The final event of the fall AAU season, the Winter World Series (WWS), took place this past weekend in Oxford. A handful of ranked teams were in action on a cold November weekend, and we saw some dominant performances as well as some fantastic games and upsets. Here we recap the weekend's games in Oxford.
8u
#2 West Raleigh Blue came into the WWS with a 6-2 record with their only losses against #1 East Rowan and #3 Cleveland Wildcats Black. They dominated their way through pool play at the AAU WWS, going 2-0 with a 17-3 win over the Cleveland Wildcats Black and a 14-6 win over the Carolina Crushers. Cleveland Wildcats Black fell 16-9 in their other pool play game against the Carolina Crushers and was relegated to the Silver bracket for Sunday play. GBI Express also went 2-0 in pool play with an 11-0 win over the East Coast Copperheads and a 16-2 win over the East Carolina Bombers. The NCDB Rivercats were also 2-0 in pool play on Saturday, notching a 10-2 win over the East Coast Copperheads and a 16-3 win over the Youngsville Mayhem.
In the Gold bracket #4/5 game on Sunday, the Carolina Thunder topped the East Carolina Bombers 12-9 to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, West Raleigh Blue blanked the NCDB Rivercats 14-0 and GBI Express rolled to a 14-4 win over the Carolina Thunder. In the finals, West Raleigh Blue finished off a 4-0 weekend with a 15-3 win over the GBI Express to take home the 8u WWS title.
9u
In the 9u age group, #4 Canes Baseball NC - Harris was the highest ranked team in the field and they didn't disappoint in pool play, going 2-0 with a 3-0 win over NCABC Fungo - Carmichael and an 18-0 win over the Cleveland Wildcats. #18 Youngsville Phantoms also went 2-0 on Saturday, scoring a 10-5 win over the HYAA Hawks and a 13-4 win over the Virginia Squires. The NC Heat finished 2-0 in pool play as well after 15-8 win over the Carolina Storm Surge and a 23-7 win over the Sandhills Stingrays.
In the play-in games on Sunday, Fungo - Carmichael topped the HYAA Hawks 13-12 and the NC Heat rolled to an 11-1 win over the Cleveland Wildcats. In the semifinals, Canes - Harris scored a 14-2 win over Fungo - Carmichael and the Youngsville Phantoms notched a 10-4 win over the NC Heat. In the finals, Canes - Harris finished off an impressive 4-0 weekend with a 6-1 win over the Youngsville Phantoms. For the weekend, Canes - Harris outscored their 4 opponents a combined 41-3.
10u
AAA
The 10u AAA division featured 4 ranked teams including #6 Rock Solid Red, #9 NCDB Rivercats, #16 Smash Baseball, and #18 Summerfield Stars. In pool play, Rock Solid Red went 1-1 with a 7-1 win over Warriors Baseball and an 8-7 loss against the NCDB Rivercats. The Rivercats fell 6-4 to Rise LeBron (VA) in their other pool play game on Saturday. Smash Baseball went 2-0 in their pool play games with a 7-2 win over MVP Red and a 14-2 win over Rise LeBron. The Summerfield Stars went 1-1 in their pool play games, topping Five Star Carolina 6-4 before falling 9-4 to Warriors Baseball. Both Rock Solid Red and the Summerfield Stars fell to the Silver bracket for Sunday play.
In the Gold bracket #4/5 play-in game, the HYAA Hawks topped the NCDB Rivercats 7-5 to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, Five Star Carolina scored a 9-7 win over MVP Red and Smash Baseball rolled to a 16-1 win over the HYAA Hawks. In the finals, Smash Baseball finished off an undefeated weekend with a 12-2 win over Five Star Carolina.
AA
The Garner Royals went 2-0 in pool play with an 8-0 win over the OC Crushers and an 8-5 win over Diamond Life Athletics. Virginia Squires Navy also went 2-0 in pool play with a 5-4 win over Zone Select and an 11-7 win over the Carolina Tide. The Carolina Flash were also 2-0 in pool play with a 9-5 win over the OC Crushers and a 7-3 win over the Virginia Razorbacks.
In the Gold bracket semifinals, the Virginia Squires Navy topped the Carolina Flash 10-7 and the Garner Royals rolled to an 11-1 win over Zone Select. In the finals, the Garner Royals were able to pound out 11 runs on their way to an 11-1 win over Virginia Squires Navy.