Lots of great baseball was played across the state this past weekend and there were some significant changes made to the rankings. Two new #1s were selected and many new teams made appearances across different age groups. Check out the rankings and read more to see our thought process. Don’t agree with these rankings? Let us know.
8u
We finally made the move and bumped the Carolina Threshers up to #1. To be honest, this wasn’t a hard decision. These kids are 17-0 and already had a win over previous #1 Dirtbags Black. We were just a bit surprised by what they were doing. Another undefeated tournament victory with a win over #9 Stix was enough to convince us to bump them up. The Dirtbags slide to #2 and West Raleigh Blue to #3. New to the list at #4 are the South Charlotte Cardinals. These kids are 11-0 and dominating everything in their way. Unfortunately they won’t be at the Winter World Series to play against West Raleigh, Dirtbags Black, and the Threshers. East Rowan holds steady at #5 and the Carolina Vandals were bumped down slightly by South Charlotte’s move and their 3-2 weekend (despite winning the tournament championship) this past weekend in Oxford. The Lake Norman Vipers are new to the list at #7. The Vipers are 11-3 this season with all 3 losses coming against South Charlotte. Spartans Allen is back in the top ten at #8, with the 11-5 Stix falling to #9 with their loss this past weekend to the Threshers. The Leland Lugnuts round out the top 10.
9u
This is another age group where a change was made at the top. The Park Sharon Nationals have just been too good to ignore. They are 4-0 against 9u competition, outscoring opponents 73-0. That’s right, 73-0. They also have two wins against 10u #6 Mission Baseball and just went 3-1 this past weekend playing 10u in Spartanburg, SC losing to a quality Team 24 Gamecocks 7-6 in the finals. Similar to 8u, Dirtbags Black slide to #2 and West Raleigh Blue to #3. New to the list at #4 are the Carolina Titans. This may seem like a huge jump, but all they did this past weekend was go 4-0 in Oxford and dominate #5 NCDB Rivercats 11-1 in the Championship. Their only loss on the season came at the hands of #11 Smash Baseball, who also slid this week after two losses to NCDB. Five Star Carolina – Hilton is up to #6 this week after a 4-0 weekend in USSSA improved their overall record to 13-4. The SW Colts made a big move up to from 13th to 8th. They are 17-7 this fall and capped off a 4-0 weekend this past weekend with wins over #17 GBC Prospects and #12 Davidson County Rippers. The GBC Prospects went 0-4 this past weekend, their first losses of the season, and moved all the down from 4th to 17th. Davidson County Rippers also fell from #7 to #12 with a loss to East Rowan this past weekend. East Rowan fell from #12 to #16 after a 2-2 weekend. New to the list at #20 are the SBA Canes who are 14-7 in Top Gun play this fall including 10-2 since September 30th.
10u
No change at the top. Evoshield Canes NC – Gilchrist are perhaps the most dominant team within their own age group of any team in the state. MARA Cobras remain at #2. We moved Clayton up to #3 and Port City to #4. Clayton scored two victories over #18 Wendell Knights this past weekend to warrant the change. East Rowan moved up from #7 to #5 after a 4-0 weekend that included a win over #9 Rawlings Stars. The Carolina Thunder moved up from #11 to #7. They continue to dominate lesser competition at the Oxford AAU site. It will be nice to see these guys try and step up their competition level at some point. Alamance Patriots fall from #6 to #8. They have only played 4 games this fall (4-0 with a win over #12 Youngsville Heat), so until they play more, they’ll continue to fall. Dirtbags Black made a jump from #16 to #11 after a 3-1 weekend with two wins against #16 Sandhills Stingrays and splitting a pair of games with #15 FV Wildcats. FV Wildcats continue to move up the rankings. They started the season 0-3 but have since rebounded against largely lesser competition, although they did go 3-1 this past weekend including a win over the Dirtbags Black. West Raleigh Blue stays in the top 20 after going undefeated at the Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach two weeks ago.
11u
SBA Canes – Ross were idle and remain #1. Cleveland Wildcats slipped to #6 after falling to the SP Vipers this past weekend. They finished 3-1 for the weekend. Five Star Carolina – Neyra moves up to #2. They continue to play well playing predominately 12u competition, beating 12u #10 Majestic Greensboro before losing in the 12u finals this past weekend in Clemmons to the Carolina Rattlers. The rest of the top 10 was largely unchanged as many of these teams were idle. One new addition was the Weddington Warriors who went 4-0 this past weekend in Top Gun to move to 14-5-1. They are going to have to face some higher level competition if they want to keep this lofty ranking. West Raleigh Blue took a big drop from #10 to #19 after a 1-3 weekend this past weekend. Unfortunately, their ranking is currently based a lot on what they did this past Spring/Summer, winning the Cal Ripken World Series. If they don’t perform at the Winter World Series they may drop out of the top 20. Carolina Pilots were another new addition to the top 20, coming in at #20 after a 4-0 weekend in Top Gun. They’ll have a chance to prove their worth in the D2 division of the Top Gun Winter World Series.
12u
Legends Baseball continues to be dominate in 12u, like Evoshield Canes NC – Gilchrist at 10u, although Legends has much closer competition than the Canes. Primarily that competition comes from Minion who moved up to #2. Of note, we have moved the Evoshield Canes NC – Harland out of our rankings at this time as they are not playing this fall. We’ll have to wait and see what is in store for them in the Spring. Majestic Greensboro took a big tumble from #4 to #10 after losing to 11u #2 Five Star Carolina – Neyra this past weekend in Clemmons. Carolina Vipers made a big move up from #12 to #5 after winning a Top Gun championship this past weekend with wins over the SBA Canes and Team24 Gamecocks. They pushed their season record to 13-4 with a 3-1 weekend this past weekend. The Rawlings Prospects NC were added to the top 20 at #7 after a dominating victory over #12 Sanford Cobras. The Stars haven’t played much this fall so they’ll have to earn it if they want to keep this spot. The Sanford Cobras fell from #7 to #12 after a 1-3 weekend dropped them to 13-7 for the season. There only saving grace is the excellent competition they’ve faced this fall. Carolina Titans – Wilson fell from #11 to #20 after a 1-3 weekend. There were three newcomers to the list, the NSA Snipers (#14, 9-2), SBA LKN Carolina Cobras (#15, 8-3), and Golden Spikes (#19, 18-3).
13u
The top 10 was largely unchanged and all of the top 5 (Evoshield Canes NC – Gallaher, Evoshield Canes NC – Haire, East Coast Clippers, Charlotte Nationals, and NCDB Rivercats) will be in the field in the 60/90 D1 division at the Top Gun Winter World Series this weekend. The Dirtbags Black moved up from #13 to #9. They haven’t lost a game since an ugly 1-3 tournament in early September. Holly Springs Rage Black (Ferreira) and Greenville Athletics – Jones continue to move up the rankings with steady performances while teams in front of them flounder. Several new teams populated the top 20 this week after some poor performances near the bottom of our top 20. These include the Carolina Sox (#17, 13-2), Bomb Squad Elite (#18, 11-1), Bandits CBC (#19, 7-1), and Carolina Titans – Ambrose (#20, 11-3).