Unfortunately Mother Nature hindered the USSSA’s best-laid plans as rain washed out all games on Saturday and completely wiped out bracket play in the 10u Majors division. Despite that, many games were played on Friday, and bracket play continued on Sunday for all but the 10’s as 5 champions were crowned on Sunday. The Park Sharon Nationals (9u), Minion (12u), and Canes NC – Gallaher (13u) all repeated as champions, defending their fall 2017 Beast of the East titles. With so many top 20 teams in action across all the age groups, there was lots exciting games going on Friday evening and all day Sunday. Here we recap the weekend’s results.
8u
Three pool play games were able to be played on Friday night. The Youngsville Phantoms scored a bit of an upset over #8 South Charlotte Cardinals with an 18-14 win. Unfortunately for the Phantoms, they weren’t as productive in their second game on Friday and got steamrolled by the the Knoxville Stars (TN) 14-3. #4 East Rowan continued their hot play this spring with an 8-4 win over the Tega Cay Titans (SC). The South Charlotte Cardinals did bounce back in their second game on Friday night, scoring an 18-1 win over GRIT. The G-town Pirates were victorious in their only pool play game, notching a 17-7 win over Team 24 Gamecocks. The TN Tristars finished 1-0 in pool play with an 8-0 win over the Carolina Reds (SC).
For bracket play, teams were divided into two 5-team brackets. One included the North Carolina teams plus Tega Cay, while the other consisted of the rest of the out-of-state teams. In the NC bracket, the Tega Cay Titans blasted GRIT 21-1 to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, the Phantoms again topped the Cardinals, this time with a nail-biting 15-14 win. East Rowan also reached the finals with a nail-biter of their own, scoring a 12-11 win over Tega Cay. In the finals, the Phantoms proved they belong in the discussion of the best teams in the state of North Carolina, scoring an 11-6 win over East Rowan. In the out-of-state bracket, Team 24 Gamecocks beat the Carolina Reds in the play-in game to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, the Knoxville Stars edged out the G-town Pirates 12-11 while the TN Tristars also were able to squeeze past Team 24 with a 10-9 win. In the final, the Knoxville Stars completed their tournament run with a 13-4 win over the Tristars.
9u
The 9’s were able to get in 6 pool play games on Friday night. #1 Park Sharon Nationals started their Beast of the East run the right way scoring a 12-4 win over #15 Union County Crush – Walker and a 16-1 win over #11 NCDB Rivercats. Carolina Blue Mizuno also went 2-0 on Friday with an 8-4 win over SBA Canes – Red and an 8-3 win over the #8 Piedmont Panthers. #18 Carolina Arsenal went 1-0-1 with a 4-4 tie against Team 24 Gamecocks – Ashley (SC) and a 15-11 win over #10 Carolina Red Sox – Jones. This left 6 teams who did not play a single pool play game.
In bracket play, the Park Sharon Nationals received a bye into the quarterfinals. In the play-in games, the Red Sox beat the Rivercats 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals, the East Cobb Astros topped SBA Canes – Red 13-4, Team 24 Gamecocks – Ashley beat Copperheads – Sigler 9-6, the Ninth Inning Dodgers (GA) beat the Piedmont Panthers 11-5, Carolina Arsenal edged out MVP Red 7-5, #6 SBA Canes – Simmons rolled over the Union County Crush 12-3 and #2 Dirtbags Black topped Carolina Blue Mizuno 8-3. In the quarterfinals, Park Sharon beat the Red Sox 8-2, Team 24 beat East Cobb 9-6, the Arsenal blanked the Ninth Inning Dodgers 9-0 and SBA Canes – Simmons blasted the Dirtbags 16-6. In the semifinals, Park Sharon rolled to a 9-0 win over Team 24, giving them just their second loss at the 9u level. In the other semifinal, the Arsenal opened up a 3-0 lead only to have Canes – Simmons score two runs in the top of the 5th and 6th innings to take a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the 6th. The Arsenal, however, were able to battle back and muster 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th to take a 5-4 win over the Canes – Simmons and reach the finals. In the finals, Park Sharon was waiting. And much like what they did to the rest of the competition, they simply overpowered their way to a 9-1 win over the Arsenal in the finals. For the weekend, Park Sharon was 5-0, scoring 54 runs while allowing only 8. With the BoE win, Park Sharon improved to 17-1-1 this spring, and 38-4-1 overall as a 9u team. Park Sharon is now 10th in the nation in USSSA’s Power Rankings
10u
Unfortunately for the 10u Majors division, their Saturday was washed out and they were unable to be relocated for Sunday, so their Sunday was also wiped out. 6 games were able to be played on Friday night, which left 7 teams that did not play a game all weekend in this age group/division. On Friday, #1 Canes NC – Gilchrist again sent a message to the rest of the field that they were in Charlotte to put in work by blasting CBC Baseball Club 20-0. #2 SBA Canes – Marconi was also able to get in a game Friday night and took out the Mission Vipers Black 10-1. #9 East Rowan was able to get in two games on Friday night, falling 8-3 to #13 Carolina Havoc in a rematch of a game that went in favor of East Rowan (11-7) on March 24th. In their second game, East Rowan bounced back with a 14-8 win over #5 Dirtbags Platinum. #8 Mission Vipers Gold played the Detroit Bees to a 9-9 tie on Friday night, and #18 Youngsville Heat lost a tough 13-11 game against GRIT – Koonin. Canes NC – Gilchrist now sit 5th nationally in USSSA’s National Power Rankings.
11u
10 games were able to be played in the 11u Majors division on Friday night. #1 SBA Canes – Ross started their BoE run with a 15-0 win over CBC Baseball Club, while #2 Mission Vipers Gold scored a 17-3 win over CoulOak Hurricanes on Friday. #3 Canes NC – Hood was victorious on Friday night, notching a 9-3 win over #7 SBA Canes – Erwin. #8 Carolina Blue Sox scored an 11-7 win over Canes Charlotte, while #10 Big Game 2025 went 2-0 on Friday night with a 10-9 win over Hartsville Heat (SC) and a 13-5 win over the VA Canes. The Carolina Athletics topped the Carolina Bruins (SC) 12-4, while the Cincy Flames (OH) topped Carolina Blue Mizuno 9-6 and tied Mission Vipers Black 4-4. The Vision Bandits also topped the Carolina Bruins by the score of 9-7.
In bracket play, #5 Five Star Carolina – Neyra topped the VA Canes 8-1 to reach the round of 16, while Crusaders Baseball beat CBC Baseball Club 10-4, Dirtbags East beat Canes Charlotte 9-4, and the Carolina Bruins beat CoulOak Hurricanes 6-3 to reach the round of 16. In the round of 16 games it was the Carolina Blue Sox over SBA Canes – Erwin 6-5, Five Star – Neyra over the Mission Vipers Gold 2-1, SBA Canes – Ross over Crusaders Baseball (TN) 6-5, Carolina Blue Mizuno on top of the Vision Bandits 9-8, the Hartsville Heat over the Carolina Athletics 6-2, Canes NC – Hood edging out Dirtbags East 7-6, the Bruins over Big Game 2025 10-4 and Mission Vipers Black on top of the Cincy Flames 3-2. That left 8 teams, including our #1, #3, #5, and #8 teams. In the quarterfinals, the Blue Sox were able to get by Five Star – Neyra 9-2 while SBA Canes – Ross again squeaked out a 1 run win with a 4-3 win over Carolina Blue Mizuno. The Hartsville Heat outlasted Canes NC – Hood 11-8 and the Bruins topped the Vipers Black 5-3. In the semifinals, the Blue Sox blew open a 3-3 game against top-ranked SBA Canes – Ross with 8 runs in the 3rd inning and 4 more in the 4th inning to claim a 15-6 win and a trip to the finals. The loss for the Canes – Ross was their first to an in-state (North Carolina) 11u team since October 29th, 2017. In the finals, they were met by the Carolina Bruins, who scored a 4-3 win over the Hartsville Heat. In the finals, the Blue Sox continued their incredible tourney run with an 8-0 win over the Bruins and an 11u title at the BoE. SBA Canes – Ross remained North Carolina’s highest ranked team in USSSA’s National Power Rankings, coming in at 13th.
12u
In the 12u age group, 13 pool play games were able to be played on Friday night. #2 Minion, looking for their 4th consecutive BoE title, scored two wins in pool play with a 10-2 win over CBC Baseball Club and a 5-0 win over the Myrtle Beach Rays (SC). #3 Legends Baseball scored a 7-2 win over Rock Solid Blue in their pool play game. #11 Carolina Rockies won 14-1 over Diamond Gold (TN), while #12 Sanford Cobras lost a tough 2-0 to the Lake Murray Sandstorm in their pool play games. #16 SBA Canes – Mendez scored an 8-3 win over 5 Star LKN, and #20 Canes NC – Harland was able to sneak out a 3-2 win over Rock Sold Blue in their lone pool play game. Team 24 Gamecocks – Stiles (SC) got by Team Carolina – Demarini (SC) 5-0, while Team 24 Gamecocks – Brown (SC) notched a 21-6 win over the NCDB Rivercats. Rawlings Prospects NC went 0-1-1 with a 8-0 loss to BC Athletics (TN) and a 8-8 tie to Canes Charlotte. Five Star Carolina – Smith scored a 6-2 win over the Lake Murray Sandstorm and the Carolina Bruins (SC) rolled over CBC Baseball Club 21-3.
Bracket play for the 12’s consisted of 5 play-in games to get to the round of 16. In the play-in games, Team Carolina – Demarini edged Diamond Gold 3-2, the #5 Park Sharon Nationals outlasted the Lake Murray Sandstorm 7-6, the Sanford Cobras scored a 7-6 extra-innings win over NCDB, Canes Charlotte also secured a 1-run 10-9 win over CBC Baseball Club, Rawlings Prospects NC topped Rock Solid Blue 7-3, while 5 Star LKN beat the Myrtle Beach Rays 13-5. In the round of 16, Team 24 Gamecocks – Brown topped Canes NC – Harland 10-5, BC Athletics tolled by Team Carolina – Demarini 9-1, the Park Sharon Nationals upended 5 Star Carolina – Smith 5-3, while Team 24 Gamecocks – Stiles scored an 11-8 win over the Sanford Cobras. On the other side of the bracket, Legends secured a 4-3 win over Canes Charlotte, the Carolina Rockies notched an 8-3 win over Rawlings Prospects NC, Minion shut out 5 Star LKN 12-0, while the Bruins topped SBA Canes – Mendez 9-1. In the semifinals, the Park Sharon Nationals scored 4 runs in the top of the 5th inning to take an 7-5 lead, then held on for dear life as BC Athletics mounted a comeback in the bottom half, only to fall short and have Park Sharon walk away with an 8-7 win. In the other semifinal, Minion scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 4th to take a 4-3 lead, then added an insurance run in the 5th to secure a 5-3 win over the Carolina Rockies. In the finals, Minion was able to complete their improbable run to a 4th straight BoE title with an 8-0 win over the Park Sharon Nationals. For the week, Minion went 5-0 and outscored opponents 57-5 in a truly dominant performance against some of the best teams in the Southeast. Minion now sits 6th nationally in USSSA’s Power Rankings.
13u
The 13’s were only able to get in 5 pool play games on Friday night. #1 Canes NC – Gallaher started their BoE run with a 10-2 win over Team 24 Gamecocks – Zohner. #3 Canes NC – Haire scored two runs in the bottom of the 6th inning to steal a 6-5 win against Rock Solid Red. In a great match up of #4 Knights Prime and #6 NCDB Rivercats, the Knights prevailed scoring 1 run in the bottom of the last inning to take a 7-6 win over the Rivercats. #9 Carolina Havoc – Clonch played Team 24 Gamecocks – Zohner to a 8-8 tie while Crusaders Baseball (TN) notched a 13-1 win over SBA Marucci in their lone pool play game. That left only two teams without having played a pool play game heading into bracket play.
In the bracket play-in games, NCDB topped SBA Marucci 6-3, Team 24 Gamecocks – Zohner blanked Rawlings SE National 10-0 and Rock Solid Red outlasted Black Sox Black (OH) 7-3 to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Knights Prime topped the Carolina Havoc 11-7 while the Rivercats topped the Crusaders 12-6. Canes NC – Haire scored a 9-7 win over Team 24 – Zohner while Canes NC – Gallaher edged out Rock Solid Red for a 3-2 win. In the semifinals, Knights Prime again got the better of the Rivercats, this time by the score of 11-7, while Canes NC – Gallaher edged Canes NC – Haire 10-8 to reach the finals. In the finals, it was all Canes – Gallaher as they rolled to a 9-0 win. The win marked a repeat for Canes NC – Gallaher as they were the champions of the fall BoE in October. With the win, Canes NC – Gallaher moved up to #8 in USSSA’s National Power Rankings.