171 teams across 4 age groups were in action this past weekend at the first weekend of the Top Gun Winter World Series (WWS). There were some great match ups between ranked teams, and a bunch of statements were made. Here we review the weekend's games and provide some thoughts on the result.
8u
Our #1 team, West Raleigh Blue started off their WWS run with a 12-4 win over the EC Diamondbacks on Friday night. They scored a 14-8 win over the Lugnuts in their other pool play game on Sunday to earn the #4 seed in the Gold bracket. #11 Greenville Athletics earned the #1 seed with a 19-4 win over the Youngsville Mayhem and a 16-3 win over the Lugnuts in pool play. Western Branch Bruins Gold (VA) scored the #2 seed with a 19-2 win over the Carolina Rampage and a 10-6 win over #10 Carolina Thunder in pool play. The Thunder topped Area Stars Blue 12-0 in their other pool play game to get the #6 seed in the Gold bracket. #6 Area Stars Orange and #7 NCDB Rivercats both fell to the Silver bracket with Area Stars going 1-1 with a 23-12 win over the Rivercats and a 13-12 loss against the Wilmington Seahawks and the Rivercats going 0-2 with a loss against the Area Stars and the Seahawks.
In the Gold bracket quarterfinals on Saturday, #1 seed Greenville Athletics scored a 10-7 win over 8 seed Area Stars Blue, #2 seed Western Branch topped Western Tidewater Rage (VA) 16-1, #6 Carolina Thunder scored a 12-6 win over #3 seed Meadow Indians, and #4 seed West Raleigh Blue got past 5 seed Wilmington Seahawks 8-4. In the semifinals, West Raleigh notched a 26-4 win over Greenville Athletics and Western Branch Bruins Gold edged the Carolina Thunder 12-10. In the finals West Raleigh rolled to a 22-5 win to take home the 8u WWS title. Of note, in the Silver bracket, Area Stars Orange topped the NCDB Rivercats 19-18 in the final to finish 4-1 for the weekend.
Champion: West Raleigh Blue
Predicted champion: Western Branch Bruins Gold
Instant Analysis: Even in our preview we noted "we'd expect [West Raleigh's previous experience playing together] to manifest this weekend" and yet we didn't pick them to win the WWS. We can't really explain why we weren't sold heading into the event, but they proved us wrong with their 22-5 win over our pick, Western Branch Bruins Gold. West Raleigh appears to have established themselves as the team to beat in the 8u age group this year.
9u
4 ranked teams including #1 East Rowan, #3 Dirtbags Black, #4 West Raleigh Blue, and #5 Dirtbags East, plus the Western Tidewater Rage (VA) battled it out in the D1 division this past weekend in Rocky Mount. East Rowan scored the #1 seed with a 7-6 win over Dirtbags Black and an 8-0 win over West Raleigh Blue in pool play. They were the only undefeated team in pool play. Dirtbags East earned the #4 seed with a 12-10 win over West Raleigh, who fell to the #5 seed after going 0-2 in pool play, and a 5-2 loss against Western Tidewater Rage. The Rage fell 5-0 against Dirtbags Black in their other pool play game. This left Dirtbags Black with the #2 seed and the Rage the #3 seed for bracket play. In the #4/5 play-in game, West Raleigh rolled to a 14-1 win over Dirtbags East. In the semifinals, Dirtbags Black edged Western Tidewater Rage 10-9 and West Raleigh scraped out a 3-1 win over East Rowan. In the finals, West Raleigh finished off the bounce back from an 0-2 run in pool play with a 16-3 win over Dirtbags Black.
Champion: West Raleigh Blue
Predicted champion: East Rowan
Instant Analysis: It's hard to know how to interpret the results of a crazy 9u D1 WWS. Undefeated East Rowan beats the #3 and 4 teams in North Carolina in pool play, but drops its first game all fall in a nail-biter to our #4 team and a team they defeated in pool play. West Raleigh Blue goes 0-2 in pool play but defeats our #1, #3, and #5 teams in bracket play to take home the title. We're not sure how to sort all this our from a rankings perspective, other than to say it appears the top teams in the 9u age group are all very close. Almost all teams involved this past weekend can take some positives home from this event.
In the D2 division, #6 Area Stars Orange went 2-0 in pool play with a 7-3 win over the Walkoff Warriors and a 10-0 win over the Clayton Railroaders to score the top seed for bracket play. #15 Canes Baseball NC - Hartman earned the #3 seed with a 9-5 win over #11 NCDB Rivercats and a 13-8 win over West Raleigh Red. #11 NCDB Rivercats went 1-1 in pool play with a 21-4 win over West Raleigh Red in addition to their loss to Canes - Hartman. In the Gold bracket #4/5 play-in game, the Carolina Thunder scored a 7-3 win over the NCDB Rivercats. In the #3/6 play-in game, Canes - Hartman notched a 7-5 win over the Cabarrus Bandits. In the semifinals, Area Stars Orange notched an 11-10 win over the Carolina Thunder and Canes - Hartman edged Carolina Titans -Ricks 12-11. In the finals, Area Stars Orange finished off a 4-0 run with a 9-1 win over Canes - Hartman.
Champion: Area Stars Orange
Predicted champion: Area Stars Orange
Instant Analysis: The Area Stars appear ready to move up to the D1 level as they moved to 17-2 this fall with their tournament win this weekend. Canes - Hartman also had a nice weekend, going 4-1 with a loss agains the Area Stars in the finals. The Rivercats and Greenville Athletics Black, who were the other ranked teams in this field, finished 1-2 and 3-1 respectively, although Greenville Athletics did not qualify for the Gold bracket and took home the Silver bracket title.
11u
Our #4 team, West Raleigh Blue scored the #1 seed for bracket play after they defeated #11 East Carolina Tribe - Brannan by the score of 16-3 and the NCDB Rivercats 10-2. #13 Summerfield Stars earned the #2 seed in the Gold bracket with a 7-4 win over Dirtbags East and an 11-1 win over the Carolina Titans. The Aldie Senators (VA) received the #3 seed after a 6-1 win over the Frederick Hustlers (MD) and an 8-5 win over #6 Dirtbags Black. The 4th seed went to Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley after they defeated Dirtbags East 6-4 and #19 Greenville Athletics - Scott 7-2.
In the #4/5 Gold bracket play-in game, Team 24 - Ashley topped the Frederick Hustlers 6-2. In the #3/6 play-in game, the Aldie Senators defeated the Rivercats 8-7. In the semifinals, Team 24 - Ashley edged West Raleigh Blue 7-6 and the Aldie Senators blanked the Summerfield Stars 3-0. In the finals, Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley defeated the Aldie Senators 15-10 to take home the 11u crown.
Champion: Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley
Predicted champion: Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley
Instant Analysis: Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley continues to be one of the best teams in the region, and a title in the WWS further cements their status. #4 West Raleigh Blue had a decent showing, going 2-1 with one win over a ranked team, but fell in heart-breaking fashion to the Gamecocks. It turned out to be a tough weekend for #6 Dirtbags Black, who finished 0-3. Greenville Athletics - Scott rebounded from a 1-1 run in pool play to finish 2-0 in bracket play and scored the Silver bracket title as well as two wins over ranked teams this weekend.
In the D2 division, Area Stars - Derick scored the #1 seed in the Gold bracket with a 10-1 win over the Carolina Diamondbacks and an 18-2 win over Carolina Strikers. #12 Garner Royals received the #5 seed after they went 2-0 in pool play with a 3-1 win over the Riegelwood Lumberjacks and a 6-5 win over Wilson Baseball - Battle. GRIT also went 2-0 in pool play with a 15-1 win over Rocky Mount Marshals - Ward and a 22-5 win over West Raleigh Red. They scored the #4 seed in the Gold bracket. In the Gold bracket quarterfinals, #1 seed Area Stars - Derick fell 7-5 to #8 seed against Area Stars Orange, #2 seed Warriors Baseball (SC) fell 5-2 against #7 seed Carolina Freedom, #3 New Kent Giants (VA) fell 9-7 against Western Tidewater Rage (VA), and #4 seed GRIT scored a 9-4 win over the Garner Royals. In the semifinals, Carolina Freedom edged Western Tidewater Rage 5-3 and GRIT notched a 9-7 win over Area Stars Orange. In the finals, GRIT edged the Carolina Freedom with an 8-7 win over the Freedom.
Champion: GRIT
Predicted champion: Garner Royals
Instant Analysis: It was an impressive showing for GRIT, as they scored 5 wins on Saturday in this rain-shortened event to take home the D2 title at the WWS. The Royals made a somewhat surprising exit in the quarterfinals of the Gold bracket, but finished 2-1 overall for the weekend.
13u
The North Wake Shockwave earned the #1 seed in the Gold bracket dominating in pool play with a 6-0 win over #14 Carolina Titans Blue and a 5-0 win over Stars Baseball - Justice (VA). #3 Canes Baseball NC - Simpson was also impressive in pool play with a 17-0 win over Spartans - Hutchens and a 7-4 win over Bonaire Force Baseball Club (GA). #13 Rock Solid Red earned the 5th and final seed in the Gold bracket with a 5-0 win over #15 Carolina Rage and a 7-5 win over Bonaire Force. In the Gold bracket #4/5 play-in game, Hit Doctor Red Legs (VA) fell 8-7 against #5 seed Rock Solid Red. In the semifinals, Rock Solid Red scored a 10-7 win over North Wake Shockwave and Canes - Simpson edged Rock Solid Drillers - Rupe/Stubbe 7-6. In the finals, Canes - Simpson finished off a 4-0 weekend with a 10-0 win over Rock Solid Red.
Champion: Team Dirty South Bats Venom
Predicted champion: Canes Baseball NC - Simpson
Instant Analysis: Canes - Simpson continues to impress in the fall season as they moved to 14-4 overall including wins over an excellent Bonaire team, an excellent Rock Solid Drillers team, and #13 Rock Solid Red. It will be difficult to differentiate Canes Simpson from the other teams in the top 3 (SBA Futures and Canes Baseball Eastern NC). Rock Solid Red was impressive as they finished 4-1 for the weekend including wins over the Rage, Bonaire Force, Hit Doctor, and the Shockwave.
In the D2 division, Virginia teams were impressive as they took the top 3 seeds in the Gold bracket. Mizuno Blacksox South earned the top seed with an 8-1 win over the Zebulon Cougars and a 7-1 win over the Washington River Rats. Western Branch Havoc scored the #2 seed with a 4-0 win over the River Rats and a 5-3 win over Greenville Athletics - Mason. The Hill City Sliders received the #3 seed after a 7-4 win over CBA Copperheads Red and an 8-0 win over the North Wake Avalanche. In the Gold bracket #4/5 play-in game, Rawlings Prospects 2025 topped the Prequimans Rivercats 14-5. In the #3/6 play-in game, Carolina Rage Red topped the Hill City Sliders 8-5. In the semifinals, Rawlings Prospects 2025 notched a 10-8 win over the Mizuno Blacksox South and Western Branch Havoc blanked Carolina Rage Red 8-0. In the finals, Western Branch finished off a 4-0 weekend with a 9-1 win over Rawlings Prospects 2025.
Champion: Hill City Sliders
Predicted champion: Western Branch Havoc
Instant Analysis: The Virginia teams proved to be the class of the D2 60/90 division this weekend, scoring the top 3 seeds and having both teams in the finals. It should be noted, however, that no ranked teams from North Carolina were in this field.
Team Ghost was excellent all weekend, going 2-0 in pool play with a 13-6 win over EC Diamondbacks - Bass and an 11-6 win over Triangle Sports Hawks Blue. This earned them the #3 seed in the Gold bracket. The top seed went to the Wendell Sharks, who defeated the Carolina Stingers 11-3 and Sandhills Stingrays - Baek 13-2 win pool play. In the Gold bracket #4/5 play-in game, the Wilmington Riptide defeated NCABC Fungo - Waltman 4-3. In the #3/6 play-in game, Team Ghost rolled to a 13-3 win over #6 seed Triangle Sports Hawks Blue. In the semifinals, Team Ghost blanked the Greensboro Nationals 9-0 and the Sharks edged the Wilmington Riptide 3-2. In the finals, Team Ghost blasted their way to a 13-1 win over the Sharks to finish off a 5-0 weekend.
Champion: Team Ghost
Predicted champion: Team Ghost
Instant Analysis: Team Ghost has shown they belong to be considered with some of the best teams in the 13u age group. It will be interesting to see if and when they make the jump to the 60/90 field in the spring as most of the top 13u teams are playing on those field dimensions.