13u End of Season Rankings Recap 2017-2018

The 13u age group played out similar to the 9u age group this year, with one team seemingly separating themselves from the rest of the pack in Canes Baseball NC - Gallaher. The Canes were dominate from start to finish and earned our #1 spot with their performance throughout the 2017-2018 season. Beyond the top spot, the 13u age group saw some great competition and really outstanding teams. Here we recap our top 20 teams this past year in the 13u age group.

  1. Canes Baseball NC - Gallaher

    Canes Baseball NC - Gallaher was one of the more dominant teams at any age group in North Carolina this past year. Overall they finished 57-5 across Perfect Game, Top Gun, Triple Crown, and USSSA competition this past year. Throughout the year they played the best competition in North Carolina and scored two wins over #2 Knights Prime, two wins over #3 NCDB Rivercats, three wins over #4 Canes Baseball NC - Haire, a win over #5 Dirtbags - Smith, a win over #7 Carolina Havoc - Clonch, two wins over #9 Rawlings Prospects NC, a win over #11 Rock Solid Red, and a win over #15 Walk Off Warriors. In addition to 12 wins over top 20 teams, they scored 9 wins over 14u competition this spring and only dropped 3 games at the 13u level (NCDB Rivercats, Canes - Haire, and Rock Solid Red). Canes - Gallaher were also the champions of both the Top Gun Winter and Summer World Series events this past year.

  2. Knights Prime

    We viewed the race for #2 in the 13u age group as much closer than the competition for #1. In the end, we settled on Knights Prime in the #2 slot. The Knights went 17-4 in the fall and 31-6 in the spring (48-10 overall). They did drop two games against #1 Canes Baseball NC - Gallaher which separated those two in our minds. In the fall, they scored a win over #5 Dirtbags - Smith, a win over #6 Carolina Naturals, and a win over #15 Walk Off Warriors. In the spring, they notched 6 more wins over top 20 teams including two wins over #3 NCDB Rivercats, a win over #4 Canes Baseball NC - Haire, another win over Dirtbags - Smith, another win over the Naturals, and a win over #15 Dirtbags - Charlotte.

  3. NCDB Rivercats

    #2 Knights Prime, #3 NCDB Rivercats, and #4 Canes Baseball NC - Haire was extremely tight and difficult to feel we separated these teams appropriately. We chose the Rivercats at #3 after posting an overall record of 46-16-1. Notably, 4 of those losses came against 14u competition. In addition, 10 of their wins came against 14u competition. Along the way, they also scored a win over #1 Canes Baseball NC - Gilchrist, #4 Canes Baseball NC - Haire, #5 Dirtbags - Smith, #9 Rawlings Prospects NC, and #12 East Coast Clippers. We gave them the very slight edge of #4 Canes - Haire because of the head-to-head win, and the 14u wins.

  4. Canes Baseball NC - Haire

    We think a very reasonable argument could be made to place Canes - Haire as high as #2. They were 18-3 in the fall and 31-9 in the spring, compiling a 49-12 record overall. In the fall, they scored a win over #7 Carolina Havoc - Clonch. They backed that up this spring with 10 more top 20 wins, including a win over #1 Canes Baseball NC - Gilchrist, another win over the Havoc, two wins over #8 Canes Baseball NC - Wearing, a win over #11 Rock Solid Red, a win over #12 East Coast Clippers, a win over #13 Diamond Thieves, two wins over #15 Dirtbags Charlotte, a win over #15 Walk Off Warriors, and a win over #17 Dirtbags Platinum - Holt.

 

 

  1. Dirtbags - Smith

    Dirtbags - Smith entered the spring #11 in our final fall rankings after posting a 23-7 record in the fall. During their fall season, they notched impressive wins over #2 Knights Prime and #13 Diamond Thieves. They upped their competition in the spring and posted a 25-17-1 record (48-24-1 overall) including two wins over #3 NCDB Rivercats, a win over #7 Carolina Havoc - Clonch, a win over #6 Carolina Naturals, and a win over #15 Walk Off Warriors to solidify their status in our top 5 teams in the 13u age group.

  2. Carolina Naturals

    The Naturals posted an impressive 41-20 record across AAU, Top Gun, Perfect Game competition this past year. In total, they scored 8 wins over 9 wins over top 20 teams including a win over #2 Knights Prime, a win over #8 Canes Baseball NC - Wearing, a win over #9 Rawlings Prospects NC, two wins over #11 Rock Solid Red, two wins over #13 Diamond Thieves, a win over #16 Walk Off Warriors, and a win over #16 Carolina Rage.

  3. Carolina Havoc - Clonch

    The Havoc posted a 22-10-1 record this spring (44-18-1 overall) after a 22-8 fall campaign had them finish in the #9 spot in our end-of-fall rankings. In the fall season they notched wins over #2 Knights Prime and #7 Carolina Naturals. They backed that up this spring with a win over #4 Canes Baseball NC - Haire, a win against #5 Dirtbags Smith, and a win over #15 Dirtbags Charlotte.

  4. Canes Baseball NC - Wearing

    Canes Baseball NC - Wearing was a newly formed team this spring with several players coming over from the Charlotte Nationals. In just the spring season, the Canes posted an impressive 21-8-1 record that included wins over #5 Dirtbags - Smith, a win over #15 Dirtbags Charlotte, and a win over #19 SBA Canes - Cruz. In addition, of their 8 losses, 4 came against top 20 teams.

 

 

  1. Rawlings Prospects NC

    The Prospects were one of the surprises of the spring in the 13u age group. They finished unranked in our final fall rankings after posting a 14-7 record that included a win over #6 Carolina Naturals and a win over #15 Walk Off Warriors. This spring, they posted a 23-11 record (37-18 overall) and scored a win over #2 Knights Prime, a win over #7 Carolina Havoc - Clonch, a win over #13 Diamond Thieves, another win over the Walk Off Warriors, and two wins over #17 Dirtbags Platinum - Holt.

  2. Kernersville Bulldogs

    The Bulldogs posted a 22-7 record in the fall season that included wins over #5 Dirtbags - Smith, #7 Carolina Havoc - Clonch, and a win over #16 Carolina Rage. This had them in the #7 spot heading into the spring season. While they continued to pile on wins, posting an impressive 20-6 record in the spring (overall record of 42-13-1), as far as we can tell they did not score a single win over a top 20 team in the spring season. We dropped them slightly overall from the end-of-fall rankings until now, but still rewarded them for an overall great season with a top 10 finish.

  3. Rock Solid Red

    The 13u Rock Solid Red group was an interesting group for us to rank. We could not find many results for them from the fall season, and could piece together an overall record of 16-7-1 across AAU, Perfect Game, Top Gun, and Triple Crown play this past year. Most notably, they pulled off two huge wins with a win over #1 Canes Baseball NC - Gilchrist and a win over #10 Kernersville Bulldogs. They also posted impressive semifinals performances at the Triple Crown Border Wars (semifinals/finals rained out) and the Perfect Game Summer Showdown in Georgia.

  4. East Coast Clippers

    The East Coast Clippers posted one of the bigger drops from the fall to spring rankings. They entered the spring season #2 in our top 20 after a 14-2 fall that included a win over #6 Carolina Naturals. Their winning slowed down a bit this spring and they posted an 11-10 record for the spring season, and 24-12 overall. They did score a win over #5 Dirtbags - Smith, which we felt was enough to keep them amongst the top 15 teams.

 

 

  1. Diamond Thieves

    The Diamond Thieves posted an impressive fall record of 20-5 that included 2 wins over #16 Walk Off Warriors. This had them ranked #6 in our top 20 heading into the spring season. In the spring, they posted a 24-9 record to finish at 44-14 overall. We would have had them a bit higher in our rankings, but they only posted a single top 20 in the spring season as well, a win over #9 Rawlings Prospects NC, and didn't fare as well against the top competition, going 1-5 in the D1 Top Gun Summer World Series.

  2. Dirtbags Charlotte

    The Bandits powered by CBC became Dirtbags Charlotte over the winter. They went 29-11-1 in USSSA play this year, including a record of 15-7 this spring. Although they did not have a win over a top 20 team, they posted an exceptional record and scored several wins over quality teams just outside of our top 20 including SBA Marucci and the Charlotte Nationals.

  3. Walk Off  Warriors

    The Walk Off Warriors posted an impressive 48-22 record across Perfect Game, Top Gun, and USSSA competition. They were 28-12 in the spring season and 20-10 in the fall. Among their many wins, they notched a top win over #13 Diamond Thieves.

  4. Carolina Rage

    The Carolina Rage were another late addition to our top 20. They were 14-5 in Top Gun play in the fall season and and scored a win over #5 Carolina Naturals and 3 wins against #9 Rawlings Prospects. This spring, they finished 12-8 in Top Gun competition, but did score two more wins over the Rawlings Prospects to solidify their spot in the top 20.

 

 

  1. Dirtbags Platinum - Holt

    Dirtbags Platinum - Holt were perhaps the most difficult team to rank in the 13u age group. This is a team that was formed early in the spring and largely focused on regional and national competition and posted a record of 17-19-2. Certainly by record alone they did not meet the requirements of a top 20 team. When trying to figure out where they fit in, we have to look at teams who others in North Carolina have played, or who we can find some record of their games. They did score a tie against #11 Rock Solid Red this spring. They also notched wins over excellent RockIt Sports Blue (VA), Cincinnati Spikes (OH), Slammers (CO), and Silver Glove (VA) teams.

  2. Orange County Crushers

    The OC Crushers were one of the more consistent teams in the 13u age group, although they did not see the same level of competition as some of the teams in the top 10 or 15. They posted an impressive 19-7-1 record in the fall and backed that up with a 14-7 record in the spring to finish 33-14-1 overall. Along the way, they did notch a win over #5 Carolina Naturals.

  3. SBA Canes - Cruz

    The Canes were a team that has not spent any time in our top 20 this spring. Why did we include them here then? Since our last rankings, the Canes notched an impressive win over #2 Knights Prime that caught our attention. When we reviewed the Canes, we noted they competed against a significant number of regional and national teams, posteda 13-9 record in the fall, and a 13-16-1 record in the spring with 4 losses coming against 14u competition. With a 29-21-1 record against 13u competition, and a win over Knights Prime as well as other good competition such as Copperheads - Barozzino, we felt the Canes were worthy of inclusion in our top 20.

  4. Carolina Titans - Ambrose

    The Titans were one of the teams we had near the bottom of our top 20, and immediately on the outside looking in consistently this past year. In the end, we felt they had done enough to be included among the top 20 teams in the state. Overall they went 27-12. In the fall, they notched their only wins over top 20 teams with a win over #11 Rock Solid Red and a win over #13 Diamond Thieves.