The Fall season in the 8u age group is always interesting to watch as teams and players develop, generally seeing their first experiences in travel ball. West Raleigh Blue almost always produces teams near the top of these younger age groups, and this fall was no exception with West Raleigh Blue finished in the top spot after posting an overall record of 14-2. Here we recap the fall season in the 8u age group.
- West Raleigh Blue
West Raleigh posted an overall record of 14-2 this fall season, including a tournament win at the Top Gun Winter World Series. Among their 14 wins, West Raleigh posted 8 wins over top 20 teams including wins over #2 Five Star Carolina, #5 Clayton RailRoaders, #6 Area Stars Orange (x2), #7 GBC Prospects, #10 Carolina Thunder (x2), #12 Wilmington Seahawks, and #14 Grenville Athletics. In addition, their only two losses came against top 10 teams in Five Star Carolina and the GBC Prospects. The sheer number of wins over ranked teams combined with their overall record, big event win, and losses coming only against other top teams are what led to us having West Raleigh Blue finish the season as our #1 team. - Five Star Carolina
Five Star was impressive this fall, going 15-3 overall. They notched a win over #1 West Raleigh as well as a win over #8 DC Vipers. Of their 3 losses, 2 came against #8 GBC Prospects, with the other coming at the hands of the #2 team in South Carolina, the Carolina Reds. Five Star was one of only two teams to defeat #1 West Raleigh and their only losses came against other top teams, which left Five Star in our #2 spot this fall. - Asheville A's
The A's had one of the bigger tournament wins of the fall with a win at the Fall Beast of the East. They finished the fall with an overall record of 17-6 which included a win over #4 SBA Futures and SC #2 Carolina Reds. Of their 6 losses, 3 came against the Knoxville Stars (TN), who are ranked as the top team in the USSSA's Tennessee state power rankings, one came against SC #1 Young Guns, and two came against SC #2 Carolina Reds. The A's are a serious contender for the #1 spot as we head into the spring. - SBA Futures
The Futures posted an overall record of 15-3 this fall across USSSA and Top Gun play. Among their 15 wins, the Futures scored victories over #7 GBC Prospects as well as 2 wins over #13 CBA Copperheads Black. Their 3 losses all came against quality opponents including a loss against #3 Asheville A's as well as SC #2 Carolina Reds. - Clayton RailRoaders
The RailRoaders were perhaps the best example of a team developing throughout the fall in this age group. They finished with an overall record of 17-5, which included a record of 11-1 over the last 12 games. They had 5 wins over ranked teams including 2 wins over #6 Area Stars Orange, a win over #10 Carolina Thunder, and 2 wins over #11 NCDB Rivercats. Their 5 losses came against #1 West Raleigh Blue, #6 Area Stars Orange, #10 Carolina Thunder, #11 NCDB Rivercats, and #14 Greenville Athletics indicating the high quality of the performance overall.
- Area Stars Orange
The Area Stars posted an overall record of 19-6 this fall. They had an impressive 7 wins over ranked teams, including a win over #5 Clayton RailRoaders, #11 NCDB Rivercats (x3), #12 Wilmington Seahawks, and #14 Greenville Athletics (x2). The Stars had 2 losses against #1 West Raleigh Blue, a loss against #5 Clayton RailRoaders, and a loss against the Wilmington Seahawks. - GBC Prospects
The Prospects posted an impressive 16-3 record this fall. They had 5 wins over ranked teams including wins over #1 West Raleigh Blue, #2 Five Star Carolina (x2), #8 DC Vipers, and SC #2 Carolina Reds. In addition, their 3 losses came against West Raleigh Blue, #4 SBA Futures, and the Carolina Reds. GBC is a good example of why we found it very difficult to stratify the top teams in this age group. All of these teams posted impressive records against some excellent competition. We could see this group easily getting themselves into the top 2-3 this spring. - DC Vipers
The DC Vipers were an outstanding 16-3 this fall. They did not have any wins against ranked teams, but dominated many of their opponents and two of their three losses came against #2 Five Star Carolina and #7 GBC Prospects. - MARA Mavericks
The Mavericks were a bit of a difficult team for us to rank. They posted an 8-0 record this fall, but did not face any teams in our state rankings in those games. They did have two wins over Union County Crush - Ridings, who finished #5 in our Charlotte Metro region rankings. - Carolina Thunder
The Thunder finished with an overall record of 16-7 this fall. Among their 16 wins, they notched victories over #5 Clayton RailRoaders, #11 NCDB Rivercats (x2), and #14 Greenville Athletics. Their 7 losses included two losses against #1 West Raleigh Blue, as well as losses against the NCDB Rivercats and Greenville Athletics.
- NCDB Rivercats
The Rivercats finished with a 9-8 overall record this fall. While that record may not seem impressive at first glance, this included 11 total games against other ranked teams demonstrating a very high level of competition throughout the fall. They posted wins over #5 Clayton RailRoaders, #10 Carolina Thunder, and #14 Greenville Athletics. They also had losses against the RailRoaders, #6 Area Stars Orange (x3), #10 Carolina Thunder, and #12 Wilmington Seahawks. - Wilmington Seahawks
The Seahawks didn't get started until late September, but they made their mark on the 8u age group, posting an 11-5 overall record. This included a win over #6 Area Stars Orange. In addition, they had 3 losses against ranked teams including #1 West Raleigh Blue, Area Stars Orange, and Greenville Athletics. - CBA Copperheads Black
The Copperheads finished with an 11-6 overall record this fall season. Although they did not have any wins against ranked opponents, they played a competitive schedule with all 6 losses coming against ranked teams. This included three losses to SC #2 Carolina Reds, two against #4 SBA Futures, and one against #15 Carolina Raiders (China Grove). - Greenville Athletics
Greenville Athletics went 12-7 overall this fall season. They, like several other teams in our rankings, played a number of games against ranked opponents. This included wins over #5 Clayton RailRoaders and #10 Carolina Thunder as well as losses to #1 West Raleigh Blue, #6 Area Stars Orange (x2), the Carolina Thunder, and #11 NCDB Rivercats. - Carolina Raiders (China Grove)
The Raiders were another team we found very difficult to accurately rank. They played a bit of a shortened fall season, going 7-1 overall. This included a 1-1 record against #13 CBA Copperheads Black as well as a win over Union County Crush - Ridings, who finished #5 in our Charlotte Metro region rankings.