USSSA Beast of the East 10-11u Recap April 2019

Showcase Baseball Academy (SBA) had quite the day in the 10 and 11u age groups, with 3 of the 4 finalists coming from SBA. The 10u age group featured a bit of surprise with the SBA Nationals finally getting one on their Rivals, the national #1 SBA Futures, and taking home the 10u crown. NC #2 SBA Futures was as dominant as ever, giving up 8 total runs in 6 games on their way to the 11u title. Here we provide a recap of the loaded 10u and 11u fields this weekend in Charlotte.

10u

14 teams, including our #1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11, and 12 ranked teams in North Carolina, our #1 and 5 teams in South Carolina, as well as perhaps the top team in both Tennessee and Michigan, all came to the BoE in Charlotte this past weekend in hopes of making their mark against the best 10u field in North Carolina this year. SC #5 Gameday Shockwave came away with top seed in bracket play after posting a 2-0 win over #6 SBA Americans and an 8-0 win over NC #11 LBC Thunder. The Americans fell to 0-2 in pool play with an 8-3 loss against NC #3 Park Sharon Nationals, while the Thunder also went 0-2 in pool play with a 10-1 loss against #1 SBA Futures in their other pool play game. The SBA Futures finished 2-0 in pool play with a 12-1 win over the Park Sharon Nationals in addition to their win over the Thunder, and earned the #2 seed for bracket play. NC #2 SBA Nationals scored the #4 seed for bracket play after a 7-3 win over CBA Copperheads - Sigler and a 28-0 win over Mission Vipers - Reyer in pool play.

The Knoxville Stars (TN) earned the #3 seed for bracket play with a 7-0 win over the Copperheads and an 11-3 win over Mission Vipers - Reyer on Saturday. SC #1 Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley received the #5 seed for bracket play with a 6-2 win over NC #7 Carolina Red Sox - Jones and a 3-1 win over NC #12 Carolina Rockies Black. Both the Red Sox and Rockies Black finished 0-2 in pool play with the Red Sox falling 8-3 against the Motor City Hit Dogs and Rockies Black dropping a tight 7-4 decision to NC #5 Carolina Blue. Carolina Blue fell 9-1 against the Hit Dogs in their other pool play game and received the #7 seed for bracket play, while the Hit Dogs earned the #6 seed. Interestingly, the difference in runs allowed between the top seed (Gameday Shockwave) and the 6th and final team who went undefeated in pool play (Motor City Hit Dogs) was 4 runs (0 vs. 4). In other words, 6 teams went undefeated in pool play, and none gave up more than 4 runs combined in two pool play games.

Only two teams, Gameday Shockwave and the SBA Futures, received byes into the quarterfinals. In the play-in games, Carolina Blue topped the SBA Americans 4-2 in what has become and outstanding rivalry between these two teams. In the other play-in games, the Hit Dogs blanked Red Sox Jones - 10-0, the Knoxville Stars edged Mission Vipers - Reyer 4-3, Team 24 - Ashley rolled to a 13-4 win over the Copperheads, the SBA Nationals blanked the LBC Thunder 8-0, and the Park Sharon Nationals got past Carolina Rockies Black 6-4. In the quarterfinals, the SBA Futures rolled to a 10-1 win over Carolina Blue, the Hit Dogs got out to a 7-0 lead, but gave up 6 runs in the 4th and held on for an 8-7 win over the Knoxville Stars, the SBA Nationals rolled to a 9-1 win over Team 24 - Ashley, and Gameday Shockwave notched an 8-0 win over the Park Sharon Nationals. In the semifinals, the SBA Futures notched an 8-4 win over the Hit Dogs and the SBA Nationals edged past Gameday Shockwave 3-2 to set up an all-SBA finals. In one of the biggest upsets of the weekend, the SBA Nationals got up 5-0 midway through the 2nd inning and held on to score a 7-5 win over national #1 SBA Futures and take home the 10u BoE crown.

Our Predicted Champion: SBA Futures

Champion: SBA Nationals

Instant Analysis

It was another finals match up of our top 2 teams, and an all-SBA finals. In the end, the SBA Nationals were able to take home the title in a loaded 10u field. It's hard to understate how impressive some of the teams in this field were. Eventual champion SBA Nationals outscored opponents 62-11 across 6 games, including wins over the #1 team in North Carolina (and national #1), the #1 team in South Carolina, the #5 team in South Carolina Gameday Shockwave who only gave up 3 runs in 4 games (all to the SBA Nationals), and the #11 team in North Carolina. The SBA Futures outscored their 5 opponents a combined 45-14, while Gameday Shockwave threw 3 shutouts in 4 games and only gave up 3 runs in 4 games. The Motor City Hit Dogs outscored their 5 opponents a combined 39-19, with 15 of those 19 runs coming in just two games against the Knoxville Stars and the SBA Futures. We also should point out what a monumental win this was for the SBA Nationals. The SBA Futures have been #1 in the rankings in this age group essentially since we started doing these rankings in October of 2017. The SBA Nationals have been #2 since April of 2018. These two have separated themselves at the top of this age group, however since the spring of 2018, the SBA Nationals had gone 0-6 against the SBA Futures, including 0-2 in the Fall 2018 season. This was just the Futures 3rd loss against a team in there own age group in the past 18 months (by our count). And while this win won't knock the Futures out of the top spot, it certainly showed the gap between #1 and 2 may be closing.

 

 

11u

As good as the 1ou field was in Charlotte, the 11u field may have been better. #1-6, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 20 in North Carolina, #1, 4 ,5, and 9 in South Carolina, perhaps the top two from Tennessee and the top team from Michigan were all in this huge 28-team field. 12 teams went undefeated in pool play, with NC #2 SBA Futures leading the way with a 10-0 win over Mountain Region #2 Equip and an 8-1 win over RBI Marvel (TN). NC #1 Canes Baseball NC - Foster also was among the 2-0 teams in pool play, scoring an 8-0 win over the Carolina Reds and a 15-9 win over #6 Canes Baseball NC - Slaydon. This left Canes - Foster with the 11th seed for bracket play. Canes - Slaydon fell 6-5 against NC #3 Dirtbags Black in their pool play game, while Dirtbags Black notched an 11-3 win over the Carolina Reds in their other pool play game to finish pool play with the #10 seed. #9 GRIT earned the #2 seed for bracket play after posting a 7-1 win over the Akadema Heat and an 8-2 win over Dirtbags Platinum in pool play.

SC #4 PRO Select received the #4 seed with a 4-1 win over SC #9 Team 24 Gamecocks - Bailey and a 6-3 win over NC #11 SBA Nationals. The Nationals dropped an 8-3 decision to SC #1 Charleston Revolution - Whittle in their other pool play game. The Revolution scored a 14-9 win over Team 24 - Bailey in their other pool play game to finish with the #12 seed for bracket play. NC #5 Dirtbags East went 2-0 in their pool play games and earned the #7 seed after scoring a 4-3 win over Mission Vipers Gold and a 12-2 win over the MARA Cobras. SC #5 Predators NE got the #9 seed for bracket play with a 12-4 win over Dirtbags Platinum and a 12-4 win over the Akadema Heat in pool play. NC #4 Rawlings Prospects NC went 1-1 in pool play with an 8-2 win over NC #8 Canes - Naylor and a 10-3 loss against the Motor City Hit Dogs. The Hit Dogs scored a 10-2 win over NC #12 Athlete's Advantage Yard Goats in their other pool play game and received the #6 seed in bracket play. Canes - Naylor tied the Yard Goats 5- in their other pool play game.

For bracket play, Crusaders Baseball (TN), GRIT, PRO Select, and the SBA Futures received byes into the round-of-16. In the play-in games, the SBA Nationals topped Area Stars Orange 5-1, Canes - Foster blanked Team 24 - Bailey 15-0, the Motor City Hit Dogs edged Canes - Slaydon 7-6, Dirtbags Black pulled out a 1-0 win over the Akadema Heat, Dirtbags East notched a walk off 7-6 win over Dirtbags Platinum, and RBI Marvel topped Rawlings Prospects 5-3. Mission Vipers Gold moved into the round-of-16 with a 12-1 win over Equip, while the Charleston Revolution notched a 17-2 win over Rock Solid Red, Knoxville Stars scored a 9-3 win over the Ohio Longhorns, Predators NE topped the Carolina Reds (SC) 11-6, the MARA Cobras edged past the Carolina Havoc 6-4, and Canes - Naylor was able to get buy the Yard Goats 7-4. In the round-of-16 games, the Crusaders Blanked the SBA Nationals 9-0, Canes - Foster held on for a 5-4 win over the Hit Dogs, Dirtbags Black topped Dirtbags East 8-6, GRIT got past RBI Marvel 7-3, PRO Select scored a 9-5 win over Mission Vipers Gold, the Charleston Revolution notched a 5-1 win over the Knoxville Stars, Predators NE rolled to a 9-1 win over the MARA Cobras, and the SBA Futures topped Canes - Naylor 6-2. In the quarterfinals, the Crusaders scored a 7-1 win over Canes - Foster, Dirtbags Black notched an 8-2 win over GRIT, PRO Select edged the Revolution 2-1, and the Futures rolled to a 9-1 win over Predators NE. In the semifinals, Dirtbags Black topped the Crusaders 7-4 and the SBA Futures scored a 9-2 win over PRO Select to reach the finals. In a great finals match up between the #2 and 3 teams in NC, the #2 SBA Futures were able to come away with a 4-2 win over the Dirtbags to take home the 11u title.

Our Predicted Champion: Canes Baseball NC - Foster

Champion: SBA Futures

Instant Analysis

In 6 games, the Futures gave up 8 total runs, while scoring 46. They didn't give up more than 2 runs in a single game, despite playing the #3 and 8 teams in North Carolina and the #4 and 5 teams in South Carolina. That's an impressive run. They also avenged their loss earlier this spring against Dirtbags Black. Whereas previously the race for #1 in the 11u age group has been between two teams (Canes - Foster and the SBA Futures), with their run to the finals, Dirtbags Black has established themselves in the conversation among the best 11u teams in North Carolina. #5 Dirtbags East had a nice showing, going 3-1 with their only loss coming by 2 runs against finalist Dirtbags Black. Canes - Foster had a good weekend, going 4-1, but presumably short of their own goals, falling against the Crusaders, who have become a bit of a nemesis for Canes - Foster having defeated the Canes 3 consecutive times going back to April of 2018. NC #4 Rawlings Prospects finished 1-2 for weekend, and presumably short of their own goals for the event as they have been impressive this spring. PRO Select and Predators NE also threw their hats in the ring for consideration among the top teams in South Carolina after both teams went 4-1 this weekend (as did the top team in SC, Charleston Revolution - Whittle). NC #9 GRIT also posted a nice 3-1 weekend, although they did not have to defeat a ranked team this weekend to get their 3 Ws.