blue). The avenged 3 losses in the fall to #6 West Raleigh with two wins in the spring, and posted 6 other wins over top 20 teams including #5 Dirtbags East, #10 Dry Pond (x2), #13 Area Stars Orange, #17 Lugnuts Blue, and #19 Carolina Titans to finish the year with 11 wins over top 20 teams. Overall, they posted an 11-5 record against top 20 teams this past year and a tournament win at the Top Gun Summer World Series.

  2. East Rowan

    East Rowan was one of the very best teams across North Carolina this past year. The ended the fall season as our top team and posted an overall record of 32-2 across USSSA, Top Gun, and NC GameOn Sports play this past year. We originally had them ranked 7th in our final rankings, however when we reviewed all 20 teams, 7th, frankly, did not seem an accurate representation of their performance over the past year. We moved them back up to 2nd and here's why: they have the best overall record in the age group. Their 2 losses came against a 9u team and against #11 Davidson Crush. They also had 13 wins against top 20 teams, including wins #1 Dirtbags Black and #6 West Raleigh Blue in the fall of 2018, and wins over #9 MARA Mud Dawgs (x3), #10 Dry Pond (x2), #15 DC Bombers (x2), and #16 Stanly County Titans this spring. So then the question is why did we move them down in the first place? Well, they did not have a good run through the Cal Ripken all-star circuit this year, going 1-2 in pool play and not making the bracket play stage in the state tournament. In hindsight, however, we gave this far too much sway and have rectified what we view as a mistake.

  3. South Charlotte Cardinals

    South Charlotte was a difficult team for us to rank this spring. They did play extensively on the travel ball circuit as they, like a number of teams at this age, play rec and the subsequent all-star circuit. They participate in the Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken all-star tournaments. During their run in all-stars, however, they were quite impressive, scoring wins over #9 MARA Mud Dawgs (x2) and #10 McDowell Titans. They were also the Western North Carolina Cal Ripken champions, scoring a tournament win in a field that included #7 East Rowan and the McDowell Titans. In addition to their run in all-stars, they added a win over #17 Lugnuts Blue this spring to bolster their resume.

  4. SBA Futures

    The Futures were a new team this spring and wasted little time making their mark on the 8u age group. They posted an overall record of 20-9 this spring including wins over #1 Dirtbags Black (the Dirtbags' only loss to an 8u team this spring), #9 MARA Mud Dawgs (x2), and #12 McDowell Titans. Only two of their losses came against 8u competition as they spent the majority of their spring playing kid pitch against the 9u age group.

  5. Dirtbags East

    Dirtbags East was another new team on the 8u circuit this spring, and posted a 21-7 record across all competition (2 losses came against 9u competition). Along the way they notched wins over #6 West Raleigh Blue, #8 NCDB Rivercats (x3), #10 Dry Pond, #14 Canes Baseball NC - Hartman, and #19 Carolina Titans (x2) for a total of 8 wins over top 20 teams.

 

  1. West Raleigh Blue

    West Raleigh posted a 28-8 overall record as an 8u team, including going 18-6 this past spring. They, like South Charlotte, participate in the Cal Ripken all-stars circuit, and thus some of their competition is a bit hard to assess. Overall, they posted 11 wins over top 20 teams, including 3 wins over #1 Dirtbags Black in the fall of 2018. This spring, West Raleigh was 0-2 against Dirtbags Black, and 1-1 against #5 Dirtbags East.

  2. Spartans - Mullins

    The Spartans were another team that, for us, was a bit difficult to place accurately. They went an outstanding 46-9 across Top Gun, NC GameOn Sports, and USSSA play this past year. Among those 55 games, however, only 12 were against teams in our top 20. Despite this, they posted an impressive 9-3 record against teams who finished in our top 20. This past spring, they had wins over #11 Davidson Crush (x2), #15 DC Bombers (x4) and #20 Triad Warriors. This came in addition to 2 wins over the Davidson Crush this past fall.

  3. NCDB Rivercats

    The Rivercats were one of the bigger turnaround stories from the fall to the spring season. They went 10-6 in the Fall of 2018, and posted a 33-8 record this spring and a 43-14 record overall. While in the fall, they had no wins over top 20 teams, this spring they scored wins over #5 Dirtbags East, #7 Spartans - Mullins, #11 Davidson Crush, #14 Canes Baseball NC - Hartman, and #19 Carolina Titans. Overall they went 5-6 this spring against top 20 teams.

  4. MARA Mud Dawgs

    The MARA Mud Dawgs posted a combined 29-13 record across travel and all-star play this past year. Much like South Charlotte, West Raleigh, and East Rowan, MARA plays in the Cal Ripken all-star circuit. They went 20-11 this spring, including wins over #2 East Rowan, #3 South Charlotte Cardinals (x2), #4 SBA Futures, #10 Dry Pond (x2), #12 McDowell Titans, and #16 Stanly County Titans.

  5. Dry Pond

    The Dry Pond Blue Sox went 39-16 this past year including 21-11 this past spring. They played excellent competition all year, with 18 games against teams who finished in our top 20. Their record in those games was 6-12, however, which moved them down our rankings a bit. Their 6 wins came against #9 MARA Mud Dawgs, #16 Stanly County Titans (x2), #17 Lugnuts Blue, and #19 Carolina Titans (x2).

 

  1. Davidson Crush

    The Crush were an impressive 53-12-1 this past year. This included a 33-7-1 record this past spring. In the fall, the Crush notched 4 wins over top 20 teams including  #7 Spartans - Mullins, #15 DC Bombers, and #20 Triad Warriors (x2). They followed that up with 6 more wins against top 20 teams this spring, including wins over #2 East Rowan, #8 NCDB Rivercats, #15 DC Bombers, #17 Lugnuts Blue, and #20 Triad Warriors.

  2. McDowell Titans

    The McDowell Titans, from Marion, NC, posted a 32-5 record in USSSA play this past year. Similar to several other teams in our 8u top 20, the Titans also play on the Cal Ripken all-stars circuit in the spring/summer. While they did post an impressive record in USSSA play, the Titans did not beat a single team in our top 20 this spring. They did, however, score 4 wins over #10 Dry Pond in the Fall 2018 season. In the end, we felt their competition level this spring was not enough to keep them inside our top 10, where they had been for a majority of the 2018-2019 year.

  3. Area Stars Orange

    The Area Stars went 23-6 this spring, and 36-13 overall this past year. They had two nice wins over the Coastal Bombers (SC), one of the top team in South Carolina, as well as competitive 1-run losses against both the #1 team in North Carolina (Dirtbags Black) and the #1 team in South Carolina (Local Boys).

  4. Canes Baseball NC - Hartman

    The Canes started as the Carolina Naturals in the Fall of 2018. After posting a 6-10 record in the fall season, the team made the move to the Canes organization and went 26-10 across all competition in the spring season. During the spring season, they notched wins over #8 NCDB Rivercats (x2) and #19 Carolina Titans to bolster their status inside our top 20.

  5. DC Bombers

    The Bombers posted a record of 29-9 this past spring and an overall record of 37-10 as an 8u team. Their record was outstanding, and the Bombers dominated much of their competition, but their 0-8 overall record against top 20 teams kept them from moving much higher in our top 20.

 

  1. Stanly County Titans

    The Titans were one of the later additions to our top 20 this year as a new team in the spring 2019 season, not making their first appearance until June. This past spring the Titans went an impressive 24-6, although they did not have any wins against top 20 teams. They did, however, have several close losses to ranked teams including #2 East Rowan, #9 MARA Mud Dawgs, and #10 Dry Pond.

  2. Leland Lugnuts Blue

    The Lugnuts went 20-10 in USSSA play and 22-4 in all-stars play this past year. Highlighting their year, they went 4-3 overall against potential nemesis and rival, #18 Ogden Hurricanes. In addition, they notched 2 wins over #13 Area Stars Orange this spring.

  3. Ogden Hurricanes

    The Ogden Hurricanes went an impressive 18-5 in USSSA play this past year and also participated in the Cal Ripken all-stars circuit as Supper Optimist. They were 3-4 overall against #17 Leland Lugnuts Blue this past year and were an outstanding 13-2 this spring in travelball competition prior to starting all-stars tournament play.

  4. Carolina Titans

    The Titans, from Spring Hope, North Carolina, went 21-11-1 this past spring. They played 11 games against teams who finished in our top 20, going 1-1 against #11 Davidson Crush and 2-0 against #14 Canes Baseball NC - Hartman, to earn a spot in our final top 20.

  5. Triad Warriors

    As best we can tell, the Warriors, from Madison, North Carolina, posted a combined record of 19-13-1 across USSSA, Top Gun, and NC GameOn Sports competition this past year. Highlighting their season and demonstrating their growth as a team, the Warriors scored wins over #7 Spartans - Mullins and #11 Davidson Crush in the same tournament in May, and went 13-4 in their last 17 games this spring.