10u End of Season Rankings Recap 2017-2018

The 10u age group saw one of the tightest battles for #1 among all of the age groups. Two teams, Canes Baseball NC - Gilchrist and SBA Canes - Marconi, separated themselves from the rest of the pack. In the end, we gave the edge to SBA Canes - Marconi because of their 2-1 head-to-head record against Canes Baseball NC - Gilchrist. Beyond the top 2, there were only 2 new teams in the top 20 from our end-of-fall rankings to our final spring rankings. There was, however, considerable shuffling amongst the top 20.

  1. SBA Canes - Marconi

    SBA Canes - Marconi finished 31-14-1 this spring, and 38-16-1 overall. This might not look like the record of the top team in the state, but consider the following: they were 2-1 overall against #2 Canes Baseball NC - Gilchrist, including 1-0 this spring. Of their 14 losses this spring, 6 came against 11u competition and 5 came against out-of-state teams ranked in the top 5 of USSSA's 10u Majors National Power Rankings (#1 Midwest Elite Bombers [TX], #2 Kangaroo Court [FL, x2], #4 Banditos Black [TX], and #5 MVP Hustle - Casillas [CA]). Even more impressive, this spring they didn't lose a single game to a 10u team from North Carolina. Beyond owning a winning record against Canes - Gilchrist, they scored wins over national #1 Midwest Elite Bombers, national #9 Yalobusha Giants (MS), San Diego Show (CA), Far West Select (CA), #9 Dirtbags Black, #15 Carolina Havoc, 3 wins against #20 Mission Vipers Black, and a win over 11u #10 OTK Saints.

  2. Canes Baseball NC - Gilchrist

    Canes Baseball NC - Gilchrist is one of the more dominant North Carolina baseball teams in any age group. They are 41-9 this spring and 64-12 overall (at the time of this writing they are playing in the Triple Crown US Club Nationals). They recently won the USA Baseball 10u Futures Invitational Gold Medal, which outside of 9u Park Sharon National's win at the Wilson Demarini USSSA Elite World Series, might be the most impressive tournament win by a North Carolina team in any age group this spring. They've played the best, and beat some of the best teams in the country. Of their 12 overall losses, only two have come against a 10u team from North Carolina, and both of those were to #1 SBA Canes - Marconi. Over the past year, they scored wins over national #27 East Cobb Astros Navy, national #33 Midwest Elite - Kemp, the ATP Nationals (AZ), the Victory Braves (CA), Top Tier Americans (CA), a win over #1 SBA Canes - Marconi, 4 wins over #6 Dirtbags Platinum, a win over #7 Dirtbags East, 2 wins over #9 Dirtbags Black, 3 wins over #10 East Rowan, a win over #11 Rock Solid Red, a win against #15 Carolina Havoc, a win against #16 GRIT, a win against #18 FV Wildcats, and a win over 11u #13 Cleveland Wildcats Elite.

  3. Port City Rebels

    Although they might be step below the top 2 10u teams in North Carolina, the Port City Rebels were an impressive 46-18 across USSSA and Top Gun play this past year, including posting a 31-8 record this spring. They highlighted their spring with a tournament win at the USSSA Atlantic Coast World Series in June. During the spring season, Port City notched two wins over #6 Dirtbags Platinum,  a win over #11 Rock Solid Red, a win over #15 Carolina Havoc, and a win over #20 Mission Vipers Black to solidify their spot amongst the top teams in the state.

  4. West Raleigh Blue

    Although they did not get involved in the travel ball scene until late this spring due to their recreation season, West Raleigh Blue wasted little time making their presence felt. They went 22-4 this spring and scored a win over the Tidewater Horns (VA), a win over #7 NCDB Rivercats, and a win against #10 East Rowan. Their only losses of the travel ball season came against #9 Dirtbags Black and the Virginia Stars - Camp (VA), who defeated #2 Canes Baseball NC - Gilchrist twice in the Top Gun Summer World Series.

 

 

 

  1. Dirtbags Platinum

    Dirtbags Platinum are a difficult team to rank accurately because of some major roster changes that occurred late in the spring season. We chose to rank them on the totality of their 2017-2018 performance and settled on #5. They finished 27-16-1 this spring, and 46-22-2 overall with numerous impressive performances. Their fall season placed them among the best teams in the state, finishing #3 in our end-of-fall rankings after scoring two wins over #3 Port City Rebels, a win over #6 Dirtbags East, a win over #7 NCDB Rivercats, a win over #8 Dirtbags Black, a win over #9 East Rowan, a win over #12 Alamance Patriots, two wins over #13 Wendell Knights, a win over #18 FV Wildcats, and win over the Loudoun South Eagles (VA), who won the Top Gun Winter World Series after defeating Canes Baseball NC - Gilchrist. They continued their impressive run throughout most of the spring, notching two wins over #3 Port City Rebels, two wins over #6 Dirtbags East, 3 wins over #7 NCDB Rivercats, a win over #15 Carolina Thunder, a win over #18 FV Wildcats, and a win over #20 Youngsville Heat.

  2. Dirtbags East

    Dirtbags East posted an impressive 34-15 record this spring, and a 55-22-1 overall record in the 2017-2018 10u season. Much like their Platinum counterparts, Dirtbags East faced some of the best competition all year long. This spring alone they posted 3 wins against #7 NCDB Rivercats, two wins over #8 Dirtbags Black, a win over #9 East Rowan, two wins over #13 Wendell Knights, 3 wins over #18 FV Wildcats, and two wins against #20 Youngsville Heat.

  3. NCDB Rivercats

    The NCDB Rivercats were another team that posed an interesting ranking situation. In the fall, they posted an 8-5 record, but scored a win over #3 Port City Rebels and #6 Dirtbags East, with losses against the Loudoun South Eagles (VA), #5 Dirtbags Platinum, and #18 FV Wildcats (x2), and we had them ranked #18 heading into the spring. In the spring, they continued to play top competition, posting a 25-14 record, and notched two more wins over #6 Dirtbags East, a win over #8 Dirtbags Black, a win over #11 Rock Solid Red, two wins over #13 Wendell Knights, and two wins over #20 Youngsville Heat. Of their 14 losses this spring, two came against 11u competition, one came against the 35-10 Tidewater Horns (VA), and 7 others came against top 20 teams. In addition, the Rivercats appeared to improve throughout the spring, winning 13 of their last 17 games.

  4. Dirtbags Black

    Dirtbags Black are 34-10-1 this spring (currently playing in the Triple Crown US Club Nationals) and 46-17-12 overall as a 10u team. In the fall season, they posted three wins over #9 East Rowan, a win over #17 Rawlings Stars, and a win over #20 Youngsville Heat. This spring they have been one of the better teams in the state posting a win over #4 West Raleigh Blue, a win over #6 Dirtbags East, a win over #9 East Rowan, a win over #10 Belmont Bandits, a win over #17 Rawlings Stars, a win over #13 Wendell Knights, a win over #19 Mission Vipers Black, and a win over 9u #1 Park Sharon Nationals. We slotted Dirtbags Black in at #8 due to their losing records against #7 NCDB Rivercats (0-1) and Dirtbags East (1-2), but in front of East Rowan, Belmont Bandits, and the Rawlings Stars, whom they enjoyed winning records against.

 

 

 

  1. East Rowan

    East Rowan had a bit of an up-and-down season as a 10u team. This spring they posted a record of 21-14 and as far as we can gather an overall record of 32-21. In the fall, they posted a record of 12-6 across USSSA, Top Gun, and AAU competitions and scored two wins over #17 Rawlings Stars. This spring, 6 of their 14 losses have come against 11u competition. In addition, they scored a win over #5 Dirtbags Platinum, a win over #8 Dirtbags Black, a win over #10 Belmont Bandits, a win over #15 Carolina Havoc, and a win over #18 FV Wildcats.

  2. Belmont Bandits

    The Belmont Bandits were one of the big surprises in the 10u age group, going from unranked to start the spring to finishing 10th in our final rankings. They finished the spring 36-11 after a 12-0 start against 10u competition. Although their competition level was not as consistently high as some of the teams above them, they did score a win over #17 Rawlings Stars as well as excellent SC Jets and East Coast Snipers (SC) teams.

  3. Rock Solid Red

    Rock Solid Red is an interesting team to rank because they were not very active this spring, going 15-5. Nevertheless, they faced top competition throughout the spring and scored some impressive wins. This spring they notched a win over the Tidewater Horns (VA), a win over #5 Dirtbags Platinum, a win over #7 NCDB Rivercats, and a win over #18 FV Wildcats. Additionally, of their losses, 4 of 5 came against teams ranked in our top 20. Because of their smaller sample size, we moved them down a bit in the rankings and settled on #12.

  4. Alamance Patriots

    The Alamance Patriots posted one of the more impressive records in the 10u age group in North Carolina this past year, going 31-4 this spring and 41-7 overall across Top Gun, USSSA, and AAU play this past year. They entered the spring ranked #11 after a 10-3 fall with a win over #14 Carolina Thunder and two wins over #20 Youngsville Heat. Although they posted an outstanding record, they played only 3 games against teams in our top and finished 1-2 in those games with a win over the Thunder and losses against both the Thunder and #13 Wendell Knights. Nevertheless, we felt the Patriot's impressive record as well as wins over several teams who finished just outside of our top 20 (Richmond Rockies, Sandhills Stingrays) suggested they were a top 15 team this past year.

 

 

  1. Wendell Knights

    The Wendell Knights are another of these teams that provides us with significant difficulty with how to appropriately rank them. They posted a 15-12 record this spring, and a 32-20 record overall as a 10u team. They had an up-and-down fall, but rallied to win the D2 Top Gun Winter World Series, including a win over #20 Youngsville Heat. In the spring they added a win over #12 Alamance Patriots, two wins over #14 Carolina Thunder, a win over #16 GRIT, and a win over #20 Youngsville Heat. They again highlighted their season with a win at the D2 Top Gun Summer World Series.

  2. Carolina Thunder

    The Carolina Thunder, similar to #12 Alamance Patriots, posted an impressive 39-14 record this past year, including 21-11 this spring. They had some big wins this spring, scoring two wins over #5 Dirtbags Platinum, a win over #12 Alamance Patriots, and two wins over #13 Wendell Knights. But also had times where they struggled to perform consistently. Taking into account the entirety of their resume, we felt that #14 was about the most accurately ranking for the Thunder.

  3. Carolina Havoc

    The Carolina Havoc came into the spring ranked #5 in the state after posting a 17-5 record in the fall. They couldn't quite replicate their fall success and finished 25-18 in the spring, and 42-23 overall. They did notch a win over #9 East Rowan, two wins over #10 Belmont Bandits, and a win over #19 Mission Vipers Black this spring. As a highlight to their spring season, the Havoc qualified for the Wilson Demarini USSSA Elite World Series.

  4. GRIT

    GRIT is another of the 10u teams who are difficult to accurately rank. It does appear there was some midseason shuffling of rosters and perhaps a combination of two teams (GRIT and GRIT - Koonin). Nevertheless, GRIT put up some impressive performances late in the spring season. They finished the spring 25-12 and 42-16 overall. They did score a win over #1 SBA Canes - Marconi and #8 Dirtbags Black in the fall. In the spring they scored a win over #13 Wendell Knights and two wins over #20 Youngsville Heat to solidify their status in the top 20.

 

 

 

  1. Rawlings Stars

    The Rawlings Stars came into the spring as one of the top 10u teams in the state after going 18-7 in the fall and finishing #7 in our top 20. As best we can tell, they finished 18-5 this spring and had an overall record of 36-12. We penalized them a bit because they did not defeat any of our top teams this spring, but did post a win over an excellent SC Jets team in the fall.

  2. FV Wildcats

    The FV Wildcats finished 29-21 across Top Gun, AAU, and USSSA plat this past year. They played excellent competition all year and posted a win over #5 Dirtbags Platinum, a win over #10 East Rowan, and a win over #11 Rock Solid Red this spring. In addition, they scored a win over Dirtbags Platinum, two wins over #7 NCDB Rivercats, and a win over #8 Dirtbags Black in the fall giving them an impressive group of wins.

  3. Mission Vipers Black

    The Mission Vipers Black who apparently underwent significant roster changes between the fall and spring. Despite those changes, they posted a 25-13 record in the spring season. Although they did not defeat any teams in our top 20 this spring, they scored wins over an excellent 32-5-1 Charleston Revolution (SC) team and two wins over one of the teams that nearly made our top 20, Mission Vipers Gold.

  4. Youngsville Heat

    The Youngsville Heat were a team who was ranked inside our top 20 for most of the 2017-2018 seasons. They did fall out of our top 20 for a bit after a late season slide, but we ended up putting them back in our final top 20 because of their overall body of work this past year. They ended up 42-24-1 across AAU, Top Gun, and USSSA play this past year, but were 19-16-1 this spring, including finishing the year 5-9-1. Despite that, their overall performance was quite impressive with a win over #6 Dirtbags East, a win over #12 Alamance Patriots, a win over #13 Wendell Knights, and 3 wins over #14 Carolina Thunder.