The 13u age group has some of the most competitive teams in the entire Southeastern US. Dirtbags MVP, who finished #2 in our final 2017-2018 12u rankings, was #1 for the entire fall season. They stayed just ahead of #2 Canes Baseball Eastern NC, who finished #1 in our final 2017-2018 12u rankings. Between the spring 2018 and fall 2018 seasons, we saw some changes in the age group with the Park Sharon Nationals (#4 in the final 2017-2018 12u rankings) and Majestic Greensboro (#6 in the final 2017-2018 12u rankings) moving over to the Dirtbags organization to become Dirtbags Nationals and Dirtbags TBM, respectfully. Here we recap and provide the rationale for our final 13u rankings for the fall 2018 season.
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Dirtbags MVP
The Dirtbags finished the 2017-2018 seasons as the #2 team in our final rankings, but went wire-to-wire in the top spot in our 13u fall rankings to finish at #1. They posted a 24-7-1 record overall this past fall season with numerous impressive wins. They notched 4 wins against 14u competition, a win over #3 Sanford Cobras, two wins over #11 Canes Baseball Charlotte, #12 TPA Nationals - Christman, as well as wins over 16-6 Chain Gang (SC) and a win over 31-7 Team 24 Gamecocks - Brown (SC). 2 of their 7 losses came against 14u teams. In addition, they had losses against Canes Charlotte (x2), Cell Block (GA), the Smartense Angels (GA), and 24-5-1 Kangaroo Court - Fleischacker (FL).
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Canes Baseball Eastern NC
The Canes finished the 2017-2018 seasons as the #1 12u team in North Carolina in our final rankings. They continued to perform at a very high level this fall, facing off against some of the best competition in the state. They posted an overall record record of 13-7-2, with wins over #3 Sanford Cobras, #7 NCDB Rivercats, #9 Carolina Titans - Wilson, #12 TPA Nationals - Christman, and #17 New Bern Flames. 4 of their 7 losses came against 13u teams, and only one of their 13u losses came against a team from North Carolina (NCDB Rivercats). Their other two losses came against 31-7 Team 24 Gamecocks - Brown and 8-2 Dirty South Venom (VA).
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Sanford Cobras
The Sanford Cobras finished with an outstanding 16-2 overall record this fall season, which was one of the best records in the entire state in the 13u age group. Their only losses came against #1 Dirtbags MVP and #2 Canes Baseball Eastern NC. They scored wins over #4 Dirtbags Nationals, #9 Carolina Titans - Wilson (x2), #11 Canes Baseball Charlotte, and #12 TPA Nationals - Christman.
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Dirtbags Nationals
The Dirtbags posted a 13-3-1 record this past fall season, coming off a #4 finish in our final 2017-2018 12u rankings. They notched wins over #5 Dirtbags TBM, #7 NCDB Rivercats, #15 Golden Spikes, and Team 24 Gamecocks - Brown (SC). They also had a tie against #2 Canes Baseball Eastern NC. Their 3 losses came against #3 Sanford Cobras, #5 Dirtbags TBM, and #6 Carolina Rockies - Wilson.
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Dirtbags TBM
The Dirtbags, who finished 6th in our final 2017-2018 12u rankings, posted an overall record of 16-5-1 this fall season. Among their 16 wins, Dirtbags TBM notched wins over #4 Dirtbags Nationals, #6 Carolina Rockies - Wilson, #11 Canes Baseball Charlotte, #15 Golden Spikes, and two wins against 14u teams. 2 of their 5 losses came against 14u teams. In addition, they had losses against #4 Dirtbags Nationals and #12 TPA Nationals - Christman. They also scored a tie against #2 Canes Baseball Eastern NC.
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Carolina Rockies - Wilson
The Rockies finished off the fall season with a 16-8-2 overall record. Among their 16 wins, the Rockies scored 3 wins over 14u teams. In addition, they had wins over #4 Dirtbags Nationals (x2), #8 Five Star Carolina - Smith, #10 Athlete's Warehouse, #11 Canes Baseball Charlotte, #12 TPA Nationals - Christman, and #14 SBA Premier. They also had a tie against Dirtbags Nationals. They also had two losses against 14u teams, as well as losses against #5 Dirtbags TBM, Athlete's Warehouse, and the Dirty South Venom.
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NCDB Rivercats
The Rivercats notched an overall record of 14-7 this past fall season against one of the best schedules in the state this past season. They scored wins over #2 Canes Baseball Eastern NC, #9 Carolina Titans - Wilson, #12 TPA Nationals - Christman, #15 Golden Spikes, and #17 New Bern Flames. 6 of their 7 losses came against ranked competition, including losses against Canes Baseball Eastern NC, #4 Dirtbags Nationals, Carolina Titans - Wilson (x2), #11 Canes Baseball Charlotte, and the New Bern Flames.
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Five Star Carolina - Smith
Five Star posted a 14-5 record this fall across all competitions. They posted several wins over top 20 teams including a win over #9 Carolina Titans - Wilson, #16 Copperheads - Gaffney, and #17 New Bern Flames (x2). Among their 5 losses, Five Star had losses against one 14u team, as well as losses to #6 Carolina Rockies - Wilson and #11 Canes Baseball Charlotte.
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Carolina Titans - Wilson
The Carolina Titans posted an impressive 26-6 record this fall. They had 6 wins against ranked teams, including two wins over #7 NCDB Rivercats, two wins over #13 Spartans Gold, and two wins over #17 New Bern Flames. Among their 6 losses, they had losses against #2 Canes Baseball Eastern NC, #3 Sanford Cobras (x2), the NCDB Rivercats, and #8 Five Star Carolina - Smith.
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Athlete's Warehouse
Athlete's Warehouse from Salisbury, posted a 16-4 record across Top Gun and USSSA competition this fall. Within their 16 wins, Athlete's Warehouse had wins over #6 Carolina Rockies - Wilson, #13 Spartans Gold, as well as two wins over 31-7 Team 24 Gamecocks - Brown (SC). They also had a lost against Carolina Rockies - Wilson.
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Canes Baseball Charlotte - Wearing
The Canes had one of the toughest schedules in the entire 13u age group this fall, and finished with a 19-10 record overall. They scored 7 wins over top 20 teams including two wins against #1 Dirtbags MVP, a win over #7 NCDB Rivercats, a win over #8 Five Star Carolina - Smith, two wins over #14 SBA Premier, and a win over #16 Copperheads - Gaffney. They also had a win over Cell Block (GA), who were 12-7 this fall with a win over Dirtbags MVP. The Canes had two losses against Dirtbags MVP, a loss to #3 Sanford Cobras, #5 Dirtbags TBM, #6 Carolina Rockies - Wilson, 31-7 Team 24 Gamecocks - Brown (x2), and two losses to Canes SCBA (SC).
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TPA Nationals - Christman
Similar to Canes Charlotte, the TPA Nationals played an extremely competitive schedule this fall, finishing with an overall record of 6-7. Of their 7 losses, 3 came against 14u teams, with the other 4 coming against #1 Dirtbags MVP, #2 Canes Baseball Eastern NC, #3 Sanford Cobras, and #7 NCDB Rivercats. They had wins over #5 Dirtbags TBM and #6 Carolina Rockies - Wilson, solidifying their status among the top 20 teams in the 13u age group.
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Spartans - Gold
The Spartans posted an overall record of 19-8 this fall across all competitions. Although they did not score any wins over other top 20 wins this fall, they did have a win over 16-6 Chain Gang (SC). In addition, they had losses against #9 Carolina Titans - Wilson, #10 Athlete's Warehouse, and #15 Golden Spikes, indicating the quality of their schedule.
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SBA Premier
Similar to some of the teams ranked in this range, SBA Premier appear to have posted a record unbecoming of a top 20, finishing at 8-7. Of their 7 losses, they had a loss against #6 Carolina Rockies - Wilson, #7 NCDB Rivercats, two losses against #11 Canes Baseball Charlotte, and a loss against 31-7 Team 24 Gamecocks - Brown (SC). They did not, however, post any wins over top 20 teams.
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Golden Spikes
The Golden Spikes hailing from the Waynesville/Whittier area, went 12-7 this fall across Top Gun, Perfect Game, and USSSA competition. They had a win over #13 Spartans Gold to highlight their fall season. Among their 7 losses the Golden Spikes had loss against #4 Dirtbags Nationals, #5 Dirtbags TBM, and #7 NCDB Rivercats.
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Copperheads - Gaffney
The Copperheads posted an impressive 10-3 record this fall season. They did not have any wins over top 20 wins this fall season. 2 of their 3 losses came against ranked opponents in #8 Five Star Carolina - Smith and #11 Canes Baseball Charlotte.
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New Bern Flames
The Flames were one of the more up-and-down teams in the 13u age group this fall. They finished with a 7-9 record overall, but had a win over #7 NCDB Rivercats to highlight their season. They also played a competitive schedule with losses against #2 Canes Baseball Eastern NC, the NCDB Rivercats, #8 Five Star Carolina - Smith (x2), and #9 Carolina Titans - Wilson.
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Carolina Prime
Carolina Prime finished with an overall record of 16-5 this fall season. They did not have any wins over teams in our top 20, but did have wins over a tough Ultimate Performance - Griffin team as well as a very good Bulldogs team.
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Carolina Titans Blue
The Titans posted an 11-4 record this fall season. Much like Carolina Prime, they did not have any wins over teams in our top 20. They did, however, have a win over an excellent Area Stars - Hughes team, who was right on the cusp of our top 20 this fall season.
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Smoke
Smoke is an interesting team in our top 20. They played as both a 13u team and a combined 13u/14u team this fall season, going 7-1 as a 13u team and 2-5 as a combined 13u/14u team. They did not defeat any of our top 20 teams, however did have wins over a very good Green Sox (SC) team and a quality PRO Prodigy (SC) team. We'd be very interested to see how these guys would match up against some of the teams ranked above them.