The 9u division saw some outstanding teams, many of whom went head-to-head, representing a multitude of regions throughout the state. Although it was difficult to feel all teams were appropriately slotted, we feel strongly that our top team was deserving of that spot. The top spot in our end-of-season rankings went to the Park Sharon Nationals. The Nationals finished the fall 18-2, with both of their losses coming against 10u teams (Tega Cay Titans (SC) and Team 24 Gamecocks – Bailey (SC)). They also went 2-0 against 10u #4 Mission Baseball Gold, 2-0 against #11 Carolina Red Sox – Jones, and won a 9u Top Gun tournament in early September by a combined margin of 73-0! Dirtbags Black ended the fall #2 in our rankings after ending the fall 21-5. Their record included going 2-0 against #3 West Raleigh Blue and the championship in the D1 division of the Top Gun Winter World Series. West Raleigh Blue finished #3 in our rankings, going 13-2 this fall, with their only two losses coming against Dirtbags Black. They also had a win over #8 NCDB Rivercats, as well as a championship at the Ripken Experience November Walk-Off tournament. The Piedmont Panthers earned our #4 spot this fall after posting a 23-1 record this fall. They posted a 1-1 record against #13 Carolina Havoc, 3 wins against #14 Lake Norman Thunder, a win against #15 Union County Crush, and a win over #16 Mount Holly Lightning. Finishing out our top 5, the 18-1 Carolina Titans posted a 1-1 record against #18 Smash Baseball as well as a win over #8 NCDB Rivercats.
Five Star Carolina – Hilton earned the #6 ranking on our list. Five Star was 16-5 this fall including 4 wins against #9 Southwest Colts as well as a win over #19 Diamond Deacons. Greenville Athletics – Scott finished #7 on our rankings, going 17-3 this fall in Top Gun play. They won the D2 Top Gun Winter World Series, going 4-0 for the weekend including a win over #20 GBI Express in the finals. They also went 1-1 against Dirtbags Black this fall. The NCDB Rivercats finished #8 in our 9u rankings after going 12-5 this fall including going 3-1 against #18 Smash Baseball and wins against #11 Carolina Red Sox – Jones and GBI Express. SW Colts finished #9 in our rankings. The went 17-7 this fall, playing largely an AAU schedule in Clemmons where they finished 16-4. Rounding our our top 10 was the Davidson County Rippers. They finished 10-1 in USSSA play and 2-1 in AAU play (they also played some Dynasty Baseball tournament(s), but those results are not available to us).
Carolina Red Sox – Jones finished #11 in our rankings this fall. Although their record was only 10-7-1, they played one of the most competitive schedules in the state, and had two wins over Five Star Carolina – Hilton, a win over the SW Colts, and a win over #13 Carolina Havoc. The Summerfield Stars finished #12 in our fall rankings, going 14-6 this fall. Carolina Havoc finished #13 in our rankings going 12-4 this fall including giving the Piedmont Panthers their only loss of the fall. Our #14 ranking went to the Lake Norman Thunder. The Thunder posted a 24-7 record this fall including a 1-1 record against #16 Mount Holly Lightning. The Union County Crush earned the #15 ranking after posting a a 18-7 record this fall including a win over the #13 Carolina Havoc.
Our #16 ranking went to The Mount Holly Lightning. The Lightning finished 17-6 this fall and as noted previously had a 1-1 record against the Lake Norman Thunder. Rock Solid Red finished #17 in our rankings after going 13-4 this fall. Rock Solid had a couple of nice wins over the Myrtle Beach Rays to highlight their fall campaign. Smash Baseball finished #18 in our rankings after going 20-6 this fall, largely between AAU play in Oxford and Top Gun. Smash gave the #5 Carolina Titans their only loss of the fall, but also went 1-3 against #8 NCDB Rivercats. The Diamond Deacons finished #19 in our 9u rankings this fall. The Deacons finished 12-5 in USSSA play this fall including a 2-1 record against #6 Five Star Carolina – Hilton. Finishing out our top 20 was GBI Express. GBI finished 17-7 this fall, playing largely Top Gun tournaments. They did post one win over #7 Greenville Athletics – Scott and had several close losses to some top 10 teams.
Overall, there was a lot of flux in the 9u rankings this fall. We would expect to see some significant changes in the Spring as well as teams get more comfortable with playing kid pitch. Park Sharon will head into the Spring as our number 1 team and hopefully we’ll get to see them go up against some of the other top 9u teams in the state. As we have noted before, our hope is that these types of rankings might stimulate some of the top teams to seek one another out and enhance the baseball experience for all kids involved. Congrats on a great fall season to all 9u teams!