Around the State Recap 9/14-9/15/19

 

10u

Last year's final #5 team 9u age group, the HPT HiToms, went 4-0 this past weekend at the NCGameOn Sports even in Clemmons. Their offense was clicking, scoring 61 runs in 4 games while allowing 12 total runs. In Oxford, the Granville Rays took home the title after going 1-1 in pool play on Saturday. On Sunday they rolled to an 18-3 win over Generals Baseball in the semifinals before edging past RBI Raptors Blue 17-16 in the finals.

At the USSSA event in Asheville this past weekend, WNC Linedrive went 1-1 on Saturday, but scored two impressive wins over Dry Pond and Equip on Sunday to take home the title. The 10u division at the USSSA event in Charlotte featured 4 teams who finished in the top 20 of this age group last year (#8 East Rowan, #9 Triple Crown Lookouts, #12 LBC Swarm, and #16 Ultimate Performance Black Sox). On Saturday, the Lookouts finished 2-0 with a 9-5 win over the SBA Nationals and a 16-1 win over the Black Sox. The LBC Swarm also finished 2-0 in pool play with a 10-1 win over the SBA Americans and a 2-1 win over East Rowan. In the semifinals on Sunday, the Swarm edged the Nationals 12-11 and the Triple Crown Lookouts topped East Rowan 12-6. In the finals, Triple Crown finished off a big statement weekend with a 14-6 win over the LBC Swarm.

Dirtbags East finished 4-0 at the Rocky Mount Top Gun site this past weekend. They outscored opponents 56-19 in 4 games including a 12-2 win over Game Time Prospects - Fricks in the finals. At the Asheville Top Gun site, the Roberson RAMblers went 4-0 for the weekend. Along the way they scored wins over Fury Baseball, Carolina Five Star, Coul-Oak Diesel, and Cherryville Baseball. In the 10u age group at the Triangle Region Top Gun site, last year's #14 team East Coast Elite took home the D2 10u crown, going 3-1 including an 8-7 win over the Dirt Devils in the finals. At the Indian Trail Top Gun site, the Charlotte Colt went 3-0 in the 10u one-day event. In the two-day event, the Tega Cay Titans (SC) went 4-0 outscoring their opponents 53-7.

11u

Carolina Rockies - Stanton went 4-0 in Clemmons this past weekend. This gave the Rockies back-to-back tournament wins in Clemmons, and an 8-0 record across those two events. Diamond Life Athletics took the NCGameOn Sports title in Oxford, going 4-0 for the weekend including a 5-4 win over Dirtbags Camo in the finals.

5 teams, including 4 who finished in our 2018-2019 top 20 last year (#3 Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro, #8 Five Star Carolina - Jones, #10 Carolina Blue Trifecta, and #11 SBA Americans), were in the field at the 11u Perfect Game Super 25 Qualifier in Pineville this past weekend. The Park Sharon Nationals were the only undefeated team in pool play, scoring a 15-3 win over the SBA Americans and a 10-2 win over Five Star Carolina - Jones. In bracket play on Sunday, the Nationals finished off an undefeated weekend with a 6-0 win over SBA Americans and a 3-1 win over Carolina Blue Trifecta.

The Venom Stars finished 4-0 for the weekend this past weekend at the USSSA event in Asheville. They outscored their 4 opponents a combined 53-12 for the weekend. In Charlotte, USSSA held both a one-day and a two-day event for the 11u age group. In the one-day event, On Deck Weddington took home the title after scoring an 11-9 win over On Deck O's Black in the finals. On Deck Wedddington finished the day 1-1-1, with a win over Mission Vipers - Reyer and a tie against Mission Vipers - McIlroy in pool play. In the two-day event, the Piedmont Militia went 2-0 in pool play with wins over the Carolina Combat and the NC Stars. The Stars and Combat both scored wins in their other pool play games on Saturday. In the semifinals on Sunday, the NC Stars scored a 13-6 win over the Hickory Hurricanes and the Combat scored a 13-10 win over the Militia. In the finals, the NC Stars finished off a 3-1 weekend with an 11-10 win over the Combat.

The Carolina Bearcats from Stanley, North Carolina, went 4-0 this past weekend and took home the title at the Top Gun site in Charlotte this past weekend. They scored an impressive 7-6 win over the NC Young Guns in the finals to clinch the championship for the weekend. In the 11u Open division at the Top Gun site in Rocky Mount last year's #18 team, the Carolina Titans, went 4-0 including an 8-6 win over last year's #19 team, MVP Red. At the Asheville Top Gun site, the top team from South Carolina, Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley went 4-0, outscoring opponents 47-13 for the weekend. At the Triangle Region Top Gun site, last year's #9 team (Dirtbags East) and #12 team (NCDB Rivercats) faced off against Greenville Athletics - Scott and the Riptide. It was Greenville Athletics who took home the title, going 3-1 overall including wins over the Riptide and the Rivercats on Sunday. At the Laurinburg Top Gun site, Straight Gas, from Fayetteville, finished 4-0 including an 8-7 wins over the Carolina Diamondbacks in the finals.

 

 

12u

The Surry Blue Claws bounced back from a 1-1 Saturday in pool play to go 3-0 on Sunday, including wins over Carolina Rockies - Munster, NCBA Gold, and Rockies Baseball, to take home the title this weekend in Clemmons.

In the American division of the 12u age group at the USSSA event in Asheville this past weekend, Equip Sports Ministry, who finished 17th in our final 2018-2019 rankings in this age group, went 2-0 on Saturday with wins over Elite Baseball and WCW Baseball. They finished the weekend 4-0 with wins over Clubhouse Baseball Academy Patriots and Freedom Baseball on Sunday to take home the title. At the USSSA event in Greensboro this past weekend, GRIT - Culler, who finished 5th in our final 2018-2019 rankings in this age group, went 4-0 for the weekend. This included an 8-0 win over Athlete's Advantage Yard Goats, who finished 16th in our final rankings last year, in the finals. For the weekend, the Yard Goats finished 3-1. In the 12u age group at the USSSA event in Charlotte, 4 teams who finished in our top 20 last year were in the field (#7 Mission Vipers Gold, #12 Mission Vipers Gold, #13 SBA Nationals, and #19 Athlete's Lab). But it was CBC Baseball Club who came away with the title on Sunday. CBC went 1-1 in pool play with a 12-7 win over Athlete's Lab and an 8-7 loss against CBC Baseball Club. In the semifinals on Sunday, CBC topped Mission Vipers Gold 12-7 and CBA Copperheads Black scored a 12-5 win over Athlete's Lab. In the finals, CBC scored a 13-9 win over the Copperheads to take home the title.

In the 12u division at the Goldsboro Top Gun site, the East Carolina Bombers bounced back from a 1-1 Saturday to go 3-0 on Sunday and take home the title. They topped the Carolina Titans Blue 9-1 on Saturday before falling 10-0 against OC Sluggers Red. In their first bracket play game on Sunday, the Bombers rolled to a 15-0 win over Carolina Titans Blue. In the semifinals, the Bombers blasted their way to a 12-1 win over NCDB Rivercats 12u-3 and in the finals got revenge on the OC Sluggers with a 10-0 win of their own.

The Carolina Cannons, one of the top teams in South Carolina, went 5-0 this weekend and won the title in the 12u age group at the Top Gun site in Charlotte. This included a 9-4 win over CBA Copperheads Red in the finals, who looks to be one of the best teams in North Carolina this fall.

The 12u age group at the Rocky Mount Top Gun site featured 3 teams who finished in our 2018-2019 11u top 20 including #4 Rawlings Prospects NC, #8 Dirtbags East, and #20 Carolina Titans - Ambrose. The Rawlings Prospects finished an impressive 4-0 including two wins over the Carolina Titans and a 15-8 win over Dirtbags East in the finals. At the Asheville Top Gun site, one of the top teams in the country, Crusaders Baseball (TN), rolled to a 4-0 weekend outscoring opponents a combined 64-12. In the 12u Open division at the Triangle Region Top Gun site DPC Baseball Academy Gold finished 4-0 for the weekend and took home the Gold bracket title. In the finals, they took out an excellent Cleveland Wildcats team to earn the championship. At the Laurinburg Top Gun site, Next Level/JG took home the title after going 3-1 for the weekend. Although they fell 9-3 on Saturday against the NSA Creek Nationals, they topped NSA 12-6 in the semifinals and Area Stars - Derick on Sunday to earn the title.

13u

In the 13u age group at the NCGameOn Event in Oxford this past weekend, East Coast Clippers 2025 went 4-0, including an unbelievable 3 1-run wins, including an 8-7 win over the North Wake Avalanche on Saturday, as well as a 7-6 win over the Orange County Crushers in the semifinals and a 10-9 win over the Avalanche in the finals on Sunday.

Easily the best event of the early 13u fall season took place this last weekend at the Perfect Game event in Pineville. The field included teams who finished #1 (SBA Futures), #2 (Five Star Carolina - Neyra), #3 (Mission Vipers Gold), #4 (Canes Baseball NC - Simpson), #5 (Canes Baseball Eastern NC), #6 (Dirtbags Legends), #7 (Rock Solid Red), and #18 (Carolina Astros) in our final 2018-2019 12u rankings last year. 4 teams finished pool play undefeated, including the SBA Futures, Canes - Simpson, Dirtbags Legends, and Richmond Braves National (VA). Mission Vipers Gold and Five Star Carolina Champions finished with the 5th and 6th seeds in the playoff bracket. On Sunday, #4 seed Dirtbags Legends topped #5 seed Mission Vipers Gold 6-4 while #3 seed Canes - Simpson edged Five Star Champions 8-7 to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, SBA Futures scored an 8-3 win over Dirtbags Legends while the Richmond Braves scored a 1-run 4-3 win over Canes - Simpson. In the finals, the SBA Futures rolled to a 14-3 win over the Richmond Braves to take home the biggest title of the early 13u season.

The Carolina Renegades, who finished #20 in our final 2018-2019 rankings last year, went 2-0 in pool play to score the top seed for Sunday at the USSSA event in Asheville this past weekend. This gave the Renegades the only bye into the semifinals for Sunday. RBA Heels White earned the #3 seed for Sunday after going 1-0-1 on Saturday in pool play. On Sunday, the Heels opened pool play with a 20-2 win over Canes Baseball NC - HF to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, the Renegades topped the Foothills Prospects 6-5 and RBA Heels White edged Diamond Mine 11-10. In the finals, RBA Heels White notched a 9-2 win over the Renegades to score the title in Asheville. In Greensboro, Carolina Rockies finished 4-0 for the weekend, outscoring their 4 opponents a combined 30-3. In the 13u age group in Charlotte, it was the SC Braves who came away as the tournament champions. They went 0-2 on Saturday, falling 6-3 against CBC - Cunningham and 4-3 against the NC Stars. They bounced back on Sunday, however, scoring a 12-4 win over SBA Patriot Black and a 13-6 win over CBC - Cunningham in the finals.

In the 13u division at the Goldsboro Top Gun site, two teams who finished in our top 20 last year, #8 Carolina Rage and #10 Carolina Titans Blue, were in action. The Carolina Rage earned the top seed for Sunday with a 7-4 win over Titans Blue and a 10-2 win over the SP Vipers in pool play. It was Carolina Titans Blue, however, who took home the crown on Sunday, topping the North Wake Shockwave 7-4 in game 1, before scoring a 9-1 win over Carolina Rage Red in the finals. In the semifinals, Carolina Rage Red defeated the Carolina Rage 6-1 to end their tournament run. 13 teams battled it out at the Charlotte Top Gun site this past weekend. In the end, the SBA Nationals took home the title, going 4-0 and outscoring opponents a combined 37-4 for the weekend. At the Asheville Top Gun site, Vision Red went 4-0 for the weekend, including a win over the Burlington Yellow Jackets in the finals. In the 54/80 open division at the Triangle Region Top Gun site, last year's 11u #1 Canes Baseball NC - Foster played up against a tough field. Although the Canes made it to the finals, going 3-0 along the way, they met their match in the finals, falling to Team Ghost by the score of 7-2. For the weekend, Team Ghost also finished 3-1.