Each winter we like to preview some of the biggest and best tournaments in and around North Carolina as a means to showcase where some of the best competition might be found. As we enter 2020, there are a number of excellent tournaments for teams to consider this year. Here we highlight just a few of the many outstanding events available to North Carolina travel baseball teams.
Perfect Game Super 25 Qualifiers
This May, Perfect Game will host qualifier events for its national Super 25 Championship in North Carolina in each age group from 10u-13u, as well as a second 13u Super 25 Qualifier in June. The 10u-12u events will be held in Greensboro on the weekend of May 15th-17th while the 13u events will be in Pineville on May 15th-17th and High Point on June 19th-22nd. These are 3-game guarantee events and regularly attract some of the best teams in North Carolina. In the fall of 2019, 8 top 20 teams competed in two 11u Super 25 qualifiers, 7 top 20 teams (and the #2 team in South Carolina) took part in the 12u Super 25 qualifier, and 14 top 20 teams competed in two 13u Super 25 qualifiers in North Carolina. For the upcoming spring events, 29 teams have already been accepted across 10u, 11u, 12u, and 2 13u events. This includes teams from 6 states as well as 5 teams ranked in our North Carolina rankings and another ranked team from South Carolina.
USSSA Beast of the East Super NIT
The Beast of the East, which takes placed April 3rd-5th, annually produces one of the top overall fields in the entire state, and this year should be no different. 3 games are guaranteed at this tournament, and the 2019 Fall Beast of the East featured 45 ranked teams from North Carolina as well as 6 more from South Carolina across the 8u-13u age groups. The 2019 Spring Beast of the East had 233 teams across the 8u-13u age groups, including 54 ranked teams from North Carolina and 9 from South Carolina. This included the #1 and #2 teams in 5 out of 6 of these age groups. Needless to say, if your team is looking for the best competition in the region this spring, you will not have to look much further than the Beast of the East.
USSSA South Carolina Spring Super NIT
Just 3 weeks after the Beast of the East (April 25th-26th), and situated in Lexington, South Carolina, the USSSA South Carolina Spring Super NIT is one of the few events that collectively showcases some of the best teams across South Carolina. Last year, 22 top ten teams from South Carolina competed against 15 ranked from North Carolina as well as teams from Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia. While perhaps not the same caliber of field as the Beast of the East, the South Carolina Super NIT is nevertheless presents a unique change for North Carolina teams to face off against many of the top teams from South Carolina in a single event. For teams looking to test themselves against some new and different competition, this is definitely an event worth taking a look at.
Triple Crown Sports Border Wars
The 13th annual Triple Crown Sports Border Wars will take place in Rocky Mount over the May 2nd-3rd weekend. The Border Wars is a 3-game guarantee event, and similar to the USSSA South Carolina Spring Super NIT, Border Wars usually provides a unique opportunity for North Carolina teams to face off against the best teams from a surrounding state - in this case, Virginia. Last year this event featured 61 ranked teams from North Carolina and Virginia across the 8u-13u age groups. This included 26 top 10 teams from Virginia. This year should be very similar as 61 teams are already penciled in the 8u-13u age groups, including 43 from Virginia, as well as teams from Delaware and Maryland.
Atlantic Coast Baseball Cap Classic
The Cap Classic, a 5-game guarantee event scheduled for June 12th-14th in Rocky Mount, is one of the more unique events in North Carolina. Entering its 3rd consecutive year, the Cap Classic North Carolina is part of a series of "Cap Classic" events put on by Atlantic Coast Baseball across the country at sites including Elizabethtown, Kentucky; Gilbert, Arizona; Orlando, Florida; Oxford, Mississippi; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Participants receive custom-designed New Era team hats as part of their entry fee. The original Cap Classic in Pittsburgh, now in its 10th year, regularly attracts over 220 teams and the North Carolina team appears to be growing to a similar level. 24 teams from four states are already registered across the 9u-13u age groups, and last year's event featured a number of ranked teams including our current #1 in the 12u age group, Rawlings Prospects NC, who took home the 11u title last summer. Uniquely, this event brings a number of teams from Maryland and Virginia, which provides North Carolina teams another opportunity to play against excellent, new competition.
Top Gun Summer World Series
The Top Gun Summer World Series is always one of the biggest events in the Southeastern United States. Taking place over two weekends (8u, 9u, 11u, & 13u 6/19-21; 10u & 12u 6/26-28), the 2019 event attracted over 280 teams across the 8u-13u age groups. This 5-game guarantee tournament is the one event in the North Carolina spring/summer season that approximates, if not exceeds, the competition level of the USSSA Beast of the East. Last year, 41 ranked teams from North Carolina, 12 from Virginia, and 2 from South Carolina made their way to the Rocky Mount area to compete in this event. This year should be no different as this event is usually one of the biggest and best events to end the summer.
Perfect Game Summer World Series
Ok, this one isn't technically in North Carolina. But with 12 total teams from North Carolina signed up across the 9u-12u age groups, we felt we had to include this one. The 9u-12u age groups will be competing in the Atlanta metro area, with the 13u age group being contested in Sanford, Florida. Currently, our 9u #3 Dirtbags Black, 10u #2 Dirtbags Black, #3 Triple Crown Lookouts, #5 NCABC Fungo - Piscorik, 11u #2 Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro, #4 Five Star Carolina - Jones, #5 West Raleigh Blue, 12u #3 Dirtbags Black, #4 SBA Futures, #6 NCDB Rivercats, and #11 Dirtbags East are all committed to play in this event against some of the very best teams in the nation. This is a 6-game guarantee event and should be an exciting event to watch and see where some of the best teams in North Carolina stack up.