The second weekend of Fall Zone Qualifiers takes place this weekend in preparation for the upcoming Top Gun Winter World Series (8u, 9u, 11u, 13u, 15u 10/20-10/22, and 10u, 12u, 14u, and HSU 11/3-11/5). Top Gun has 9 sites going this weekend including 6 in North Carolina. Here we preview the action in the state of North Carolina. Note: schedule for Charlotte and Concord are not yet posted. We’ll update this post when those schedules are posted.
Cary
11u
#2 Cleveland Wildcats will be the favorite in this age group. This will be another team that has the opportunity to solidify their ranking with a dominating weekend.
12u
There will be D1, D2, and D3 divisions in the 12u age group this weekend. The D1 tournament is absolutely loaded and should be a great tournament. #1 Legends Baseball, #7 Sanford Cobras, #11 Carolina Titans – Wilson, #13 WM9 Signature, #15 Carolina Thunder, and #17 NCDB Rivercats are all in the field. Team Dirty South Venom (VA) is also in the field and should be competitive. All of the teams have a great opportunity to make a statement this weekend as they should be facing off against multiple top 20 teams. While Legends Baseball is the clear cut favorite, they’ll have to earn it, facing off against WM9 signature on Saturday before heading into bracket play on Sunday. 11u #10 West Raleigh Blue will be be playing up this weekend. This is a field they should be able to compete in with none of our top 20 in the 12u age group in the D2 field.
13u 54/80
None of our top 20 are in the field in this age group this weekend.
13u 60/90
#3 East Coast Clippers and #14 Carolina Naturals headline this field and will face each other on Saturday in what should be a highly competitive game.
Snow Hill
8u
#2 Carolina Threshers and #7 Stix will be in the field in the 8u age group in Snow Hill. The Threshers will put their undefeated record on the line, and although these two should be the favorites, this is an age group where so little baseball has been played that anything can happen.
9u
#1 Dirtbags Black will have another great opportunity to solidify their ranking in their battle against West Raleigh Blue, who is idle this weekend. #14 Greenville Athletics – Scott and #19 GBI Express will also be in the field this weekend. Greenville Athletics – Scott could make a big jump this weekend as they already have one victory over Dirtbags Black to their credit this fall.
10u
There will be both D1/D2 and D3 divisions in 10u this weekend in Snow Hill. #4 Clayton Fusion and #18 Wendell Knights will be the headliners in the 10u age group in Snow Hill this weekend. They won’t have to wait long to face each other, going head-to-head at 10:30 AM on Saturday. I’d expect to see one of these two win the age group this weekend.
11u
None of our top 20 are in the field in this age group this weekend.
12u
None of our top 20 are in the field in this age group this weekend.
13u
#17 Greenville Athletics – Jones will have a chance to enhance their ranking this weekend in a field in which they should be the favorite. There are no other top 20 teams in the field in this age group in Snow Hill this weekend.
Fayetteville
10u
There will be an open and a D3 division in the 10u age group in Fayetteville this weekend. #8 Sandhills Stingrats, #16 Dirtbags Black, and #19 FV Wildcats will all be in the open field this weekend. There’s only 4 teams in that division so it should be very competitive.
11u
None of our op 20 will be in this age group in Fayetteville this weekend.
12u
None of our op 20 will be in this age group in Fayetteville this weekend.
Charlotte
8u
The 8u rankings have been the most difficult to do as these teams are mostly brand new to the travel circuit, and understandably, very few of the teams travel beyond their local region. So although the Charlotte has just one team in the field in our top ten (#5 East Rowan), there are several teams in the field who could make a splash. South Charlotte, for instance, is 9-0 this fall, including an 11-9 victory over East Rowan in early September. A good showing by them this weekend could earn them a spot in the top 10. The Lake Norman Vipers are another team in a similar position with a 9-2 record this fall and with both losses coming against South Charlotte.
9u
The 9u field should be very competitive. #8 Lake Norman Thunder will be the favorite but they’ll have to earn it if they want to win this championship. The SBA Canes, who previously beat the Lake Norman Thunder 10-0 just two weeks ago, will provide a stiff challenge and have an opportunity to break into the top 20 with a strong weekend showing this weekend.
10u
The 10u age group also boasts an excellent field this weekend with #7 East Rowan, #9 Rawlings Stars, and #15 Carolina Havoc as well as Heat Baseball from Gastonia and the Tega Cay Titans (SC). Although it’s a large field, I’d expect to see one of the above teams take home the title.
11u
Although none of our top 20 are in the field in the 11u age group in Charlotte this weekend, there should be several teams on the brink of breaking into the top 20 who can enhance their resumes this weekend. The Weddington Warriors and Team USA Diamond King are two teams that have a chance to stake their claims as a top 20 team in the state of North Carolina. Team USA Diamond King has a 1-1 record against #16 SBA Canes – Erwin to suggest they are close to being included on the list. The Weddington Warriors boast a 12-5-1 record this fall and are looking to take the next step.
12u
The 12u age group will be the fall Top Gun debut for #3 Minion. Owners of a 12-3 record this fall, Minion will be looking to get in prime form in preparation for the Top Gun Winter World Series taking place November 3-5th. 5 Star LKN may provide some tough competition for Minion, but Minion looks like the team to beat in this age group.
13u
#6 Charlotte Nationals will be in action in the 60/90 division this weekend. They’ll be looking to improve upon their 10-1 record this fall, but should face some competition from the 8-4-1 #20 Copperheads – Evernham and the Team24 Gamecocks – Zohner (SC).