Still some good baseball going on this weekend in Top Gun outside of the Winter World Series. Here’s a rundown of this weekend’s events.
Cary
10u
None of our top 20 is in the field in 10u this weekend. The South Wake Storm should be the favorite here. They are 10-5 this fall and will be seeing largely D3 competition in this field. They’ll start with the HYAA Hawks and the VA Squires on Saturday.
12u
There’s both a D2 and D3 field in this age group, with 9 teams in the D2 division and 12 in the D3 division. None of our 12u top 20 are in the field so this should be fairly competitive. Both West Raleigh Blue and Red are in the field, with Blue going up against The Performance Academy – Viracola and the Carolina Thunder and Red facing the Thunder and the Aldie Senators (VA) on day 1. TPA – Viracola will also play the Aldie Senators on Saturday.
Charlotte
8u
New #7 Lake Norman Vipers headline this 3 team field. They’re 9-2 this fall and will be facing Cherryville Baseball and WCW. They are 3-0 against Cherryville this fall and WCW is 0-6 in Top Gun play. This looks like Lake Norman’s tournament to lose.
9u
#14 Mount Holly Lightning is the highest ranked team in this field of 10 teams, but they’ll face some stiff competition. The 15-1 Piedmont Panthers are also in the field and knocking on the door of our top 20. The Panther’s only loss this fall came against the Carolina Havoc, who are also in the field this weekend. Mount Holly will play Elite 9 (SC) and SBA Canes Red on Saturday. Piedmont Panthers will go against Copperheads – Moffitt and and Team24 Gamecocks – Cunningham, and the Havoc are scheduled to play Stealth Elite Eagles and the Charlotte Nationals. The top 3 teams avoided each other on the scheduled on Saturday, so I expect to see these 3 battle it out for the Gold Bracket title on Sunday.
10u
None of our top 20 are in the field this weekend, however that doesn’t mean there won’t be some excellent baseball in this age group. The Triple Crown Lookouts are 8-3 this fall and should be in the hunt this weekend. Big Cats are making their Top Gun debut this fall but have put up some respectable results in AAU already. In a true scheduling oddity, both Big Cats and the Lookouts will go against Mooresville Legends and Concord Comets on Saturday.
11u
After breaking into our top 20 this week, #13 Weddington Warriors will look to prove their worth and make it back-to-back Top Gun Championships. They’ll face the SC Crush and Charlotte Nationals South on Saturday. The Warriors are the heavy favorite in this tournament in our view, but Team24 Gamecock – Latham could also provide some competition.
12u
#9 Five Star Carolina is the top ranked team in the field and they’ll face War Eagles and the On Deck O’s on Saturday. Although it’s been an up and down fall for both Couloak Thunder and and Elite Baseball EBC, both could compete for a title in this field. They’ll face each other on Saturday in what should be a great game. They also both play Team24 Gamecocks – Wilson in a de facto pool.
13u
None of our top 20 are in the field in Charlotte at 13u. Rivals Baseball -Keller (SC) are 13-3 this fall and may be the favorite in this relatively even field. They’ll play Charlotte Nationals South and Bluechip Athletes. The Bluechip Athletes are 8-2 this fall and also should be in the hunt on Sunday afternoon. They will face Charlotte Nationals South and Rivals Baseball on Saturday. Copperheads – Barrozzino have been inconsistent this fall but will looks for some steady play this weekend, starting against Stars Baseball and the SBA Canes LKN. SBA Canes LKN could also be in the mix and will be up against Stars Baseball in addition to Copperheads – Barozzino.
Indian Trail
10u
Aces – Edwards are 7-1 this fall and should be the favorite in this 4 team field. They’ll play Panthers and Rocky River Rage on Saturday. We think Panthers will be the biggest competition on Sunday, and in addition to Aces – Edwards, the Panthers will face the Carolina Waves on Saturday.
12u
This is also a 4 team field and should be a competitive tournament. Several of these teams have played one another this fall, Stars Elite going 1-0 against the SBA Canes and 1-1 against Aces – Dennis. Aces – Dennis are also 1-0 against the Concord Comets. SBA Canes and Concord Comets with both play Dennis – Aces and Stars Elite on Saturday, and Dennis -Aces and Stars Elite will also go head-to-head on Saturday.
Charlotte 1 day
9u
None of our top 20 are in the 9u field in this one day event. This is a largely D3 field, and although the MCOC Storm are listed as D1, they are making their fall debut. This should be a wide open division.
10u
The MARA Bolts are 6-0 this fall and will look to keep up their winning ways, going against Mallard Creek Miners and the ForTEC Defenders. The ForTEC Defenders will probably be the toughest competition for MARA and will face Lake Norman Hammerheads in addition to the MARA Bolts.
11u
#12 Carolina Astros will be the headliner in this age group. They’ll face MPTLL and Cabarrus Bandits – Kay in their pool play games. The LKN Hurricanes will face Bravos and KM Storm. The Bravos will also play KM Storm. The Bravos-LKN Hurricanes will decide who plays against the Astros in the finals.
12u
None of our top 20 is in the 12u field this weekend. Copperheads – Gaffney is 7-2 this fall and will the favorite headed into this 1 day event. They’ll face the Lake Norman Steam and the South Park Rebels in pool play. Copperheads – Sumner could also be a factor here and they’ll play the Mooresville Biscuits, who they beat 8-7 earlier this fall, and MARA Black.