It was another outstanding weekend of baseball at the Top Gun Fall Zone qualifiers. Several teams were able to make statements before the 8u, 9u, 11u, and 13u Winter World Series taking place next weekend. Here we recap the weekend results and highlights.
Cary
11u
The SP Vipers took home the 11u title in Cary this weekend with a upset 13-8 victory over the #2 Cleveland Wildcats. The Vipers went 3-1 for the weekend after losing 9-3 to the Durham Blues on Saturday. Cleveland Wildcats played on the edge all weekend, with two 1-run victories over FBI Fungo on Saturday (7-6) and Sunday (7-6), as well as a 2-run victory over the GBC Prospects (15-13) on Saturday. The SP Vipers improved to 8-7-1 for the fall with the 3-1 weekend, while the Cleveland Wildcats are now 11-3.
12u
The D1 12u tournament lived up to the billing and produced an excellent tournament. In the end, #1 Legends Baseball came away with the title after a 4-0 weekend. They started the weekend with a 6-5 win over #13 WM9 Signature on Saturday and followed that up with wins over Rock Solid Red (18-1) on Saturday, WM9 Signature (11-8) in the semi-finals, and an excellent Dirty South Venom (VA) (11-3) in the finals on Sunday. Legends outscored their opponents 46-17 for the weekend and looks like one of the more dominant teams at any age group in the state of North Carolina. Although WM9 signature finished 2-2 for the weekend, they had two close losses to Legends Baseball which is hardly something to be ashamed of. #7 Sanford Cobras had a disappointing weekend going 1-3 with their lone win coming against Rock Solid Red in the Silver Bracket quarter-finals/play-in game. #11 Carolina Titans – Wilson also had a disappointing weekend, going 1-3, with their lone win coming against #17 NCDB Rivercats on Sunday (12-9). That win was a bit of payback for the Titans as NCDB had defeated the Titans on Saturday (10-8). Overall, NCDB finished 2-2 for the weekend.
13u
There was both 54/80 and 60/90 divisions this weekend in Cary. In the 54/80 division, the RBI Raptors won the championship going 4-0 and scoring a win over the Walk Off Warriors (10-8) in the finals. in the 60/90 division, the #3 East Coast Clippers took care of business, going 4-0 on their way to the championship. Their weekend was highlighted by a 12-4 victory of #14 Carolina Naturals on Saturday. The Clippers moved to 11-1 on the fall season. The Naturals finished 2-2 in this round robin format tournament. Of note, 13u #4 NCDB Rivercats played up in the 14u D1 tournament this weekend and finished 3-1. Their lone loss came on Saturday against eventual tournament runner-up, Hit N Run (13-4). The Rivercats moved to 10-3 on the fall season against predominately 14u competition.
Snow Hill
8u
The #2 Carolina Threshers improved their record to 17-0 this fall by going 4-0 this weekend to win the 8u championship in Snow Hill. The Threshers beat #7 Stix in a high-scoring game in the finals (18-11). The Threshers are making a major claim to the top spot in the 8u rankings with their performance this fall. The Stix finished 3-1 for the weekend to improve their record to 11-5 this fall. #9 Greenville Athletics finished 2-2 for the weekend including an 18-8 loss to the Stix in the semi-finals on Sunday.
9u
#1 Dirtbags Black improved to 15-3-1 this fall with a 4-0 weekend to win the 9u championship. The Dirtbags beat #14 Greenville Athletics – Scott 5-4 to win the finals. Greenville Athletics – Scott finished the weekend 3-1 and came extremely close to taking out #1 team at 9u, giving up 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning to lose 5-4. #19 GBI Express also finished the weekend 3-1, losing 12-4 to Greenville Athletics in the semi-finals.
10u
#4 Clayton Fusion continues to show why they are considered one of the best teams in the state at 10u after a 4-0 weekend and another 10u championship. Their weekend was highlighted by two wins over #18 Wendell Knights, 13-6 on Saturday, and 11-10 in the finals on Sunday. The Wendell Knights finished 2-2 with wins against PC Dynamite (11-9) and the Carolina MudDawgs (10-8). Clayton moved to 11-4-1 on the fall season, and Wendell’s record went to 15-7. Greenville Athletics took home the D3 tournament going 4-0 for the weekend.
11u
Although none of our top 20 were in the field, the Carolina Pilots made the most of their opportunity going 4-0 to win the 11u championship. They outscored opponents 47-11 in 4 games including a 3-0 victory over Greenville Athletics in the finals.
12u
Tidewater Bombers (VA) had an up and down weekend en route to winning the 12u championship in Snow Hill. They went 0-2 on Saturday with losses to Greenville Athletics – Everette (10-1) and the Carolina Titans (4-2), but bounced back on Sunday avenging both of those losses with wins over the Carolina Titans (14-2) in the semi-finals and Greenville Athletics – Everette (5-3) in the finals. Greenville Athletics – Everette finished the weekend 2-2 and the Carolina Titans finished the weekend 3-1.
13u
#17 Greenville Athletics – Jones impressed this weekend, going 4-0, only allowing 3 runs total over 4 games. Greenville Athletics – Jones out scored their opponents a combined 38-3 including a 10-0 win over the Carolina Titans in the finals. PITT413 finished 3-1 for the weekend, however lost to the Carolina Titans 10-8 in the semi-finals ending their hopes for a championship. The Titans finished their weekend 2-2.
Fayetteville
10u
#16 Dirtbags Black bounced back from an 0-2 Saturday to win two games on Sunday and take home the 10u age group title. The Dirtbags suffered a loss to #19 FV Wildcats (6-1) in their first game on Saturday but scored a 3-2 victory over the #8 Sandhills Stingrays in their second game. They followed that up with another close win over the Stingrays (11-10) in the semi-finals and a close, revenge win over the FV Wildcats (5-4) in the finals. It was a disappointing weekend for the Sandhills Stingrays, who went 1-2 for the weekend. The FV Wildcats continue to bounce back from early season struggles with a 3-1 weekend including a win over the Dirtbags on Saturday. They also beat the JG Sluggers twice, 8-0 on Saturday, and 11-9 on Sunday. It was disappointing 0-4 weekend for the JG Sluggers.
11u
Hit’N Mill Vipers won the 11u Gold Bracket going 4-0, including a 12-4 win over the NSA Thunder in the finals. This age bracket did not include any teams in our 11u top 20. The 4-0 weekend improved the Vipers record to 11-8 for the fall.
12u
Similar to the 11u age group, none of our top 20 were in the 12u field in Fayetteville. The NSA Snipers won the D2 tournament, going 4-0, and beating CDP – Pete 10-2 in the finals. The Snipers also beat CDP on Saturday 9-5.
Charlotte
8u
The South Charlotte Cardinals had another great weekend, going 5-1 for the weekend. This included a 15-1 win over the Lake Norman Vipers in the finals on Sunday. In their 5 games, South Charlotte outscored opponents 59-8. Their lone blemish came against Kings Mountain Storm (6-0) on Saturday. The avenged this loss with 2 wins again Kings Mountain Storm, one on Saturday (10-0), and one on Sunday (12-3). South Charlotte now stands at 12-1 against all Top Gun competition this fall.
9u
#8 Lake Norman Thunder went 4-1 this weekend on their way to the 9u title. There weekend included a 10-0 win over the LKN Hurricanes in the finals. Their lone loss came at the hands of the SBA Canes (18-6) on Saturday. The Lake Norman Thunder are now 16-2 in Top Gun play this fall with both losses coming against the SBA Canes. The SBA canes went 3-1 for the weekend, and improved to 14-7 against all Top Gun competition this fall. The Lake Norman Thunder were the only 9u top 20 team in the field this weekend.
10u
#7 East Rowan made a statement this weekend, going 4-0 and winning the 10u championship in Charlotte. They defeated #9 Rawlings Stars 7-6 on Saturday, Copperheads – Snell/Heis 7-5 in the semi-finals, and an excellent Tega Cay Titans (SC) team in the finals, 16-4. East Rowan is now 8-0 in the fall. The Rawlings Stars finished 3-1 after falling to the Silver Bracket on Sunday with their loss to East Rowan on Saturday. The Stars took care of business in the Silver Bracket winning 9-1 in the semi-finals over Lake Norman Hammerheads, and 16-8 in the finals against Stealth Elite Orioles.
11u
The Weddington Warriors made a big statement this weekend going 4-0 and winning the 11u championship. The Warriors defeated Team 24 Gamecocks in the semi-finals (5-4) and Rivals Baseball (10-0) in the finals. They also improved their fall record to 14-5-1. Team USA Diamond King finished a disappointing 2-2 for the weekend, losing 10-8 to Copperheads – Rowland in the Silver Bracket finals.
12u
#3 Minion started their warm-up for the Winter World Series and they did not disappoint going 4-0 and dominating the 12u age group. Minion took out the SBA Canes 12-4 in the finals. Overall, Minon outscored their opponents 65-6 in 4 games and was never really challenged. They improved to 16-3 for the fall and look to be a real challenger to Legends Baseball for the top spot in the 12u age group in the state of North Carolina. The SBA Canes had a good weekend as well, finishing 3-1.
13u
There was both a 54/80 and 60/90 division at 13u this weekend in Charlotte. No teams in our top were in the 54/80 division, and Cherryville Baseball took home the title, going 4-0 for the weekend. In the 60/90 division, the #6 Charlotte Nationals continued to show why they are one of the best 13u teams in the state going 4-0 and winning the 60/90 division title. They outscored their opponents 63-6 in 4 games including an 11-0 win over Power Cross in the finals. #20 Copperheads – Evernham had a disappointing weekend, going 2-2, but rebounded nicely from an 0-2 Saturday, to win both their Bronze Bracket games on Sunday.
Charlotte – 1 Day
9u
The South Charlotte Cardinals dominated the competition going 3-0 and winning by a combined 30-1 to take the one-day title. They defeated the Carolina Havoc 10-0 in the finals. No 9u top 20 teams were in the 1 days field this weekend.
12u
None of the 12u top 20 were in the field this weekend. SBA LKN Carolina Cobras took home the title, going 3-0 and outscoring their opponents 34-6 on their way to the championship. They beat Copperheads – Gaffney 14-5 in the finals.
Spartanburg
Although the majority of teams playing in Spartanburg, I did want to make special mention that 9u #3 Park Sharon Nationals played up in the 10u division and went 3-1, losing in the finals to the Team 24 Gamecocks 7-6. The Park Sharon Nationals moved to 11-1 for the fall season, including two wins over 10u #5 Mission Baseball Gold.