Top Gun WWS Preview (8u, 9u, 11u, 13u) Fall 2018

Here it is. The first weekend of the Top Gun Winter World Series will take place this weekend. This is annually one of the biggest tournaments of the fall season in North Carolina, and there are dozens of ranked teams in action. Here we provide a preview of action and try a little something new (for fun) - we made a champion prediction for each division. Good luck teams!

8u
CP: Hybrid
8u #3 Cleveland Wildcats Black will look to state their case for #1 this weekend with 4 of our top 5 8u teams in action.

The WWS will go a long way in sorting out the rankings in the 8u age group as 4 of our top 5 teams will be in action in the top 8u division this weekend in Red Oak. #1 West Raleigh Blue will face off against Area Stars - Cox and #3 Cleveland Wildcats Black in their two pool play games on Saturday. The Wildcats will face off against #2 East Rowan in their other pool play on Sunday. #5 GRIT will also be in action this weekend and will take on Area Stars - Cox and East Rowan in their two pool play games. Bracket play will consist of a #4/5 seed play-in game, followed by semifinals and a one-game final.

Our champion prediction: West Raleigh Blue

D3

8 teams will be in action in the 8y D3 field this weekend. Luckies Orange has been right on the edge of top 10 ranking this fall and will take on the East Carolina Bombers and the Rocky Mount Marshals 2029. They look to be one of the favorites in this field heading in to the weekend. The Bombers will face off with Cleveland Wildcats Red in their other pool play game. The Carolina Crushers will look to send a message in this field and will face GBI Express and the Carolina Thunder in their two games on Saturday. The 8 teams in this D3 field will be broken down into a 4-team Gold and a 4-team Silver bracket for Sunday.

Our champion prediction: Luckies Orange

 

 

9u
D1
Dirtbags Black sits at 12-0 this spring and will head into the WWS as #1 in our top 20.

8 teams, including 6 from North Carolina and 2 from Virginia, will face off in the 9u D1 division this weekend. All 6 NC teams are in our top 10, including #1 Dirtbags Black, #4 East Rowan, #6 Canes Baseball NC - Harris, #7 HPT HiToms, #8 West Raleigh Blue, and #9 Triple Crown Lookouts. All 8 teams will make the Gold bracket for Sunday play in this division. On Saturday, Dirtbags Black will take on Canes 757 - Roach (VA) and the Triple Crown Lookouts. The Lookouts will go against the HPT HiToms in their other pool play games. #4 East Rowan will face off against Western Branch Bruins (VA) and Canes Baseball NC - Harris in their two pool play games on Friday and Saturday. HPT will also take on Western Branch in pool play. West Raleigh Blue is scheduled to face off against Canes - Harris and Canes 757 - Roach in their two pool play games.

Our champion prediction: East Rowan

D2

The D2 9u field consists of 9 teams, including #3 Dirtbags East, #10 Greenville Athletics - Whitley, #11 Carolina Crushers 2027, and #17 NCDB Rivercats. Bracket play in this division will consist of a #4/5 seed play-in game, followed by semifinals and a one-game final. Dirtbags East will take on the CB WolfPack and the Youngsville Phantoms in their two pool play games on Friday and Saturday. Greenville Athletics will face off against NCDB and the WolfPack in their pool play games. NCDB will face off against Rock Solid Red in their other pool play game. The Carolina Crushers are scheduled to take on Rock Solid Red and the Weddington Wolves in their two pool play games.

Our champion prediction: Dirtbags East

D3

15 teams will compete for the D3 title in the 9u age group this weekend. After two pool play games, the top 10 teams will face off in a one-game play-in (e.g. #1 seed vs. #10 seed, etc.) to determine Gold and Silver bracket placement. #16 NCABC Fungo - Piscorik will look to defend their ranking in the D3 field this weekend. They'll take on Carolina Thunder Gold and the East Carolina Bombers in their two pool play games on Saturday. NSA Select will also be a team to watch this weekend in this division, and they'll face off against the Carolina Stingers and Area Stars - Smith in their pool play games.

Our champion prediction: NCABC Fungo - Piscorik

 

 

11u
D1

The 11u D1 field will be a huge, 20-team field this weekend Tarboro. Among those 20 teams, 6 of our top 10, and 10 of our top 20 North Carolina teams will be in action including #3 Dirtbags East, #4 West Raleigh Blue, #5 Rawlings Prospects NC, #6 Port City Rebels, #7 Dirtbags Black, #10 Akadema Heat, #12 East Rowan Mustangs, #15 Rock Solid Red, #16 Carolina Thunder, and #19 Mission Vipers Gold. In addition, 10u Sumer World Series champion Virginia Stars - Camp will be in the field and could be the team to beat in this field. After two pool play games, the top 16 teams will face off in a 1-game play-in game (e.g. #1 seed vs. #16 seed, etc.) to determine Gold and Silver bracket placement. Dirtbags East will take on the Rawlings Prospects and Virginia Stars - Camp in their two pool play games. The Prospects and Virginia Stars will face off against one another in their other pool play game. West Raleigh Blue and the Port City Rebels will both take on Sandhills Stingrays - Norris and the Mid Atlantic Pirates (VA) in their two pool play games. Dirtbags Black are scheduled to take on FV Wildcats and Mission Vipers Black in their two pool play games. The Akadema Heat will take on the Carolina Muddawgs and Canes Baseball NoVA - Cheetham in their two pool play games on Friday and Saturday, while the East Rowan Mustangs will face Rock Solid Red and Mission Vipers Gold in pool play. Rock Solid Red will take on Battle Baseball and Mission Vipers Gold will face Dirtbags Platinum in their other pool play games. The Carolina Thunder are set to take on Dirtbags Platinum and Mid Atlantic Orioles - Fulton in their two pool play games this weekend.

Our champion prediction: Virginia Stars - Camp

D2

18 teams, including #20 Wendell Knights and 13 teams from North Carolina, 4 teams from Virginia, and 1 from South Carolina, are scheduled to play in the 11u D2 division this weekend. After two pool play games, 12 teams will meet in a 1-game play-in (e.g. #1 seed vs. #12 seed, etc.) to determine spots in the Gold and Silver brackets. In an interesting bit of trivia, the Wendell Knights have one the past 3 Top Gun World Series D2 events (2017 9u D2 SWS, 2017 10u D2 WWS, and 2018 10u D2 SWS) and will look to defend these titles with another D2 World Series title. The Knights will take on Area Stars - Stanton on Friday and Luckies - Taylor on Saturday in their two pool play games. Luckies - Taylor will face off against RISE (VA) in their other pool play game. Carolina Titans - Ambrose, currently 9-1 in Top Gun play this fall, will take on the Carolina Outlaws and the NSA Prospects in their two pool play games. The Prospects will match up against American Dream in their other pool play games this weekend.

Our champion prediction: Luckies - Taylor

D3

In addition to the 38 total teams in the D1 and D2 11u divisions, another 20 teams will face off in the 11u D3 division. After two pool play games , the top 16 teams will face off in a 1-game play-in game to determine Gold and Silver bracket placement. The Bomb Squad, champions of the 2018 10u D3 SWS, will take on the Fuquay Titans and the Jacksonville Generals in their two pool play games this weekend. The PC Dynamite, off to a 16-4 start in Top Gun play this fall, will take on the Sandhills Stingrays - Greene and Greenville Athletics in their two pool play games.

Our champion prediction: PC Dynamite

 

 

13u
54/80
D1

7 teams will face off in the D1 54/80 division this weekend at the WWS. All 7 teams will make the Gold bracket after two pool play games with only the #1 seed receiving a bye into the semifinals. #19 East Coast Clippers will take on the Warriors (SC) and NCDB Rivercats - B in their two pool play games. The Rivercats will take on CB Elite in their other pool play. The Sandhills Heat will also look to compete for the title in the D1 54/80 division and will face off against CB Elite and Walkoff Academy in their pool play games.

Our champion prediction: East Coast Clippers

D2

The D2 54/80 division is comprised of 12 teams, all from North Carolina. After two pool play games, 12 teams will meet in a 1-game play-in (e.g. #1 seed vs. #12 seed, etc.) to determine spots in the Gold and Silver brackets. Carolina Titans Blue will take on the Akadema Punishers and Sandhills Stingrays - Hofstetler in their pool play games. The Punishers will take on the Carolina Freedom in their other pool play game. Gettin Dirty, off to a 16-2 start this fall in Top Gun play, will take on Carolina Freedom and Zone Select - Williams in their two pool play games.

Our champion prediction: Carolina Titans Blue

D3

23 teams will face off in the D3 54/80 division this weekend at the WWS. After two pool play games, the top 16 teams will face off in a 1-game play-in game (e.g. #1 seed vs. #16 seed, etc.) to determine Gold and Silver bracket placement. The OC Sluggers, champions of the D3 12u Top Gun SWS this past summer, will look to defend their title this weekend. They'll take on the Carolina Trojans and Five Star Trent River Stingrays in their two pool play games.

Our champion prediction: OC Sluggers

60/90
D1

22 teams including 13 from North Carolina, 8 from Virginia, and 1 from Maryland, will face off in the 13u 60/90 D1 division this weekend. Among the North Carolina teams, 5 of our top 10 and 9 of our top 20 teams including #2 Canes Baseball Eastern NC, #3 Sanford Cobras, #4 Carolina Titans - Wilson, #9 Carolina Rockies - Wilson, #10 NCDB Rivercats, #11 Canes Baseball Charlotte, #14 Five Star Carolina - Smith, and #20 New Bern Flames, will all be in action. After two pool play games, the top 16 teams will face off in a 1-game play-in game (e.g. #1 seed vs. #16 seed, etc.) to determine Gold and Silver bracket placement. Canes Baseball Eastern NC will take on Rawlings Prospects NC 2024 and Stars Baseball - Natale in their two pool play games. The Sanford Cobras will take on TPA Nationals - Foster and Canes - Charlotte in their two pool play games on Friday and Saturday. Canes - Charlotte will take on the Tidewater Horns (VA) in their other pool play game. #4 Carolina Titans - Wilson will take face off against Five Star Carolina - Smith and Mid Atlantic Orioles - McKnight in pool play. Five Star - Smith will face off against New Bern in their other pool play game. New Bern will take on CBA Rays Elite (VA) in their other pool play game. Carolina Rockies - Wilson are scheduled to face off against TPA Nationals - Batts on Friday and Stars Baseball - Steinberg on Saturday. There will be some excellent competition from Virginia including Team Dirty South Venom, who finished as the runner-up at the 2017 12u D1 WWS and the 2018 12u D1 SWS, as well as the Tidewater Horns and the Stars Baseball teams.

Our champion prediction: Team Dirty South Venom

Open

15 teams, including 8 from North Carolina and 7 from Virginia, will face off in the 60/90 open division at the WWS this weekend. This should be a wide open division with a handful of teams having a real shot at the title. After two pool play games, the top 12 teams will face off in a 1-game play-in game (e.g. #1 seed vs. #12 seed, etc.) to determine Gold and Silver bracket placement. HiToms Baseball are off to an 8-0 start in Top Gun play this fall and will take on the NBA Nationals and Greenville Athletics - Everette in their two pool play games. Greenville Athletics will take on the Pitt County Diamond Dawgs in their other pool play game.

Our champion prediction: HiToms Baseball