Perfect Game recently updated their national youth travel team rankings, including the 12u age group. A total of 4 teams from North Carolina made the top 75 teams in the nation according to Perfect Game. The North Carolina group was led by Canes Baseball NC - Pirro, who came in at #3. In addition to these teams, one team from both Virginia and South Carolina were listed in these national rankings.
North Carolina representation
4 teams from North Carolina made Perfect Game's national top 75. Canes Baseball NC - Pirro was the highest ranked team, coming in at #3. They were followed by the SBA Futures at #12, the SBA Nationals at #37, and Canes Baseball NC - Wiggins at #64. The 12u age group is a very competitive age group in North Carolina, with the Canes and Futures in their own class, followed closely by teams such as the National, Canes - Wiggins, Dirtbags East, 5 Star Carolina Elite, and USA Prime Rock Solid Red as well as Dirtbags Camp and Coastal Cyclones Black.
Beyond North Carolina
Virginia was represented by Stars Baseball - Colangelo at #28, while South Carolina had two teams in the top 75, including the Carolina Yarddawgs at #48 and Team 24 Gamecocks Black at #69.
What Perfect Game got right
19 of the teams in our preseason national top 25 are in Perfect Game's April update. There is no debate the Canes and Futures deserve consideration among the top 10-20 teams in the country. #2 East Cobb Astros Orange has arguably looked like the top team in the country, posting a 32-0 record in Perfect Game play thus far, including two wins over Canes - Pirro and a win over #4 TX/FL Canes this spring. #1 ZT Elite Cali - Garcia has been equally impressive, going 24-1 overall in Perfect Game play this past year, including an impressive 8-0 record at the recent Perfect Game Super Regional Super NIT in Houston during which during which ZT Elite defeated Canes - Pirro, #5 I Am United, and #6 MVP Hustle - Ruiz. The Canes have earned the right to be considered among the best teams in the country with a recent win over the TX/FL Canes, but they are a step behind ZT Elite Cali - Garcia and East Cobb currently. We might argue the Futures should be a bit higher up in the rankings considering they have wins over #3 Canes - Pirro, #4 TX/FL Canes Elite, #25 Line Drive Black (GA), #48 Carolina Yarddawgs, and #64 Canes Baseball NC - Wiggins (x2) and only one loss at the 12u level to date against TX/FL Canes Elite, but that feels a bit like splitting hairs.
What Perfect Game got wrong
Perhaps more than at the younger age groups, there appears to be a heavy slant towards teams playing in Perfect Game events in these rankings. As an example, Flite Baseball Club (AZ) has only played 4 games in Perfect Game events, and have wins over #23 Dorados Baseball Academy (x3), #30 AZ Spurs, and #42 Scottsdale Dirtbags Black in addition to an overall record of 33-8-1 across USSSA and Perfect Game play. That seems like enough of a resume to be considered among the top 75 teams. This is also probably where we should address this: why do we currently have the Futures in front of the Canes in our rankings if Perfect Game has the Canes in front of the Futures? Perhaps this section should be titled "what we got wrong", but our answer is this: we think both teams are excellent, and among the top 5-8 teams in the country. We think the Canes have played the superior schedule between the two teams, however they have lost decidedly (mercy-rule) 3 times this spring against the very top competition (ZT Elite and East Cobb). The Futures have also lost decidedly against one of the best teams in the country in TX/FL Canes Elite, which is their only loss against 12u competition, but both teams carry 1-1 records against TX/FL Canes Elite this year. Of the Canes' 5 losses, 1 was to ZT Elite, 2 have come against East Cobb, and 1 against TX/FL Canes Elite - that's 4 losses to teams ranked #1, 2, and 4 in Perfect Game's national top 75. There is no shame in those losses. However, the other came at the hands of the SBA Futures in a 1-0 loss this past fall in a Perfect Game event. For our rankings, that counts for something and helps us separate teams from time-to-time. The truth is we have a difficult time ranking either of these teams #2 in North Carolina, because it feels like a slight to whichever team is not ranked #1. We would not disagree with anyone who has the Canes in front of the Futures, either. We had them there last week, but dropped them after a mercy-rule defeat to East Cobb. Was that fair? Probably not. It's hard to fault a team for losing to a team as good as East Cobb. Our short answer is this: both of these teams deserve recognition as top 10 teams in the country and there is a lot of season left for one to separate from the other. We look forward to watching it.