USSSA Beast of the East Recap Fall 2019

Rain messed up what was shaping up to be an excellent Sunday of games in Charlotte. Only the 8u, 12u Majors, and 13u AAA division were able to get through bracket play on Sunday. 12u #2 Canes Baseball NC - Foster staked their claim to regain the #1 spot in the 12u age group, while #9 Asheville A's made an impressive run through the 8u division on their way to the title. We missed some of the key matchups we were hoping to see, particularly in the 11u age group, but overall it was another exciting weekend of baseball with some of the best teams in the region. Here we recap the weekend of games at the Fall USSSA Beast of the East (BoE).

 

8u
Congrats to #9 Asheville A's on an impressive 5-0 run to the title at the BoE.

The #2 team in North Carolina, the GBC Prospects, went 1-1 in pool play with a 13-1 win over the #2 team in South Carolina, the Carolina Reds, and a 5-4 loss against the #4 team in NC, SBA Futures. The Futures scored a 14-9 win over NC #6 CBA Copperheads Black in their other pool play game. NC #3 Five Star Carolina earned the top seed for bracket play with a 12-3 win over Dirtbags LKN and a 21-8 win over the South Charlotte Cardinals. NC #9 Asheville A's earned the #2 seed for bracket play after blasting their way to an 18-3 win over Dirtbags LKN and an 11-8 win over the South Charlotte Cardinals.

In the quarterfinals on Sunday, #1 seed Five Star Carolina scored an 8-3 win over the South Charlotte Cardinals, #2 seed Asheville A's rolled to a 10-4 win over Dirtbags LKN, #3 seed SBA Futures notched a 9-1 win over CBA Copperheads Black, and #4 seed Carolina Reds blanked the GBC Prospects 7-0. In the semifinals, the Asheville A's got past the SBA Futures with a 7-4 win and the Reds edged Five Star Carolina 8-6. In the finals, the Asheville A's finished off a 5-0 weekend with a 14-8 win over the Carolina Reds.

Predicted Champion: GBC Prospects

Champion: Asheville A's

 

Instant Analysis: This was an impressive showing for the Asheville A's as the bracket unfolded in their favor on Sunday. They went 5-0 to take home the BoE title, but only faced two ranked teams in their 5 games (NC #4 SBA Futures and SC #2 Carolina Reds). We view this as a compliment, rather than a slight. Tournaments like the BoE are tough to win, especially on Sunday. It takes good fortune in combination with performing when it counts to take the title here. While there aren't the same pitching concerns in the 8u age group, it's a long weekend, especially on Sunday, for any team looking to win a title. Congrats to the A's for performing when it counted, it was a big tournament win for them.

 

9u

Our #1 in North Carolina, East Rowan, posted a 2-0 record in pool play with a 9-8 win over #11 GRIT and a 14-4 win over #16 Equip Sports Ministry which left them with the #2 seed for bracket play. Equip fell 10-2 against the SBA Nationals in their other pool play game. The #1 seed went to #14 Dirtbags LKN who scored a 10-5 win over #15 MARA Cobras and a 23-2 win over Tomberlin Academy. The MARA Cobras scored a 4-3 win over #9 South Charlotte in their other pool play. South Charlotte was able to earn the #3 seed for bracket play, however, rolling to a 10-3 win over Tomberlin Academy in their other pool play game. Unfortunately, rained washed out bracket play on Sunday so we weren't able to see some great bracket play matchups.

 

Instant Analysis: East Rowan notched two wins over ranked teams and did nothing to hurt their ranking as the top team in the 9u age group this fall. Both Dirtbags LKN and the MARA Cobras were able to score wins over ranked teams this weekend, which will probably bump both teams up the rankings this week. Unfortunately without some key bracket play games, it's hard to see the results in Charlotte shaking up the rankings much this week.

 

10u

North Carolina highest ranked team in the field, #2 Dirtbags Black, went 2-0 in pool play with a 12-1 win over the SBA Nationals and a 12-0 win over the LKN Lightning and finished with the #2 seed for bracket play. #10 LBC Swarm also went 2-0 in pool play, notching a 4-3 win over NCABC Fungo - Piscorik and a 4-3 win over #13 East Rowan. Fungo - Piscorik posted a 7-1 win over #3 Triple Crown Lookouts and East Rowan fell 11-0 against the Lookouts in their other pool play games. SC #10 SC Chaos Elite went 0-2 in pool play, falling 12-0 against Next Level Prospects (GA) and 5-4 against Habana Baseball (FL). Next Level blanked Mission Vipers - Bray 11-0 in their other pool play game and scored the #1 seed for bracket play. Unfortunately, rained washed out most bracket play on Sunday so we weren't able to see some great bracket play matchups. Two bracket play games were able to be played. In those games, SC Chaos Elite rolled to a 9-1 win over East Rowan and the Triple Crown Lookouts notched an 8-6 win over Mission Vipers - Bray.

 

Instant Analysis: LBC Swarm had the most impressive weekend for teams from North Carolina, posting two wins over top 20 teams. Fungo - Piscorik also posted an impressive win over previously undefeated Triple Crown Lookouts, but fell against the Swarm in their opening game. East Rowan had a tough weekend, going 0-2 against the Lookouts and the Swarm. In the end, the 10u division offered some clarity on the rankings, but we missed out on some potential big contests on Sunday.

 

 

11u

The top 3 teams in our North Carolina rankings, #1 SBA Futures, #2 Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro, and #3 SBA Nationals all went 2-0 and were the only undefeated teams in pool play. The Futures edged Union County Crush - Walker 7-5 and notched a 9-4 win over #8 Rock Solid Red and earned the #2 seed for bracket play. Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro scored the #1 seed with a 5-2 win over Park Sharon Nationals - Garcia and a 13-1 win over #4 West Raleigh Blue. The SBA Nationals earned the #2 seed for bracket play with a 9-6 win over #5 Five Star Carolina - Jones and a 7-0 win over the #1 team in South Carolina, Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley. Team 24, Nationals - Garcia, West Raleigh, and Five Star - Jones all finished 1-1 in pool play with Gamecocks - Ashley scoring a 10-1 win over NC #6 Carolina Blue Trifecta, Nationals - Garcia topping #10 SBA Americans 6-4, West Raleigh notching a 5-1 win over the SBA Americans, and Five Star - Jones rolling to an 8-1 win over Carolina Blue Trifecta. Unfortunately, rained washed out almost all of bracket play on Sunday so we weren't able to see some great bracket play matchups. One bracket play game was played on Friday evening in which Five Star Carolina - Jones edged Carolina Blue Trifecta 2-1.

 

Instant Analysis: Anyone who follows this age group knows what we want to see: games between our top 3. Unfortunately with bracket play getting rained out, we didn't get that this weekend. These 3 have been the class of the age group for some time, but have not played one another this fall which leaves some ambiguity about how they should be ranked. Our take has been the Futures remain the top team in this age group until their performance dictates moving them down, and this weekend did nothing to suggest that. Park Sharon - Pirro and the SBA Nationals are close behind, but until they beat the Futures it's tough to consider moving the Futures out of the top spot. As it stands, Park Sharon is 17-2 this fall with losses against #4 West Raleigh Blue and #5 Five Star Carolina - Jones, and have 9 wins over ranked 11u teams in North Carolina, 5 wins over ranked 11u teams from South Carolina, and 2 wins against other nationally ranked teams. The Futures are 15-3 but have only played 7 games against 11u teams, including 1 win over a ranked 11u NC team and 2 wins over ranked 11u teams from South Carolina. They have 8 wins over 12u teams including 2 over ranked 12u NC teams and 1 over a top 5 12u team from South Carolina. In addition, all 3 of their losses have come against teams in the top 11 of over 12u rankings. The Nationals are 12-2 this fall and have 4 wins over ranked 11u teams from North Carolina, 2 wins over South Carolina's #1 team, and 2 wins over ranked 12u teams. In addition, their only losses have come against top 10 12u teams.

 

12u

18 teams faced off in the Majors division, and thankfully we got to see bracket play on Sunday in this division. The top team in North Carolina, Rawlings Prospects NC, went 2-0 in pool play with an 11-0 win over #8 CBA Copperheads Red and a 10-2 win over Ohio Valley Baseball Club. This earned the Prospects the top seed for bracket play. #2 Canes Baseball NC - Foster scored the #2 seed with a 14-1 win over Copperheads Red and 15-1 win over Ohio Valley. #4 SBA Futures scored the #3 seed after an 8-3 win over South Carolina's #7 team, Team 24 Gamecocks - Bailey, and an 8-0 win over #19 Equip Sports Ministry. #5 NCDB Rivercats went 1-1 in pool play, falling 6-4 against #11 CBA Copperheads Black on Friday before scoring an 11-6 win over #20 Rock Solid Red on Saturday. This earned them the #11 seed in bracket play. Copperheads Black blanked Rock Solid 8-0 in their other pool play game to score the #4 seed for bracket play. #6 Mission Vipers Gold went 1-1 in pool play with a 10-5 win over Team 24 - Bailey and a 5-4 loss against Equip and finished with the #9 seed. Equip earned the #12 seed for bracket play after finishing pool play 1-1. #7 Dirtbags East finished pool play 1-0-1 and scored the #6 seed for Sunday with a 6-5 win over #14 NCDB Rivercats 12u2 and a 6-6 tie against SC #2 Charleston Revolution - Whittle. NCDB 12u2 finished with the #10 seed for bracket play with a 5-4 win over the Charleston Revolution in addition to their loss against Dirtbags East. This earned the Revolution the #13 seed. #9 MPC was the final 2-0 team in pool play and scored the #5 seed with a 6-5 win over the SBA Nationals and a 7-4 win over the MARA Cobras.

In the bracket play play-in games, #15 seed Copperheads Red topped Team 24 - Bailey 10-2 and Rock Solid Red scored a 10-2 win over Ohio Valley Baseball Club. In the top half of round-0f-16 games, #11 seed NCDB Rivercats edged #6 seed Dirtbags East 9-8, #3 seed SBA Futures blanked #14 seed MARA Cobras 4-0, #2 seed Canes - Foster rolled to a 16-0 win over Copperheads Red, and #7 seed NCDB 12u2 blasted their way to an 11-1 win over #10 seed Carolina Cannons. In the bottom half of round-of-16 games, #1 seed Rawlings Prospects NC edged Rock Solid Red 9-8, #8 seed Mission Vipers Gold scored a 7-3 win over SBA Nationals, #5 seed Equip topped #12 seed MPC 13-8, and #13 seed Charleston Revolution edged CBA Copperheads Black 9-7. In the quarterfinals, the SBA Futures edged the NCDB Rivercats 4-3, Canes - Foster snuck by NCDB 12u2 2-1, Mission Vipers Gold pulled off an upset 8-4 win over Rawlings Prospects NC, and the Charleston Revolution edged Equip 6-5. In the semifinals, Canes - Foster got past the SBA Futures 10-7 and the Revolution pulled off another 1-run win with a 5-4 win over Mission Vipers Gold. In the finals, the Canes finished off an impressive weekend with a 16-1 win over the Revolution to take home the Beast of the East Fall Super NIT crown.

Predicted Champion: Rawlings Prospects NC

Champion: Canes Baseball NC - Foster

 

Instant Analysis: Finally we got some bracket play in Charlotte. This was a really interesting age division to watch with a lot of very closely matched teams and games including 10 games decided by 1 run, 3 more decided by 2 runs, and 1 tie across 35 total games. Canes - Foster and Rawlings Prospects NC have been in a tight battle for the #1 spot this fall, and the Super NIT title coupled with an "early" exit by the Prospects should be enough to push the Canes back to #1. The Futures had a good weekend including pulling out a come-from-behind 1-run win over #5 NCDB Rivercats. The Rivercats had a decent weekend, notching two wins over ranked teams as well as close losses to top 20 teams. Mission Vipers also had a good showing, going 3-2 overall including a win over #1 Rawlings Prospects NC. Copperheads Black had a solid weekend scoring multiple wins over ranked teams. Equip and NCDB Rivercats 12u2 each made nice runs in the bracket, reaching the quarterfinals and both experiencing heart-breaking 1-run losses in the quarterfinals. After going winless in pool play, the Charleston Revolution made a very impressive run to the finals on Sunday winning 3 games by a total of 4 runs before running into a buzzsaw in Canes - Foster in the finals.

 

13u

The #2 team in North Carolina, Canes Baseball NC - Simpson, went 1-0-1 in pool play, defeating #17 Team Elite American 6-3 and tying the SBA Nationals 6-6. This earned them the #4 seed for bracket play. #3 Canes Baseball Eastern NC finished 1-1 in pool play topping the Carolina Astros 5-4 and falling 10-0 against #13 Five Star Carolina - Neyra. Five Star - Neyra finished with the top seed for bracket play with a 10-1 win over Dirtbags Camp in addition to their win over Canes Eastern NC. #4 Five Star Carolina - Champions finished 1-1 in pool play with a 4-2 loss against SBA Patriots Black and a 6-4 win over #11 Carolina Rockies Gold. Rockies Gold fell 11-5 against #6 Mission Vipers Gold, who had a nice bounce back weekend. Vipers Gold finished 2-0 in pool play and earned the #3 seed with a 9-5 win over SBA Patriots Black in addition to their win over Rockies Gold. #8 Dirtbags Legends finished pool play with a 2-0 record and the #2 seed for bracket play with an 11-7 win over #12 LKN Hurricanes and a 16-3 win over CBA Copperheads Black. The Hurricanes tied TPA Nationals - Zuber 7-7 in their other pool play game to finish pool play 0-1-1.

Only 4 bracket play games were able to be played on Saturday evening. In those games, Five Star - Champions notched a 12-2 win over Copperheads Black, Mission Vipers Gold blanked Team Elite American 8-0, Canes Baseball Eastern NC edged SBA Patriots Black 6-5, and Carolina Rockies Gold got past the Dirtbags Legends with a 7-5 win.

 

Instant Analysis: It was a bit of an unusual weekend in the 13u age group. #13 Five Star - Neyra, who have not been very active this fall, proved they are still among the class in this age group with a 2-0 weekend including a big win over #3 Canes Baseball Eastern NC. #6 Mission Vipers Gold had a nice showing going 3-0 with 2 wins over ranked teams. Canes - Simpson scored a win over a ranked team but also had a tie against unranked SBA Nationals. Both Canes Eastern NC and #4 Five Star - Champions finished 2-1 for the weekend with Five Star getting a win over #11 Carolina Rockies Gold. We can't say too many teams in this age group did much to separate themselves this weekend, other than Five Star - Neyra showing the should still be considered among the top teams in this age group.