Over 70 teams were in action in the Top Gun games this past weekend in Wake County. Unfortunately, several age groups were limited due to rain, but we still got to see over a dozen top 20 teams from last year across all the age groups. Here we briefly recap the weekend's Top Gun games in Wake County.
9u
Dirtbags Black, who finished #2 in our final 2017-2018 8u rankings, went 2-0 on Saturday with a 12-0 win over the NCDB Rivercats, who finished #9 in our final 8u rankings last year, and a 6-1 win over West Raleigh Blue, who finished #1 in our final 8u rankings last year. West Raleigh Blue notched an 8-3 win over the Youngsville Phantoms, who finished #11 in our final 2017-2018 rankings, to finish 1-1 in pool play. NCDB scored a 10-7 win over the Phantoms in their other pool play game. In the semifinals, NCDB topped West Raleigh 8-3 and Dirtbags Black edged past the Phantoms 5-4. In the finals, Dirtbags Black rolled to a 14-4 win to finished 4-0 for the weekend.
10u
Open
West Raleigh Blue, who finished #6 in our final 9u rankings last year, went 2-0 in pool play with a 7-4 win over Greenville Athletics - Scott and a 17-0 win over MVP Red. Dirtbags Black, who finished #3 in our final 2017-2018 9u rankings, went 1-1 in pool play with a 19-7 win over the Warriors and an 8-7 loss against Greenville Athletics - Scott. The NCDB Rivercats, who finished #17 in our final 9u rankings last year, scored a 15-0 win over MVP Red and a 16-3 win over the Wilson Reds in their pool play games. In the Gold bracket semifinals, West Raleigh edged Greenville Athletics - Scott 9-8 and Dirtbags Black topped the NCDB Rivercats 8-7. In the finals, West Raleigh scored a 1-run 6-5 win over Dirtbags Black.
D3
The Carolina Freedom went 2-0 on Saturday with a 17-3 win over Diamond Life Athletics and a 16-5 win over C35 2027. The Durham Blues also went 2-0 in pool play with a 5-2 win over the North Wake Force and an 18-4 win over the Carolina Flash. On Sunday, in the #4/5 play-in game, the NW Force topped Diamond Life 7-6. In the #3/6 play-in game, the Carolina Flash scored a 17-16 win over C35. In the semifinals, the Carolina Freedom edged the Carolina Flash 4-3 while the Durham Blues scored a 9-8 win over NW Force. In the finals, the Carolina Freedom scored an 11-2 win over the Durham Blues to take the D3 10u title.
11u
D1
Rawlings Prospects went 2-0 in pool play with an 18-12 win over the NCDB Rivercats, who finished #7 in our final 10u rankings last year, and a 10-6 win over Sandhills Stingrays - Norris. NCDB fell 10-3 against the Stingrays in their other pool play game. The Akadema Heat, who finished #20 in our final 10u rankings last year, went 2-0 in pool play with a 6-3 win over the Wendell Knights (#13 in final 2017-2018 10u rankings) and a 6-5 win over Dirtbags East (#6 in final 10u rankings last year). The Carolina Thunder, who finished #14 in our final 10u rankings last year, also went 2-0 in pool play with a 9-8 win over Dirtbags East and a 7-4 win over the Wendell Knights. In the Gold bracket semifinals, the Heat edged past the Stingrays 5-4 and the Prospects rolled to a 14-2 win over the Carolina Thunder. In the finals, the Rawlings Prospects completed an undefeated weekend with a 6-2 win over the Akadema Heat.
D3
The North Wake Chargers went 2-0 on Saturday with a 6-3 win over the Durham Blues and a 14-2 win over the Triangle Sports Hawks. The VA Squires North went 1-0 in pool play with a 17-1 win over the Sandhills Stingrays - Geffen, but were rained out of their second game on Saturday evening. The North Wake Rough Riders also went 1-0 in pool play with a 20-2 win over the Stingrays - Geffen. Unfortunately, Sunday was rained out for the 11u D3 division.
12u
On Saturday, the Cleveland Wildcats Elite, who finished 13th in our final 11u rankings this past year, went 1-1 in pool play with a 9-8 win over Dirtbags East, who finished 16th in our final 2017-2018 11u rankings, and a 12-6 loss against the Riptide. Dirtbags East topped TPA Natonals - Zuber 15-4 in their other pool play game, while the Riptide fell against the TPA Nationals 10-3. Unfortunately, the final pool play games and the championship game on Sunday were all rained out.
13u
54/80 D1
The 5-team D1 division played in a round-robin event this weekend in Wake County. The Sanford Cobras, who finished 10th in our final 12u rankings last year, went 2-0 on Saturday with a 7-4 win over Archers and a 10-2 win over the East Coast Clippers. The NCDB Rivercats - B also went 2-0 on Saturday with a 10-1 win over the Archers and a 12-11 win over the Carolina Rattlers, who finished #20 in our final 12u rankings last year. The Rattlers topped the East Coast Clippers 7-2 in their other game on Saturday. On Sunday, the Cobras again went 2-0 with a 9-1 win over NCDB - B and a 10-0 win over the Rattlers, and took home the title in the 54/80 D1 division. NCDB - B fell 4-3 against the East Coast Clippers in their other game on Sunday, while the Rattler fell 8-6 against the Archers. The East Coast Clippers topped the Archers 4-2 in their other pool play game to finish 2-2 for the weekend.
54/80 D2
Unfortunately the 54/80 D2 division was limited due to rain. Only 5 games were able to be played in pool play in this 7-team division. The North Wake Rage went 1-1 with a 7-1 win over the Carolina Freedom and a 3-1 loss against the HYAA Hawks. The Hawks fell 5-4 against the Freedom in their other pool play game. Carolina Titans Blue scored a 5-2 win over the Fuquay Bengals while Hit & Run 5 Star Wildcats notched a 7-4 win over the Akadema Punishers in the final pool play games. No bracket play was completed dye to rain.
54/80 D3
Similar to the D2 division, no bracket play games were played in the D3 division. The Durham Blues went 2-0 in pool play with a 7-5 win over the OC Crushers Black and a 10-8 win over Hammerheads - Purple. The North Wake Hurricanes also went 2-0 on Saturday, scoring an 18-1 win over EC Diamondbacks - Ferrell and an 18-12 win over EC Diamondbacks - Bass. RBI Raptors - Landerl also went 2-0 in pool play with a 6-4 win over the North Raleigh Tsunami and a 12-6 win over the EC Diamondbacks - Ferrell.
60/90 D1
The 60/90 division was also significantly limited due to rain this weekend. In pool play, Carolina Titans - Wilson, who finished #16 in our final 12u rankings last year, went 2-0 with a 10-2 win over Rawlings Prospects 2024 and a 12-4 win over the NCDB Rivercats. NCDB topped Dirtbags Black Raleigh 5-2 in their other pool play game on Saturday. The TPA Nationals - Christman topped Rawlings Prospects 2024 8-1 in their only pool play game on Saturday.