The fall season is underway and there more than a dozen ranked teams from our final 2018-2019 rankings in action this weekend. In addition, there were several games played between top 10 and 20 teams. Here we recap the weekend across the state of North Carolina from this past weekend.
8u
This is a really exciting time of year to follow the 8u age group. Almost all the teams are new and there are many question marks across the landscape of the age group. In Clemmons, NC Rogue - Smith went 4-0 in their first event of the year. The SBA Futures look to be strong (as usual), going 3-1 at the Top Gun event in Charlotte this past week with their only loss coming against the Carolina Reds (15-8, SC).
9u
Spartans - Mullins, who finished #4 in our final 8u rankings last year, started their 9u year with a 3-1 weekend in Clemmons. They fell 12-9 against the Carolina Spinners on Saturday, before rebounding to take the the title on Sunday. At the USSSA event in Charlotte, new team Dirtbags LKN made a good first impression with a 4-0 weekend. In Asheville, Mountain Xplosion went 4-0 on their way to the title, including a 12-11 win over the Dirty Birds in the finals. In Greensboro, GRIT looks like a force to be reckon with in this age group. They went 4-0 and outscored their opponents a combined 50-12 over 4 games.
At the Top Gun sites, Dirtbags East, who finished #5 in the final 8u rankings last year, started the fall 4-0 including wins over last year's #13 (Area Stars Orange) and #14 (Canes Baseball NC - Hartman, x2) teams. Last year's #2 East Rowan looks to be as dominant as ever in this age group, going 4-0 and outscoring their opponents a combined 55-5 in Charlotte. PG Elite, from Pleasant Garden, could be another interesting team to watch as they also posted a 4-0 weekend in Greensboro this past weekend.
10u
At the NCGameOn event in Oxford this past weekend, there was a matchup of top 20 teams from the final 2018-2019 9u rankings, as #2 Canes Baseball NC - Harris came away victorious with a 7-5 win over #20 NCDB Rivercats. For the weekend, the Canes went 4-0 and the Rivercats went 3-1. The LBC Swarm look like they might be one of the top teams in this age group as they dominated their way to a 4-0 weekend at the USSSA event in Charlotte this past weekend. They outscored 4 opponents a combined 45-12 this past weekend. The Kings Mountain Storm, who finished #15 last year, went 2-1 this past weekend, losing 18-13 against the LKN Lightning in the semifinals. The G-town Pirates (SC) took home the title in Asheville this past weekend, including scoring a wins over last year's #16 team, the Asheville Braves, in the semifinals. The Greensboro site saw 3 of our final top 10 teams from last year in action (#5 HPT HiToms, #7 NCABC Fungo - Piscorik, and #10 Summerfield Stars). In the end, the HPT HiToms took home the title, going 4-1, including a 7-6 loss against the Summerfield Stars in pool play, and a 13-4 win over Fungo - Piscorik in the finals. Fungo - Piscorik finished 2nd, going 3-1-1 for the weekend, while Summerfield finished 2-1, falling 5-3 against the HiToms in their first game on Sunday.
At the Top Gun sites, Area Stars Orange went 4-0 in Rocky Mount, scoring an 8-3 win over a quality Carolina Rampage Baseball team in the finals. In Charlotte, Concord Athletics - McElhinny looks to be a team to watch for, going 4-0 with a 16-15 win over Union County Crush - Gadd in the finals. In this game, the Athletics fell behind 15-13 heading into the bottom of the last inning, after giving up 3 runs in the top of the 5th. They were able to plate 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to take the walk off 16-15 win. In Mocksville, Pfafftown Raiders Elite took home the title after going 1-1 in pool play. The topped the Lenoir Ravens 11-7 in the finals after avenging their pool play loss against Carolina Rockies - Sullivan in the semifinals. The Cabarrus Bandits went 4-0 in Locust this past weekend, scoring two wins over both the Carolina Cannons and the Stanly County Stars.
11u
There was a huge event in Charlotte this weekend hosted by last year's #3 team in this age group, the Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro. Park Sharon took home the title after going 3-1. On Saturday, Park Sharon fell 17-11 against last year's #8 team, Five Star Carolina - Jones, and scored a win over #4 Dirtbags Black. Last year's #1 team in South Carolina, Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley, went 2-0 on Saturday with a 6-3 win over the Dirtbags and a 12-2 win over Five Star - Jones. On Sunday, Park Sharon scored two wins over Team 24 (13-12 and 10-4), while Five Star Carolina - Jones notched two wins over Dirtbags Black (14-12 and 11-7).
In the NCGameOn event in Clemmons, Carolina Rockies - Stanton went 4-0 for the weekend to stake their claim as one of the best teams in the Triad Region in this age group. In Oxford, the Garner Royals went 4-0, including a win over last year's #16 team Smash Baseball in the finals. In the USSSA event in Charlotte, Mission Vipers - Reyer went 4-0 for the weekend, outscoring their 4 opponents a combined 44-17 for the weekend. In Asheville, one of South Carolina's best teams, the Grey Sox, took home the title, going 4-0 for the weekend. The Roberson Ramblers finished a 2-1 and Athlete's Lab at 2-1 for the weekend. In Greensboro, Pfafftown Raiders 2027 bounced back from a 1-1 Saturday to go 2-0 on Sunday, topping Dirtbags Gold 8-6 and Dirtbags Camo 15-4 on their way to the title.
At the Top Gun sites, Eastern Impact took home the title, going 4-1 for the weekend including a 10-2 win over Area Stars - Derick in the finals. Area Stars - Derick finished 3-1 for the weekend. Notably, last year's #3 team in the 9u age group, Dirtbags Black, played up this weekend and finished 2-2. In Charlotte, Union County Crush - Walker rolled to a 4-0 weekend, outscoring opponents a combined 58-4 along the way. The NC Young Guns went 4-0 in Mocksville this past weekend, taking out the Kernersville Cyclones 7-5 in the finals.
12u
At the NCGameOn site in Clemmons, L-town Lightning took home the crown, going 1-1 on Saturday, before scoring wins over the Diamond Deacons, DC Vipers, and last year's #17 team, Equip, on Sunday. Equip finished 3-1 for the weekend. The USSSA site in Charlotte was absolutely loaded with last year's #2 SBA Futures, #3 Dirtbags Black, and last year's 10u #1 SBA Futures all in the field. There was a bit of surprise on Saturday, as the Carolina Colts took out Dirtbags Black 5-3. They also scored a win over the Venom Stars to finish 2-0 in pool play, while Dirtbags Black notched an 8-7 win over the MARA Cobras to finish 1-1. The 12u SBA Futures rolled to a 20-1 win over the Carolina Reds (SC) and a 14-0 win over Team 24 Gamecocks - Comer (SC) in their two pool play games, while the 11u SBA Futures blanked the Weddington Blue Ice 19-0 and topped Team 24 12-3 in their pool play games. On Sunday, Dirtbags Black rolled to a 10-1 win over the MARA Cobras in the bracket play-in game to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, the SBA Futures edged past the Carolina Colts 2-1 while Dirtbags Black secured a 6-3 win over the 12u SBA Futures. In the finals, Dirtbags Black finished off a 4-1 weekend and 3-0 Sunday with a 7-4 win over the 11u SBA Futures. In Asheville, PRO Prodigy Select (SC) went 4-0 to take the title. In a competitive field in Greensboro, the Randolph Regulators went 1-1 in pool play, and 3-0 on Sunday on their way to the title. They scored a 16-1 win over GBC Prospects - Breedlove in the finals.
At the Triangle Region Top Gun site, last year's #4 team, Rawlings Prospects NC, went 4-0 for the weekend including a 6-1 win over the Virginia Venom in the finals. The Venom and Dirtbags Platinum both finished 3-1 for the weekend. In Rocky Mount, the Wendell Knights went 4-0 for the weekend, outscoring opponents a combined 40-10 for the weekend. In Charlotte, it was SBA Canes LKN who came away with the title, going 4-0 including a win over last year's #18 team Carolina Spinners in the finals. In Mocksville, CBA Copperheads Red showed they should be a team to watch out for this year, going 4-0 for the weekend, including a 12-9 win over WCW Baseball in the finals. Aces - Edwards should also be a contender in this age group, and they went 4-0 this past weekend in Concord.
13u
At the NCGameOn site in Oxford, the Greensboro Nationals went 1-1 on Saturday, but still received the #2 seed in a hotly contested venue. They went 2-0 on Sunday and avenged their loss from Saturday with a 10-3 win over the HYAA Hawks in the finals. In Clemmons, Big Game 2025 went 1-1 on Saturday with a 3-2 win over SBA Patriots Red and a 4-3 loss against the HiToms. They bounced back on Sunday, going 3-0, including a 9-5 win over SBA Patriots Red to take home the championship.
Like the 12u age group, the 13u group was loaded with last year's #1 team, SBA Futures, #3 team Mission Vipers Gold, #4 Canes Baseball NC - Simpson, #6 Dirtbags Legends, and #15 NC Saints. Both the SBA Futures and Mission Gold went 2-0 in pool play, with the Futures scoring a 5-2 win over Dirtbags Legends and a 7-3 win over Canes - Simpson. The Dirtbags fell 15-4 against Canes - Simpson in their other pool play game. Mission Gold notched a 15-3 win over the Weddington Warriors and a 6-5 win over the NC Saints in their pool play games. The Saints edged Mission Vipers Black 3-2 in their other pool play game, to finish 1-1 on Saturday. In the bracket play-in games, the NC Saints topped Canes - Simpson 10-2, Mission Gold notched a 9-5 win over Dirtbags Legends, and Mission Black rolled to a 17-2 win over the SBA Senators. In the semifinals, the SBA Futures blanked the NC Saints and Mission Gold scored an 11-8 win over Mission Black. In a finals matchup of our #1 and #3 teams from last year, Mission Baseball Gold got the better of the SBA Futures this time, scoring an 11-6 win. In Greensboro, the Durham Blues took home the crown, going 4-0 for the weekend.
In the 60/90 division at the Top Gun site in the Triangle Region, last year's #8 Carolina Rage went 4-0 outscoring 4 opponents 55-8. Team Ghost went 4-0 in the 54/80 Open Division, including an 8-5 win over NSA 06 Elite. In Rocky Mount, EC Diamondbacks - Bass went 4-0 to take home the title. In Charlotte, 17 teams were in the field, and unfortunately only 4 teams made the Gold bracket so last year's #12 team, the LKN Hurricanes, finished 2-0 in pool play but made the Silver bracket. They finished 4-0 for the weekend. Concord Athletics - Barbee went 4-0, winning the Gold bracket title, including a win over last year's #16 Vision Bandits - Germano in the finals.