AAU had some excellent teams in action at their Cary site this past weekend including two 9u teams who finished in the top 15 from last year's final 8u rankings, as well as two teams in the 11u age group who finished in the top 15 in the 10u rankings last year. In particular, 11u Dirtbags East looked to improve upon their undefeated 8-0 record this fall but faced some stiff competition.
9u
The NCDB Rivercats, who finished #9 in our 2017-2018 8u rankings, went 2-0 in pool play with an 8-7 win over the FV Wildcats and a 10-2 win over the NC Heat. The FV Wildcats scored a 6-4 win over the Carolina Freedom in their other pool play game. The Youngsville Phantoms, who finished #11 in our 2017-2018 8u rankings, went 2-0 in pool play as well with a 19-7 win over the Granville Rays and a 9-8 win over the Carolina Storm Surge. In the bracket play play-in games, the FV Wildcats notched a 10-3 win over the Storm Surge, the Granville Rays scored a 7-4 win over the Freedom, and the NC Heat topped the Phantoms 5-4. In the semifinals, the NCDB Rivercats defeated the Rays 13-2 while the FV Wildcats blanked the Heat 8-0. In the finals, the FV Wildcats avenged their pool play loss against the Rivercats with a 9-6 win to take home the 9u title.
11u
Dirtbags East finished #6 in our 2017-2018 10u rankings and were off to an 8-0 start this fall heading into this weekend. On Saturday they scored an 11-4 win over the Carolina Thunder, who finished #14 in our final rankings this past spring, and a 7-5 win over Fungo Elite. The Thunder scored a 15-0 win over the South Wake Storm in their other pool play game. The FV Wildcats went 1-1 on Saturday with an 8-7 win over the South Wake Storm and a 6-5 loss against Fungo Elite. In the play-in game, the Wildcats topped the South Wake Storm 6-4 to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, Dirtbags East scored an 8-3 win over the FV Wildcats, while the Carolina Thunder topped Fungo Elite 8-2. In the finals, Dirtbags East moved their early fall record to 12-0 with a 9-6 win over the Carolina Thunder.
12u
The Orange County Crushers went 2-0 in pool play with an 11-5 win over Purpose Driven North and a 14-1 win over the Devils. Purpose Driven North scored a 5-3 win over the North Wake Avalanche in their other pool play game on Saturday. In the play-in game on Sunday, the Devils topped the Sandhills Xplosion 8-5 to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, the Crushers rolled to a 13-1 win over the Devils while Purpose Driven North topped the Avalanche 12-4. In the finals, the Orange County Crushers finished off an undefeated weekend with a 5-0 win over Purpose Driven North.