11u End of Season Rankings Recap 2019-2020

No age group was more difficult to separate at the top than the 11u age group. 3 teams - the SBA Nationals, Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro, and the SBA Futures - separated themselves from the rest of the age group and battled it for the top spot all spring and summer. In the end, we chose the SBA Nationals as our #1 team after they posted winning record against both our #2 and #3 teams. There were also a number of outstanding seasons by other teams, and here we recap one of the most competitive age groups in North Carolina this year.

1. SBA Nationals
   The SBA Nationals finished the year with a 36-17-2 record, including a 24-15-2 mark this spring/summer. At first glance, that might not appear to be the record of the #1 team in the state, but a deeper dive reveals why we placed the Nationals in this position. The Nationals finished the summer ranked #22 in Perfect Game's 11u national rankings. The Nationals posted a total of 12 (!) wins against nationally ranked opponents. This included wins over teams ranked #10, 15, 23, 32, 33, 34 (x2), 54, and 55 (x4). They had a 1-0 head-to-head record against #2 Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro and a 2-1 record against #3 SBA Futures this spring/summer. They also had wins over NC #4 Five Star Carolina Elite, #8 SBA Americans (x2), and #13 Area Stars Gray. Their loss to the Futures was their only loss against an in-state 11u opponent this past year. They also had a 12-9 record against 12u teams this past year. All of their other 7 losses came against nationally ranked opponents in the top 20 (ranked #4 [x2], 5 [x2], 11, 17, 19). They capped off their 11u year with a USSSA Super NIT title at the South Carolina Super NIT in August.
2. Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro
   It was nearly impossible to separate the SBA Nationals from Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro. Park Sharon posted an overall record of 54-15-1 this past year, including a 33-13-1 mark this spring. They finished #15 in Perfect Game's 11u national rankings. Like the SBA Nationals, Park Sharon notched 12 wins against national ranked opponents including wins over teams ranked #11, 32 (x2), 33, 36, 54, 55 (x2), 60, 75, and 78 (x2). They also had wins against 3 teams who made Perfect Game's national honorable mention list, and two wins against Dirtbags Black in the fall, who finished 95th in PG's rankings despite not being a team in the spring/summer. They had 4 wins against 12u opponents as well as 8 wins against ranked teams in NC including #4 Five Star Carolina Elite (x2), #5 Carolina Blue Trifecta, #6 Coastal Cyclones, #8 SBA Americans (x2), #12 Carolina Rockies - Stanton, and #13 Area Stars Gray. Of their 15 losses, 3 came against 12u teams, and 9 others came against nationally ranked teams, two of which are from North Carolina (#22 SBA Nationals and #78 West Raleigh Blue). They had one other loss against Carolina Five Star and a loss to the 10u SBA Futures. They highlighted their season with 3 USSSA Super NIT titles and 3 Perfect Game championships.
3. SBA Futures
   Despite finishing 3rd in our final 11u rankings, the Futures are right there with both of the Nationals teams in front of them. They finished 33rd in PG's national rankings. The Futures posted an overall record of 38-17-2 this past year, with a record of 23-14-2 this spring/summer. They played a bit of a different schedule than the other teams in this age group, predominately facing off against 12u competition. In total, the Futures posted an overall record of 22-8-2 against 12u teams. They had 6 wins over ranked 12u teams including #10 CBC (x2), #15 Carolina Regulators, #20 Randolph Regulators, and #22 MPC (x2). 6 of their losses came against ranked 12u teams, with another coming against one of the better teams in South Carolina in Team 24 Gamecocks - Bailey. In addition to their impressive run against 12u competition, the Futures also had wins over 5 teams ranked in PG's 11u national rankings including #19 TX/FL Canes Elite, #20 Southern Madison Sluggers (KY), #22 SBA Nationals, #33 I AM Baseball (FL), and #54 Remix Rip City (GA). They also had wins over North Carolina #4 Five Star Carolina Elite, #6 Coastal Cyclones, and #9 Union County Crush - Walker. 9 of their losses came against 11u competition. This included national #1 Line Drive Black, #4 Dingers Athletics, #5 Citius USA, #12 Texas Banditos Black, #19 TX/FL Canes Elite, #22 SBA Nationals (x2), and Canes Southwest - Gaitan (TX) who finished 46-16-4 in USSSA play this year.
4. Carolina Five Star Elite
   Five Star Elite finished the year with an overall record of 37-13, including a mark of 29-6 this spring/summer. They had wins over national #15 Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro and #55 Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley (SC) in addition to 10 other wins over ranked teams in North Carolina (#5 Carolina Blue Trifecta [x2], #9 Union County Crush - Walker, #12 Carolina Rockies - Stanton, #13 Area Stars Gray [x2], #19 NC Young Guns, #21 MARA Travel, #22 LKN Hurricanes, and #25 Venom Stars). 10 of their losses came against ranked opponents as well, with 4 of those losses coming at the hands of nationally ranked teams. They also had 4 wins over 12u opponents this past year.
5. Carolina Blue Trifecta
   Carolina Blue Trifecta finished with an overall record of 43-14 this past year, including a mark of 28-7 this spring/summer. They had a total of 14 wins over ranked teams in North Carolina including #4 Five Star Carolina Elite, #7 SBA Americans, #9 Union County Crush - Walker, #13 Area Stars Gray, #15 LBC Thunder, #16 Athletes Lab (x2), #17 Carolina Bearcats, #18 Five Star Heat - Carter (x2), #22 LKN Hurricanes, #23 Area Stars Orange, and #24 Dirtbags Camo. They also had a win over national #54 Remix Rip City (GA) and 3 wins over 12u opponents. Of their losses, 4 came against 12u teams, 3 came against nationally ranked teams, and 3 more came against top 10 opponents in North Carolina.