In our final review of Perfect Game's top 100 rankings, we focus on the 13u age group. Two teams from North Carolina and two from Virginia made it into the top 100, while another 4 teams from North Carolina, 5 from South Carolina, and 3 from Virginia made the "Regional Top Teams to Watch" list. Again with the 13u rankings, Perfect Game seems to have done a good job, although there might be a few moves up or down for teams that might also be considered reasonable. Here we review the 13u top 100 and offer our thoughts on the rankings.
North Carolina Representation
Our #1 team in North Carolina, Dirtbags MVP, came in at #44 in the top 100 13u team. Our #2 team, Canes Baseball NC - Eastern NC, came in right behind the Dirtbags at #47. The Dirtbags had one of the more impressive runs as a 12u and now a 13u team, going 24-7-1 this past fall and 76-14-2 overall as a 12u team. The Canes were equally impressive, going 13-7-2 in the fall of 2018, and 71-10 overall as a 12u team. Although no other North Carolina teams were listed in the top 100, 4 teams were included on the "Regional Teams to Watch" list. #3 Sanford Cobras, #4 SBA Futures, #5 Dirtbags TBM, and #6 Carolina Rockies - Wilson were all included on the "Regional Top Teams to Watch" list. The Cobras boosted their profile significantly after a 16-2 run through the fall 2018 season, coming off the heels of a 38-20 record as a 12u team. The SBA Futures went 13-3-1 this past fall, after combining two teams (Park Sharon Nationals and East Rowan) following their 12u campaigns. Dirtbags TBM has been one of the more consistently excellent teams in this age group, going 16-5-1 in the fall of 2018, and 47-11-1 as a 12u team. Similar to Dirtbags TBM, Carolina Rockies - Wilson have been one of the most outstanding teams in this age group for several years, posting a 16-8-2 record in the fall of 2018, and a 50-26-2 overall record as a 12u team.
Beyond North Carolina
Again, in a bit of a surprise, no teams from South Carolina made the top 100. 5 teams, including our #1 team Canes Baseball SCBA, our #2 team Chain Gang National, our #3 team Warriors Baseball, our #4 team Team 24 Gamecocks - Brown, and our #5 team Team Carolina Demarini, all made the "Regional Top Teams to Watch" list. Canes SCBA is a relatively new team who posted an 11-3 record in the fall of 2018, including a title at the Jay Criscione Super NIT in September. Chain Gang National went 16-6 this past fall and 35-16-1 as a 12u team, while Warriors Baseball posted a 16-1 record in the fall of 2018 along with an overall record of 44-10 as a 12u team. Team 24 Gamecocks - Brown went 31-7 in the fall of 2018 after posting an outstanding 84-21 (!) overall record as a 12u team. Team Carolina Demarini went 5-1 this past fall after going 20-7 across USSSA play as a 12u team. From Virginia, our #1 team, the Tidewater Horns, came in at #31 after posting a 16-2 record in the fall of 2018 and a 50-14-1 record as a 12u team. Our #2 team in Virginia, Team Dirty South Venom, came in at #67 after they posted an 8-2 record in the fall of 2018 and a record of 53-15-1 as a 12u team. 3 teams - our #3 Rockit Sports Blue, our #4 Richmond Spiders, and our #5 NOVA Premier Blue - all finished on the "Regional Top Teams to Watch" list. Rockit Blue was 7-3 against only 14u competition this past fall after going 29-6-1 as a 12u team. The Richmond Spiders went 11-0 this past fall after going 18-2 in the spring of their 12u campaign. NOVA Premier Blue posted a 20-1 record in the fall of 2018.
What Perfect Game Got Right
Perfect Game had Dirtbags MVP and Canes Baseball Eastern - NC ranked very closely together (#44 and #47) , which is exactly how we see these teams. In addition, Perfect Game appears to have nailed who the top teams are in this region of the country, although perhaps some shuffling in terms of specific ranking could be in order. Perfect Game also appears to have been pretty accurate regarding the teams at the top of this age group nationally, as teams like MVP Hustle - Garcia were flat out dominant as a 12u team. But this is an age where things can change greatly from year to year as the players develop at different rates.
What Perfect Game Got Wrong
We agree with Perfect Game regarding Dirtbags MVP and Canes Eastern NC being ranked closely together, however we feel both teams were a bit under-ranked. As a 12u team, Dirtbags MVP had wins over national #10 Five Star National (then Five Star Tigers - DeMarini), #30 Smartense Angels, #34 AZ Venom, #39 Cellblock Baseball, and #56 Georgia Power Baseball - Myers as a 12u team. The Legends are right with the Dirtbags as evidenced by the close games routinely played by these two, although they don't have the same level of national wins as do the Dirtbags. Another team we fell may have been slightly under-ranked was Team Dirty South Venom. The Venom are right there with both the Dirtbags and the Canes in terms of talent and boast wins over ranked Georgia Power, Smartense Angels, and Canes Baseball Eastern - NC as a 12u team. It was also a bit surprising to not see a South Carolina team in the top 100. Similar to the 12u age group, perhaps any of the top 3-4 teams have a legitimate claim to be considered in the top 100 13u teams in America.
As we wrap up our reviews of Perfect Game's youth (10u-13u) top 100 rankings, we'd like to offer congratulations to the guys over at Perfect Game. They did an excellent job of finding the best teams in the United States for consideration in these rankings. Could there be a few teams to move up or down, one way or another? Absolutely. But overall, Alex Dry and Austin Malone appear to have put together a well-researched ranking of teams.