The 9u age saw a number of teams state their case for the top spot this fall, posting some impressive showings. In the end, SBA Rowan's outstanding record and level of competition won out as they held onto the top spot in our final rankings. Here we recap the seasons of our top 20 teams in North Carolina.
- SBA Rowan
SBA Rowan, who began the fall as East Rowan, finished 19-2-1 this fall season. Among their 19 wins, SBA Rowan notched 7 wins over ranked opponents including wins over #2 West Raleigh Blue, #3 Dirtbags Black, #7 LKN Hurricanes, #10 GRIT, #12 Dirtbags LKN, #13 Carolina Spinners, and #19 DB Raptors. They only had two losses this fall, one of which came against a 10u team and the other against #2 West Raleigh Blue. - West Raleigh Blue
West Raleigh was the only 9u team to beat #1 SBA Rowan, scoring a 3-1 win over the top team in this age group. Overall, West Raleigh went 9-5 this fall season. 11 of their 14 games came against ranked teams, all of which were in the top 10, with West Raleigh notching 6 wins over ranked opponents. Including in the those 6 wins, West Raleigh scored wins over #1 SBA Rowan, #3 Dirtbags Black (x2), #5 Dirtbags East, and #8 Greenville Athletics Black. Their 5 losses came against SBA Rowan, Dirtbags Black (x2), Dirtbags East, and Greenville Athletics Black. - Dirtbags Black
Much like our other top teams, the Dirtbags faced off against an excellent schedule this fall. They finished off the fall season with a 17-8 overall record. The Dirtbags scored 3 wins over top 10 teams including two of #2 West Raleigh Blue and a win over #9 Canes Baseball NC - Hartman. 2 of their 8 losses came against 10u competition, with 5 of the other 6 coming against ranked teams. One loss came against #1 SBA Rowan, 3 came against #2 West Raleigh Blue, and another came against #9 Canes Baseball NC - Hartman. - SBA Futures
The SBA Futures finished with a 14-1-1 overall record this past fall. Among their 14 wins, the SBA Futures defeated #7 LKN Hurricanes, #12 Dirtbags LKN (x2), and #14 MARA Cobras (x2). They also had a win over SC #4 Gameday Shockwave. Their only loss (as well as their tie) came against RBI Redstitch (TN), who are currently ranked #1 in the state of Tennessee according to USSSA's 9u Majors Power Rankings. While the Futures may not have had as many wins against top ranked teams in North Carolina as some of the teams above them, the look like one of the top contenders for the #1 spot in this age group as we head into the spring. - Dirtbags East
The Dirtbags finished with an impressive 17-5 overall record this fall season. They notched 5 wins over ranked opponents including a win over #2 West Raleigh Blue, #6 Area Stars Orange, #9 Canes Baseball NC - Hartman (x2), and #15 NCDB Rivercats. Of their 5 losses, one came against a 10u opponent, with another coming against West Raleigh Blue, and another against Area Stars Orange.
- Area Stars Orange
The Area Stars posted a record of 20-3 this fall across Top Gun play. Among those 20 wins, the Area Stars defeated #5 Dirtbags East, #9 Canes Baseball NC - Hartman, #15 NCDB Rivercats (x2), and the #2 team in South Carolina, the Local Boys. 2 of their 3 losses came against ranked teams (Dirtbags East, #10 GRIT). Overall it was a great season for the Area Stars and we expect them to remain among the best teams in North Carolina into the spring and summer of 2020. - LKN Hurricanes
The LKN Hurricanes finished the fall season with a 22-4 overall record. This included 3 wins over ranked teams including wins over #12 Dirtbags LKN and two wins over #13 Carolina Spinners. 3 of their losses came against ranked teams, including losses against #1 SBA Rowan, #4 SBA Futures, and #19 DB Raptors, as well as a loss to Mountain Region #2 Mountain Xplosion. - Greenville Athletics
Greenville Athletics were a difficult team for us to feel we could accurately rank. Overall, they only played 11 games, going 8-3 in those games. They posted an excellent win over #2 West Raleigh Blue, against whom they went 1-1 this fall. Their other two losses came against Coastal Region #4 Carolina Titans - Ricks. - Canes Baseball NC - Hartman
This past fall the Canes posted an overall record of 15-6. This included 2 wins over ranked teams including #3 Dirtbags Black and #15 NCDB Rivercats. Of their 6 losses, 5 came against ranked teams (Dirtbags Black, #5 Dirtbags East [x2], #6 Area Stars Orange, and #20 Luckies Blaze) with their 6 loss coming against Triangle Region #5 Carolina Thunder. - GRIT
GRIT finished with an overall record of 17-8 across their 25 games this past fall season. This included 5 wins over ranked teams from North Carolina including #6 Area Stars Orange, #16 Davidson Crush, #18 Carolina Hitmen, and #20 Luckies Blaze (x2). In addition, GRIT scored a win over the #2 team from South Carolina, the Local Boys. Of their 8 losses, 2 came against 10u teams, one came against #1 SBA Rowan, one came against the Davidson Crush, and two came against #18 Carolina Hitmen.
- Spartans - Mullins
The Spartans finished the fall with an overall record of 13-5. The scored two wins over ranked teams including wins over #13 Carolina Spinners and #16 Davidson Crush. 3 of their 5 losses came against ranked teams, including losses against the Spinners, the Crush, and #17 Triad Warriors. - Dirtbags LKN
The Dirtbags finished the fall with a 15-8 overall record against a very competitive schedule. In total, the Dirtbags played 9 games against ranked team from North Carolina and 2 against ranked teams from South Carolina, goin 4-5 overall in these games. They scored wins over #13 Carolina Spinners and 3 wins over #14 MARA Cobras. Their losses came at the hands of #1 SBA Rowan, #4 SBA Futures, #7 LKN Hurricanes, #19 DB Raptors, as well as SC #3 PRO Prospects and SC #4 Gameday Shockwave. - Carolina Spinners
The Carolina Spinners went 21-8 overall this fall. Among their 21 wins, the Spinners scored 5 wins over ranked teams including a win over #11 Spartans - Mullins, three wins over #16 Davidson Crush, and two wins over #19 DB Raptors. 6 of their losses came against ranked teams including a loss to #1 SBA Rowan, two losses to #7 LKN Hurricanes, a loss to Spartans - Mullins, a loss to the DB Raptors, and two losses against #20 Luckies Blaze. - MARA Cobras
The MARA Cobras finished 15-6 overall this fall. They played against relatively good competition, with 5 total games against other ranked opponents. Unfortunately they lost all 5, including losses against #3 Dirtbags Black (x2), #4 SBA Futures, and #12 Dirtbags LKN (x2), which kept them from moving higher in our rankings. - NCDB Rivercats
The Rivercats finished the fall with an overall record of 18-4. This included a win over #18 Carolina Hitmen, as well as four wins over Triangle Region #5 Carolina Thunder, two wins over Coastal Region #4 Carolina Titans -Ricks, and a win over Mountain Region #2 Mountain Xplosion. Of their 4 losses, one came against #5 Dirtbags East and two came against #6 Area Stars Orange.
- Davidson Crush
The Davidson Crush finished with a 15-6 record this fall. The Crush notched wins over #10 GRIT and #11 Spartans - Mullins to highlight their fall season. Of their 6 losses, all 6 came against ranked teams including losses against GRIT, Spartans - Mullins, #13 Carolina Spinners (x3), and #18 Carolina Hitmen. - Triad Warriors
The Warriors finished the fall with a 12-7 overall record. This included a win over #11 Spartans - Mullins, 3 wins over #18 Carolina Hitmen, and a win over #20 Luckies Blaze. Of their losses, one came at the hands of the Luckies with the remainder coming against unranked opponents which moved the Warriors down our rankings a bit. - Carolina Hitmen
The Hitmen finished with in impressive overall record of 21-8 this fall. They had 4 wins over ranked teams including 2 wins over #10 GRIT, a win over #16 Davidson Crush, and a win over #17 Triad Warriors. 4 of their loss came against ranked teams including against GRIT, #15 NCDB Rivercats, and the Triad Warriors (x2). - DB Raptors
The Raptors finished with an 23-13 record across 36 total games this fall. They highlighted their fall campaign with wins over #7 LKN Hurricanes, #12 Dirtbags LKN, and #13 Carolina Spinners. They also had losses against #1 SBA Rowan, the LKN Hurricanes, and the Spinners (x2) across a total of 7 games against ranked competition. - Luckies Blaze
The Luckies finished with an overall record of 14-4 across USSSA, NCGameOn, and Top Gun competition this fall. In total, the Luckies played 6 games against ranked teams. This included 3 wins over ranked teams including wins over #9 Canes Baseball NC - Hartman, #13 Carolina Spinners, and #17 Triad Warriors, as well as 3 losses to ranked opponents (#10 GRIT [x2] and the Triad Warriors).