11u
The 11u age group featured 5 teams from North Carolina including #1 SBA Futures, #2 SBA Nationals, #5 Dirtbags Black, #7 LBC Swarm, and #10 Area Stars - Zach. Both the Futures and Area Stars finished pool play with 2-0 records, as did the Next Level Prospects, who finished #1 in the country in Perfect Game's end-of-summer rankings this past year. The SBA Nationals, LBC Swarm, and Dirtbags Black all finished with 1-1 record in pool play. This included a 3-2 win by Dirtbags Black over the Nationals. In the quarterfinals, the Swarm topped the Nationals 11-5, the SBA Futures rolled to a 14-5 win over SC Warhawks - Moody, the Area Stars topped Carolina Rays Select (SC) 7-3, and Dirtbags Black pulled off a 10-3 win over the Next Level Prospects. In the first semifinal, Dirtbags Black and the Area Stars battled back and forth all the way to the end as the Area Stars pulled out an 8-7 walk off win. In the semifinal, the Futures held off the LBC Swarm to take an 8-5 win. In the finals, the Futures finished off an impressive weekend with a 7-5 win over the Area Stars. The Futures got up 5-1 through two innings and were able to hold on for the 7-5 win in the finals.
12u
In the 12u Majors division, 4 teams from North Carolina traveled to Lexington. This included #1 SBA Futures, #2 Canes Baseball NC - Pirro, #5 Five Star Carolina Elite, and #9 Carolina Blue Trifecta. The Canes and Futures dominated their way through pool play, both going 2-0 and securing the #1 and #2 seeds for bracket play. Line Drive Baseball Black (GA), who finished #1 in the country in Perfect Game's end of summer rankings this past year, also went 2-0 in pool play. Carolina Blue Trifecta finished 0-1-1 in pool play including a loss against Canes - Pirro, and Five Star finished 0-2 after facing perhaps the toughest road in pool play, falling against the SBA Futures and Line Drive Black.
In the quarterfinals on Sunday, Line Drive Black scored an 11-4 win over Carolina Blue, the Futures rolled to a 10-2 win over Warriors Baseball (SC), the Carolina Yarddawgs (SC) blasted their way to a 17-5 win over the Charleston Revolution (SC), and Canes - Pirro scored an 11-3 win over Five Star Elite. In the semifinals, the SBA Futures notched an 8-4 win over Line Drive and the Yarddawgs pulled off the 8-7 upset of Canes - Pirro. In the finals, the SBA Futures finished off another impressive weekend with a 12-8 win over the Yarddawgs.
13u
12 teams, including 6 from North Carolina, competed in the 12u Majors division this past weekend. This included #2 SBA Futures, #5 Mission Baseball Gold, #12 Canes Baseball NC - Foster, #13 Dirtbags East, #17 Five Star Carolina - Nelson, and the Carolina Regulators. The SBA Futures finished pool play with a 2-0 record, including a win over Five Star - Nelson. They were joined at 2-0 by perhaps the two best teams in South Carolina, SC Dirtbags Prime and Canes Baseball SC - Staats. Mission Gold finished pool play with the #4 seed at 1-1. Five Star - Nelson and Dirtbags East also finished 1-1 in pool play, earning the #5 and #8 seeds, respectively. In the play-in games on Sunday, Dirtbags ECS (SC) rolled past Gameday Shockwave (SC), Canes Baseball NC - Foster scored a win over Line Drive Black, the Carolina Regulators topped Five Star - Nelson, and Dirtbags East got past Team 24 Gamecocks Black. In the quarterfinals, Canes - Staats roared back from being down 6-2 late to take an 11-6 win over Dirtbags ECS, the SBA Futures topped Canes - Foster 8-3, Mission Gold rolled to a 17-5 win over the Carolina Regulators, and SC Dirtbags Prime scored a 9-1 win over Dirtbags East. In the semfinals, Canes - Staats continued the offensive onslaught with an 18-5 win over the SBA Futures, while Mission Gold was able to get past Dirtbags Prime in a tight 8-5 win. In the finals, Canes - Staats finished off an impressive overall weekend with a 19-2 victory over Mission Baseball Gold.