Around the State Recap (Top Gun) 9/28-9/29/19

Roughly a month into the fall season, we are starting to learn more about who's who across the age groups in North Carolina. The 8u Area Stars Orange impressed, as did their 9u counterparts. The Dirt Devils posted an impressive weekend in the 10u age group, and top 10 teams from last year, 11u Carolina Blue Trifecta and 12u NCDB Rivercats 1, showed why they belong in the discussion of best teams in their respective age groups. Here we recap the weekend's games from across the Top Gun sites.

8u

At the Triangle Region site, Area Stars Orange finished 4-0 for the weekend and improved to 11-1 this fall. On Saturday, the Area Stars notched close wins over the Wilmington Seahawks (8-6) and Greenville Athletics (15-14). On Sunday, the Area Stars again topped Greenville Athletics in a 1-run game, winning 13-12 in the semifinals. In the finals, the Area Stars scored a 13-10 win over the NDCB Rivercats to secure the 8u title. In Concord, CBA Copperheads Black took home the title going 3-1 for the weekend, including a 22-17 win over Aces - Burgess and a 17-13 win over the Carolina Raiders on Sunday. The MARA Mavericks went 2-0 on Sunday, scoring wins over Aces and Spartans - Davidson.

 

9u

Similar to the 8u age group at the Triangle Region site, last year's #13 team Area Stars Orange finished 4-0 for the weekend and took home the 9u crown. On Saturday, the Area Stars defeated the NCDB Rivercats and the Walkoff Warriors. On Sunday, the Area Stars scored an 11-6 win over the NCDB Rivercats, who finished 8th in our final 2018-2019 rankings, and an 11-9 win over Dirtbags East, who finished 5th in last year's final rankings.

At the Charlotte site, the Cabarrus Bandits went 4-0, rolling to a 17-2 win over Concord Athletics - Nelms in the semifinals, and a 10-3 win over North Lincoln Destroyers in the finals. For the weekend, the Bandits outscored opponents 37-10. On Sunday, last year's #3 team South Charlotte went 2-0 with wins over the Odell Chargers and Legacy Baseball.

 

10u

In the 10u Open Division at the Triangle Region site, last year's final #20 team, the NCDB Rivercats, went 2-0 on Saturday and scored the top seed with a 9-8 win over the Dirt Devils and a 13-2 win over the Carolina Freedom. Last year's #7 team, NCABC Fungo - Piscorik went 1-1 on Saturday, falling 7-4 against HYAA Hawks - Sykes and scoring a 17-10 win over Carolina Titans - Ambrose. In the #4/5 play-in game on Sunday, Titans - Ambrose topped the HYAA Hawks 11-7. In the semifinals, Titans - Ambrose defeated the Rivercats 11-9 and the Dirt Devils edged past Fungo - Piscorik 5-4. In the finals, the Dirt Devils finished off a 3-1 weekend with a 7-5 win over Titans - Ambrose.

At the Charlotte site, the LBC Outlaws finished as the only 4-0 team, scoring wins over Team 24 Gamecocks - Higginbotham and the UCLA Cubs on Saturday, followed by wins over Team 24 and the DB Raptors on Sunday. In Concord, Ultimate Performance finished 4-0 for the weekend, outscoring opponents 48-10 for the weekend. This included wins over Concord Athletics - Stewart and the Carolina Lynx on Sunday.

 

 

 

11u

Canes Baseball NC - Wiggins was the lone undefeated team in the 5-team, round robin D2 division at the Triangle Region. On Saturday, they defeated last year's #19 team MVP Red and Area Stars - Derick. On Sunday, they notched wins over the Cleveland Wildcats and Rocky Mount Marshals - Ward. At the Triad area site, the Davidson County Rippers bounced back from an 0-2 Saturday to score 3 consecutive wins on Sunday, including a 12-11 win over the Kernersville Cyclones, a 12-1 win over Five Star Carolina - Lance, and an 8-4 win over GRIT in the finals.

At the Charlotte site, last year's #10 team Carolina Blue Trifecta was dominant on their way to a 4-0 record in which they outscored opponents a combined 57-7. On Sunday, they posted two shutout wins including a 15-0 win over the LBC Spartans and a 12-0 win over DB Raptors - Justin. In the one-day event in Charlotte, the Carolina Cobras finished 3-0, outscoring 3 opponents a combined 38-7 across 3 games.

 

12u
The NCDB Rivercats continue to impress in the 12u age group, going 4-0 this past weekend at the Triangle Region site.

In the D1 division at the Triangle Region site, last year's #6 team, the NCDB Rivercats, finished as the lone undefeated team, going 4-0 in this 5-team, round robin format event. They  scored wins over the Carolina Outlaws, Rock Solid Red, DPC Academy Gold, and the Sandhills Stingrays and outscored their opponents a combined 41-17 for the weekend. In the D2 division, the Wendell Knights took home the title, going 5-0 for the weekend. Their weekend was highlight by 3 wins on Sunday over TPA Nationals - Hahs, the OC Sluggers Red, and Area Stars Orange.

At the Charlotte site, 20 teams faced off in a big early fall event. In the end, it was CBC Baseball Club who came away with the crown, going 5-0 overall for the weekend. Their 2-0 record on Saturday earned them the #6 seed for Sunday. On Sunday, they posted a 15-0 win over Team 24 Gamecocks - Dover in the #3/6 play-in game. They notched an 11-2 win over the DSA Bulldogs in the semifinals, and followed that up with a 9-1 win over the LKN Hurricanes in the finals. In the one-day event in Charlotte, the LBC Hammerheads went 2-0 with wins over On Deck O's Weddington and On Deck O's Black.

 

13u

In the 60/90 Open division at the Triangle region site, last year's #10 team Carolina Titans Blue finished 3-1 for the weekend to take home the title. On Saturday, they defeated Carolina Rage Red 12-2, which was the Rage's only loss of the weekend, and an 8-7 loss against East Coast Clippers 2025. On Sunday, the Titans blanked Dirtbags Black 11-0 and defeated Greenville Athletics - Mason 4-1. In the 54/80 division, NCABC Fungo - Waltman finished 3-1 for the weekend, which was good enough for them to take home the championship. They notched wins over Next Level/JG, RBI Raptors Blue, and the Carolina Stingers, in addition to a loss against Durham Blues - Clegg.

At the Charlotte site, Concord Athletics - Barbee moved to 12-0 this fall with a 4-0 record. On Saturday, they notched a 15-1 win over the HQ4 Clippers and a 15-0 win over the Foothills Prospects. On Sunday, the Athletics edged past last year's #19 team LBC Attack 10-9 and topped SBA Patriots Black 9-4 in the finals. In Concord, Stars Baseball finished 4-0 for the weekend in this double round robin format event of 3 teams. They outscored the Cabarrus Storm and Stanly County Canines a combined 43-1 across 4 games.