USSSA Atlanta Spring Super NIT Recap March 2019

Youth baseball events don't get much bigger than the USSSA Atlanta Spring Super NIT that took place this past weekend. 446 teams across 9 age groups, and from 10 different states made their way to Atlanta this past weekend to test themselves against perhaps the best collection of talent thus far in the Spring 2019 season. 6 teams from North Carolina and 1 from South Carolina made the trip down to Atlanta with 2 (10u SBA Futures and Dirtbags Legends) reaching the finals of the Majors division in their respective age groups. Here we highlight some of the great performances from this past weekend in Atlanta.

6u

Congratulations to Force Baseball Academy - Miller (GA) who took home the 6u title after going 5-0 this past weekend in Atlanta.

7u

Congratulations to the East Cobb Astros (GA) who took home the 7u title after going 5-0 this past weekend in Atlanta.

8u
CP

Force Baseball Academy - Davidson (GA) went 2-0 in pool play with a 14-0 win over the Cubs (GA) and a 7-4 win over the Crush (GA) to win pool A. The Winston Astros White topped pool B, with a 14-0 win over the Home Plate Chili Dogs Oxford (GA) and a 14-2 win over GBSA Rays Gwinnet (GA). Sandy Plains Wildcats also went 2-0 in pool B with a 19-1 win over the Chilidogs and an 18-7 win over GBSA. Georgia Savage Baseball went 2-0 in pool C with a 13-0 win over Bullpen Redstitch 108 and a 14-13 win over Winston Astros Gray. The WFBA Hammerheads (FL) went 2-0 to win pool D, scoring an 18-0 win over HardknoX - Vasil (GA) and a 21-5 win over the Georgia Nationals.

In the bracket play play-in games, Crush blanked the Georgia Nationals 12-0, HardknoX topped the Georgia Sluggers 14-4, Georgia Savage Baseball knocked off the Chilidogs 16-2, Winston Astros Gray scored a 14-7 win over GBSA Rays Gwinnett, the WFBA Hammerheads blanked the Cubs 12-0, and the Sandy Plains Wildcats rolled to a 14-1 win over Bullpen Redstitch 108. In the quarterfinals, Winston Astros White topped Crush 10-2, Georgia Savage rolled to a 12-3 win over HardknoX - Vasil, the WFBA Hammerheads notched a 10-2 win over Winston Astros Gray, and Force Baseball Academy - Davidson topped Sandy Plains 16-6. In the semifinals, Winston Astros White scored a 9-1 win over Georgia Savage Baseball and Force Baseball edged past the Hamerheads 5-4 to reach the finals. In the finals, Force Baseball Academy scored another 1-run win with a 7-6 win over Winston Astros White.

Our predicted champion: Force Baseball Academy - Davidson

Tournament champion: Force Baseball Academy - Davidson

KP

Pool play consisted of 18 teams divided into 3 pools. RBI Redstitch 108 (TN) was the lone undefeated team in Pool A, scoring an 8-1 win over Buford (GA) and a 4-0 win over East Cobb Astros White (GA). Turn2 Baseball (GA) was the only undefeated team in Pool B, notching a 14-2 win over Dingers Athletics - Hummell (GA) and a 6-2 win over our pre-event favorite, BigStix Gamers (GA). The Gamers notched a 4-0 win over the Billy Goats (GA) in their other pool play game. Two teams went 2-0 in pool C. East Cobb Astros Navy topped the Loganville Bats (GA) 8-0 and the Bullpen Braves (GA) 7-0, while 6-4-3 DP Cougars scored a 4-2 win over Tri-County Cowboys (GA) and a 7-0 win over the Detroit Bees (MI).

In the quarterfinals, East Cobb Astros Navy toped 6-4-3 DP 5-4, Turn2 scored a 6-5 win over CMSB Squeeze, Five Star Tigers (FL) edged RBI Redstitch 108 6-5, and BigStix Gamers topped East Cobb Astros Orange 6-3. In the semifinals, Turn2 rolled to an 11-1 win over East Cobb Astros Navy while Five Star Tigers blasted their way to a 14-1 win over BigStix Gamers. In the finals, Turn2 Baseball finished off an undefeated weekend with a 12-6 win over the Five Star Tigers.

Our predicted champion: BigStix Gamers (GA)

Tournament champion: Turn2 Baseball (GA)

 

 

9u

Syndicate (AL) won pool A on Saturday with a 10-1 win over the Detroit Bees (MI) and a 9-7 win over the 6-4-3 DP Cougars. The Motor City Hit Dogs (MI) took pool B, going 2-0 with an 11-8 win over The Club Red (GA) and an 11-1 win over Archer (GA). The Meridian Panthers topped pool C with a 12-3 win over Georgia Academy Power and an 8-7 win over the WCTB Rail Riders (GA). Other pool winners included Force Baseball Academy - Gratzer (GA), Rawlings Southeast (GA), Dingers Athletics - Locke (GA), and Team Fusion (FL) who scored a 4-3 win over BigStix Gamers - Chaffin (GA) and a 13-1 win over the East Cobb Braves in their two pool play games.

Our pre-event favorite, Syndicate scored an 8-6 win over Georgia Power Academy in the round-of-16 and a 9-7 win over BigStix Gamers - Chaffin in the quarterfinals to earn their spot in the semifinals. The matched up against the WCTB Rail Riders who scored a 7-6 win over the East Cobb Braves in their play-in game, a 5-2 win over Rawlings Southeast (GA) in the round-of-16, and a 17-1 win over Archer in the quarterfinals. The other semifinal say TBSA Patriots - Maddox (FL) go up against Team Fusion. TBSA scored a win 12-1 win over LC Bulldogs in their play-in game, a 5-4 win over Dingers Athletics - Locke, and a 8-3 win over MCBA Mariners in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals. Team Fusion edged past East Cobb Astros Orange 5-4 in the round-of-16 and a 10-2 win over Motor City Hit Dogs - Hammond in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Team Fusion rolled to a 9-1 win over TBSA while the Rail Riders notched an 8-6 win over Syndicate. In the finals, the Fusion again rolled, this time to a 13-1 win over the Rail Riders.

Our predicted champion: Syndicate (AL)

Tournament champion: Team Fusion (FL)

10u
10u #1 SBA Futures picked up right where they left off in the fall, scoring a tournament title at the Atlanta Spring Super NIT

NC #1 SBA Futures went into the Atlanta Spring Super NIT with the weight of being labeled as Perfect Game's #1 10u team in the United States. In pool play, they lived up to that billing scoring a 9-0 win over All American Arsenal (GA) and a 7-3 win over the Motor City Hit Dogs (MI), who were ranked #2 in Perfect Game's top 100 ranking. The Kennesaw Generals (GA) played out of the same pool (D) and went 1-1 in pool play with a 7-3 win over All American Arsenal and a 5-4 loss against the Hit Dogs. NC #2 SBA Nationals went 2-0 in pool C with a 5-4 win over Velo Baseball and a 17-3 win over the Detroit Bees. This left both SBA teams with a bye into the round of 16. Other pool winners included the Knoxville Stars (TN), Carl Black Longhorns (GA), defending champion Force Baseball Academy - Griffin (GA), Team Atlantic (GA), and the Southern Madison Sluggers (KY).

The Futures played their round-of-16 game in the early afternoon on Sunday, scoring an 11-3 win over Remix Rip City (GA). The SBA Nationals won their opening bracket play game on Sunday morning , notching a 7-0 win over East Side Rawlings Southeast Red (GA). The wins moved both SBA teams in to the semifinals. The Nationals faced off against Team Atlantic, who knocked off the Motor City Hit Dogs in their round-of-16 game. In this quarterfinals matchup, the Nationals proved to be too much, overwhelming Team Atlantic on their way to a 14-4 win and a trip to the semifinals. The Futures faced off against Rise Up Legends (TN) in their quarterfinal game. This one was a tight battle, with the Futures eventually prevailing 5-2. In the semifinals, the Nationals ran into a hot Kennesaw Generals team who rode some big bats to a 13-6 win. The Futures, on the other hand, continued their dominating run with a 9-1 win over the Knoxville Stars (TN). In the finals, SBA Futures got down 4-2 through 3 innings, then scored 1 in bottom of the 5th, and 2 in the bottom of the 6th to take home a walk-off 5-4 win over the Kennesaw Generals.

Our predicted champion: SBA Futures (NC)

Tournament champion: SBA Futures (NC)

 

 

11u

Defending champion and then NC #2 Canes Baseball NC - Foster rolled to two victories on Saturday, including a 16-3 win over 5 Star National Elite (GA) and an 8-3 win over The Club Red (GA) to win pool G. NC #4 Rawlings Prospects also won their pool after an 8-7 win over Meridian and a 1-0 win over East Cobb Astros Orange (GA). Other pool winners included FCA Blue Claws - Hannah (FL), the Georgia Bandits (GA), the Knoxville Stars (TN), East Cobb Astros Navy (GA), and the WFBA Hammerheads (FL). Winning their pools earned the Canes and the Prospects spots in the round-of-16 on Sunday. SC #2 PRO Select went 1-1 in pool play, falling 6-4 against the Hammerheads before topping the BigStix Gamers - Mendez (GA) 10-1.

In their round-of-16 game, the Canes faced off against BigStix Gamers, who defeated the Motor City Hit Dogs (MI) in their opening round bracket play game. The Canes used their dominating pitching and defense to blank the Gamers 8-0 and reach the quarterfinals. The Rawlings Prospects were matched up against SC #2 PRO Select (SC) in their round-of-16 game after PRO Select topped Crusaders Baseball 11-6 in their opening round game. In this round-of-16 matchup, the Prospects couldn't get their bats going and fell 3-2 against PRO Select. In the quarterfinals, Canes - Foster took on the Georgia Bandits, who are ranked 38th in Perfect Game's top 100 11u teams. This was much tighter than the Canes' opening bracket play game, but the Canes again prevailed, this time by the score of 7-5. This set up a big time contest against national #6 East Cobb Astros Orange in the semifinals, and a game between national #13 East Cobb Astros Navy and national #28 FCA Blueclaws - Hannah in the other semifinal.The Canes jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings, but couldn't hold on, surrendering 4 runs in the 3rd and 6 in the 5th inning, eventually falling 11-4. The Blueclaws topped Astros Navy 7-2 in the other semifinal to reach the finals. In the finals, East Cobb Astros Orange finished off an impressive weekend with their 5th win in bracket play, scoring an 11-1 win over FCA Blueclaws - Hannah.

Our predicted champion: Canes Baseball NC - Foster (NC)

Tournament champion: East Cobb Astros Orange (GA)

12u

NC #4 Dirtbags Legends went 2-0 on Saturday to win pool B, scoring a 6-3 win over East Cobb Astros Navy (GA) and a 4-2 win over Dacula Elite (GA), and earned a bye into the round-of-16. Other pool winners included Ballers Lakeland (FL), national #12 East Cobb Astros Orange (GA), national #3 SGSA Sharks (FL), Game On Stealth, Home Plate Chilidogs - Martin (GA), and national #33 Cincy Flames (OH). In their round-of-16 game, Dirtbags Legends took on East Side Rawlings Southeast (GA), who topped the East Cobb Colt .45's in their opening game of bracket play. In the round-of-16 game, Dirtbags Legends jumped out early 5-0 lead through 2 innings and held on for a 7-1 win. In their quarterfinal game, the Legends were matched up against the Cincy Flames. In this one, Dirtbags Legends threw a no hitter and took a 2-0 win over the Flames and set up a semifinal match up against the Excel Blue Wave (AL). In their semifinal, Dirtbags Legends scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning to take a 6-5 win over Excel Blue Wave. In the other semifinal, national #3 SGSA Sharks scored an 8-3 win over Ballers Lakeland. In the finals, the Legends finally met their match succumbing to an impressive SGSA squad and falling 9-3.

Our predicted champion: Motor City Hit Dogs (MI)

Tournament champion: SGSA Sharks (FL)