Best Youth Baseball Programs in North Carolina 2017-2018

This past winter we published a list of some of the top programs in the state of North Carolina. With the action from this past year complete, we have put together a ranking of how the top programs in North Carolina performed in the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018. These rankings are purely subjective, and simply a reflection of how the different programs performed across the 8u-13u age groups. We should also note that many of the top teams in North Carolina do not belong to organizations and this is not a reflection one way or another on those teams. Our hope was to provide a ranking of these programs for some fun and discussion. Congrats to all the programs in our top 10.

  1. Dirtbags

    The Dirtbags were founded in 2002 and have numerous teams across all age groups. Their teams are located throughout the state and run locally by their respective coaching staffs. They had a total of 11 ranked teams across the 8u to 13u age groups, which was the most of any program in North Carolina. Some of that is related to the number of teams playing under the Dirtbags banner, but there is no debate about the quality of teams playing for the Dirtbags. They finished with Dirtbags Black ranked #2 and Dirtbags East #13 in our 8u end of season rankings, Dirtbags Black ranked #3 and Dirtbags East ranked #8 in the 9u rankings, 3 teams ranked in our 10u rankings (#5 Dirtbags Platinum, #6 Dirtbags East, and #8 Dirtbags Black), Dirtbags East ranked #16 in our 11u rankings, and Dirtbags - Smith, Dirtbags Charlotte, and Dirtbags Platinum - Holt ranked 5th, 14th, and 17th, respectively, in our 13u rankings. In addition to an outstanding year this past year, we'd expect to see the Dirtbags near the top of our Programs list again next year as they will be adding several top teams including 9u #1 Park Sharon Nationals, 12u #2 Minion, 12u #4 Park Sharon Nationals, and 12u #6 Majestic Greensboro to their program.

  2. Canes Baseball NC

    Canes Baseball is one of the top programs in the entire US, let along in the state of North Carolina. Similar to the Dirtbags, teams take on the Canes name but are individually run at the team/local level. They are significantly smaller presence in youth baseball than the Dirtbags, but nevertheless boast some of the top youth teams in North Carolina. Canes Baseball NC finished with 7 ranked teams, including Canes Baseball NC - Gilchrist, who finished #2 in our 10u rankings. Canes Baseball NC - Simpson and Canes Baseball NC - Hood finished #4 and #6, respectively in our 11u rankings. Canes Baseball NC - Harland finished #9 in our final 12u rankings, while Canes Baseball NC - Gallaher finished #1, Canes Baseball NC - Haire finished #4, and Canes Baseball NC - Wearing finished #8 in our 13u rankings this year. Similar to Dirtbags organization, Canes Baseball will see some changes starting in the fall with 12u #1 Legends Baseball becoming a part of the organization and Canes - Gilchrist leaving the organization.

  3. Showcase Baseball Academy

    Showcase Baseball Academy (SBA), which is based out of Charlotte, NC, produced one of the more complete programs across all of youth baseball in North Carolina this past year. Slightly different from the Dirtbags and Canes, SBA is a structured organization with facilities and teams at multiple age groups. They do have teams at other facilities beyond their flagship facility in Charlotte. They did not have a team ranked at the 8u age group, but produced 7 ranked teams across all age groups including the #2 (SBA Canes - Simmons) and #5 (SBA Canes - Pitts) teams in the 9u age group, the #1 team in the 10u age group in SBA Canes - Marconi, the #1 (SBA Canes - Ross) and #12 teams (SBA Canes - Erwin) in the 11u age group, the #8 team in the 12u age group in SBA Canes Mendez, and the 19th ranked team in the 13u age group, SBA Canes - Cruz.

 

 

  1. West Raleigh

    West Raleigh routinely produces some of the best youth teams in North Carolina, and this year was no exception. West Raleigh is structured differently than the programs ranked #1-4 in that at ages 12u and below, the kids in their program play recreation baseball in the fall and spring seasons in a competitive recreation environment. Although the majority of their teams only start playing travel ball after their rec season has ended, their 8u Blue team ended up #1 in our 8u rankings. In addition, their 9u Blue finished #6 in our top 20, 10u Blue finished #4 in our rankings, 11u Blue finished #11, and 12u Blue finished #15 in our top 20.

  2. North Carolina Development Baseball

    The North Carolina Development Baseball (NCDB) Rivercats are located in Raleigh, NC, and function similarly to Showcase Baseball Academy. They are true developmental program, often having their teams play up an age group. They field teams from 8u through high school, and have facilities and professional instructors for their players. This year they were the only program to finsh with a team represented in all age groups from 8u to 13u demonstrating the depth of their program as a whole. Their highest ranked team was their 13u group, who finished #3 in our final 13u rankings. Their 8u team went from unranked after the fall season to finish #9 in our final 8u rankings. In addition, the Rivercats finished #17 in our 9u rankings, #7 in our 10u rankings, #15 in our 11u rankings, and #13 in our 12u rankings.

  3. Five Star Carolina

    Five Star Baseball is a well established national program who has recently begun gaining a strong foothold in the state of North Carolina, amongst other states across the nation. Their North Carolina program, primarily based out of Winston-Salem, continues to expand and features several outstanding teams. 11u #2 Five Star Carolina - Neyra was their top performing team, holding the #1 spot in our 11u rankings for 6 weeks this spring before finishing #2 in our final rankings. In addition, this past year Five Star Carolina produced 4 other ranked teams including 9u #10 Five Star - Shelton, 12u #7 Five Star - Shelton, 12u #11 Five Star - Smith, and 12u #19 Five Star LKN.

 

 

  1. East Rowan

    East Rowan functions similarly to West Raleigh in that their travel baseball players are also part of their recreation program and play within the Cal Ripken All Stars tournament schedule in the spring/summer. They generally go back and forth with West Raleigh for state supremacy within the Cal Ripken circuit. In addition to their prominence on the All Stars circuit, their teams are generally some of the best travel teams in the state. This year they produced 4 teams ranked in our top 20s. Their 8u team, who won the Southeast Regionals in Cal Ripken All Stars, finished #5 in our final rankings. East Rowan - Smith finished #18 in our 9u rankings, and East Rowan teams finished #9 and #3 in our final 10u and 12u rankings, respectively.

  2. Rock Solid/Coastal Athletics

    The Rock Solid teams, based out of Coastal Athletics in Wilmington, NC, function similar to a few of the other organizations in our top 10 including SBA and NCDB. They have facilities, professional trainers, and boast multiple teams ranging from 8u through high school aged teams. The top team within a respective age group is generally the Red team, followed by the Blue team, and at some age groups a White team. This past year, Rock Solid finished with 4 teams ranked in our final rankings. At 10u, Rock Solid Red finished 11th in the state in our final rankings. Their 11u Red team finished 18th in our final top 20, and the 12u and 13u teams finished 14th and 11th, respectively, in our final 12u and 13u rankings.

  3. Park Sharon Nationals

    The program at the Park Sharon Athletic Association functions somewhat similarly to programs such as West Raleigh and East Rowan, with some slight differences. Players have the opportunity to play recreation baseball, but also have the opportunity to try out and play for their club/travel program, the Park Sharon Nationals. This past year Park Sharon produced two outstanding travel teams who finished ranked in our top 20 end-of-season rankings. The 9u Park Sharon Nationals had one of the more impressive seasons of any travel team in North Carolina, culminating in a championship at the Wilson Demarini USSSA Elite World Series title in Florida and the #1 ranking in our 9u rankings. The 12u Nationals finished 4th in our rankings after an impressive season of their own. As noted previously, both of these teams will be transitioning to the Dirtbags program beginning in the fall of 2018.

  4. Mission Vipers

    This past winter, Mission Baseball partnered with the Carolina Vipers program to become their youth affiliate. Primarily located in Waxhaw. NC, near Charlotte, the Mission Vipers produced several outstanding youth teams this past season. Their program was led by the 11u Mission Vipers Gold team, who finished 5th in our final rankings. In addition, their 10u Gold and Black teams were quite competitive across the state, with the 10u Mission Vipers Black team finishing 19th in our 10u rankings.