USSSA Jay Criscione Super NIT Recap October 2019

15 ranked teams from North Carolina, including 6 top 10 teams in the 12u age group, made the trip down to South Carolina this past weekend for the Jay Criscione Super NIT. Teams from 7 different states were in attendance and fields included some of the very best teams in the Southeastern US. We learned a lot about several North Carolina teams this weekend and there are sure to be a few shake ups in the rankings this week. Here we recap the weekend that was at the Jay Criscione Super NIT.

8u

Two teams from North Carolina, #8 Asheville A's and Dirtbags LKN competed in the 16-team 8u division that included teams from 5 different states (Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Virginia). The Asheville A's went 1-1 in pool play and finished with the #7 seed in the Gold bracket with a 10-2 win over the Palmetto Storm and a 12-9 loss against the Knoxville Stars. Dirtbags LKN also finished 1-1 in pool play after an 18-10 win over the SC Chaos and a 19-8 loss against Southern Impact (SC). Unfortunately this meant the Dirtbags finished with the 10th seed and did not make the Gold bracket. In the Gold bracket, the A's dropped a tough 9-7 decision against the eventual champion Young Guns in their quarterfinals match up. The Young Guns went on to defeat the Carolina Reds 13-8 in the semifinal and the Blythewood Bombers 15-13 in the finals.

 

9u

Two teams from North Carolina, #2 SBA Futures and #9 Dirtbags LKN, competed in the 5-team 9u division. The SBA Futures dominated in pool play, going 2-0 with a 19-0 win over PRO Prospects (SC) and a 13-8 win over Line Drive Black (GA). The Dirtbags went 0-2, falling 15-14 against PRO Prospects and a 13-9 loss against Gameday Shockwave (SC). In the play-in game, on Sunday, Dirtbags LKN fell 9-8 against the PRO Prospects. In the semifinals, Gameday Shockwave scored a 12-2 win over Line Drive Black and the SBA Futures notched an 11-3 win over PRO Prospects. In the finals, the SBA Futures finished off a 4-0 weekend with a 9-1 win over Gameday Shockwave.

 

10u

The two top teams in North Carolina, #1 SBA Futures and #2 Dirtbags Black, made the trip to Lexington to compete in the 11-team 10u age division. Both faired well, going 2-0 in pool play with the Futures nabbing the #1 seed for bracket play and the Dirtbags getting the #2 seed. In pool play, the Futures scored a 10-2 win over the Greenville Titans (SC) and a 15-0 win over the LDA Bombers (VA), while the Dirtbags topped Powermill (FL) 10-5 and PRO Prodigy (SC) 10-0. In their opening bracket play games, the SBA Futures rolled to a 10-1 win over PRO Prodigy, and the Dirtbags fell 6-2 against Next Level Prospects (GA). In the semifinals, the Futures again rolled with an 11-0 win over Dingers Athletics Elite (GA), while Next Level blasted their way to a 20-7 win over Valor (AL). In the finals, the SBA Futures outlasted Next Level with a 16-13 win to take home the 10u title.

 

 

11u

In the 11u age group, 3 teams from North Carolina - #2 Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro, #9 Carolina Blue Trifecta, and Dirtbags Camo - competed in the 11-team 11u age division. Carolina Blue Trifecta scored the top spot for bracket play after posting a 9-0 win over the Grey Sox (SC) and 2-0 win over Remix Rip City (GA), who finished 43rd in Perfect Game's National Top 100 last year. Park Sharon also finished 2-0, scoring the #3 seed, with a 6-5 win over Gameday Shockwave (SC) and a 9-4 win over Remix Rip City in their pool play games. In their opening round pool play games in the quarterfinals, Carolina Blue fell 12-4 against Rip City, while Park Sharon notched a 6-4 win over the Grey Sox. In the semifinals, the Gameday Shockwave topped Remix Rip City 12-0 while Park Sharon scored a 12-1 win over Beehive Stars Scout, who finished #73 in Perfect Game's National top 100 last year. In the finals, Park Sharon got down 7-0 before scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the 4th and two more in bottom of the 6th to tie the game at 8-8 and send it to extra innings. In the 7th inning, Park Sharon held the Shockwave scoreless in the top half of the inning and knocked home the game winner in the bottom half to score a 9-8 walk-off win.

 

12u
The 12u Rawlings Prospects proved they belong in the conversation for the top team in North Carolina with an impressive weekend at the Jay Criscione Super NIT.

The 18-team 12u division featured our #1 ranked Canes Baseball NC - Foster, #2 Rawlings Prospects, #3 Dirtbags Black, #5 SBA Futures, #7 Mission Vipers Gold, #10 Canes Baseball NC - Naylor, and #14 CBA Copperheads Black. Canes - Foster earned the #2 seed for bracket play with am 8-3 win over FCA Blueclaws - Hannah (FL), who finished 21st in Perfect Game's National Top 100 last year and a 10-1 win over Charleston Revolution - Whittle, who finished 67th in last year Perfect Game top 100. Mission Vipers Gold earned the #3 seed for Sunday with a 3-1 win over Dirtbags Platinum and a 5-4 win over Showcase Baseball - Howze (GA), who finished 72nd in last year's Perfect Game National Top 100. Dirtbags Black scored the #5 seed, going 1-1 in pool play with a 14-1 win over the Greenville Titans (SC) and a 4-1 loss against the Outlaws (SC). The Rawlings Prospects received the #6 seed, going 1-1 in pool play with an 8-0 win over CBA Copperheads Black and an 8-3 loss against Archer Premier Baseball (GA), who finished 23rd in Perfect Game's National Top 100 last year. The Copperheads scored a 7-6 win over Line Drive Black in their other pool play game and earned the #12 seed for Sunday. The SBA Futures also finished 1-1 in pool play and earned the #7 seed for Sunday with an 8-0 win over the Outlaws and an 8-6 loss against the Greenville Titans. Both Dirtbags Platinum and Canes - Naylor went winless in pool play and matched up against one another in a play-in game on Saturday evening. Dirtbags Platinum notched an 11-3 win in that game to earn their way into bracket play.

In the round-of-16, the Rawlings Prospects notched a walk-off 3-2 win over Line Drive Black, Mission Vipers Gold blanked the Greenville Titans 8-0, the SBA Futures topped the Charleston Revolution 9-4, Canes - Foster scored a 9-4 win over Showcase Baseball - Howze, FCA Blue Claws - Hannah got past Copperheads Black by the score of 6-2, East Coast Snipers - Clark/Hill (SC) edged the Outlaws 4-3, and PRO Prodigy Select (SC) edged Dirtbags Platinum 6-5. In the quarterfinals, the Rawlings Prospects scored a 1-run 10-9 win over Mission Vipers Gold, Canes - Foster got past SBA 4-1, Archer Premier Baseball edged the Blue Claws 9-8, and PRO Prodigy blanked the Snipers 2-0. In the semifinals, the Rawlings Prospects took out the top team in North Carolina by the score of 5-3 and PRO Prodigy rolled to a 9-4 win over the Blue Claws. In their 4th game of the day, and 6th of the weekend, the Rawlings Prospects fell short against PRO Prodigy, falling 12-4 in the finals.

 

13u

Only one North Carolina team, #7 Dirtbags Legends, competed in the 5-team 13u division this weekend. The Legends went 1-1 in pool play, scoring a 16-4 win over Dirtbags National Prospects (TN) and falling 11-0 against the Carolina Bruins. In the semifinals on Sunday, Dirtbags Legends fell 10-5 against Greenwood Emeralds - Green and Dirtbags National Prospects topped the Bruins 6-2. In the finals, Dirtbags National Prospects took home the title with a 14-6 win over Greenwood.