There were a number of ranked teams in the various Top Gun fields this past weekend. In addition, there were several very competitive fields that contained multiple ranked teams such as the 10u field in Snow Hill (4 ranked teams) and the 11u field in Charlotte (2 ranked teams, top ranked team in South Carolina). Here we recap the weekend of Top Gun games from this past weekend.
8u
In Snow Hill, the EC Diamondbacks went 4-0 with 2 wins over Dirtbags East and the East Carolina Bombers 252. At the Charlotte Top Gun site, the SBA Futures improved to 8-1 this fall with a 5-0 weekend. Across their 5 games, the Futures outscored opponents a combined 73-9. In Indian Trail, the Union County Crush - Ridings finished 4-1 for the weekend, including a 9-6 win over DB Raptors in the finals to take home the 8u title. At the Pleasant Garden Top Gun site, Spartans - Davidson went 4-0 for the weekend, including a 16-10 win over the Summerfield Stars and a 19-18 win over the Diamond Kings in the finals on Sunday.
9u
At the Snow Hill event, Dirtbags East, who finished 5th in our final 2018-2019 8u rankings, went 4-0 this past weekend, rolling to wins over the East Carolina Bombers (x2), the EC Diamondbacks, and the Benson Bulls. At the Charlotte Top Gun site, our #2 team in this age group in 2018-2019, East Rowan, went 2-0 on Saturday with blowout wins over SBA LKN - Burgess and Tomberlin Blue Rays - Efird. Dirtbags LKN were also 2-0 on Saturday, notching a 14-5 win over the Park Sharon Nationals and a 14-2 win over Legacy Baseball (SC). In the semifinals on Sunday, Dirtbags LKN blanked Legacy 15-0 and East Rowan topped Park Sharon 11-1. In the finals, East Rowan outslugged the Dirtbags for a 22-11 win. At the one-day event in Charlotte this past weekend, South Charlotte, who finished #3 in our final 8u rankings last year, went 2-0 with a 17-5 win over On Deck Harrisburg and a 20-0 win over the regulators. In Hickory this past weekend, the LKN Hurricanes went 4-0 including two wins over Dry Pond, who finished 10th in last year's final 8u rankings, as well as an 8-6 win over Fury Baseball in the finals. At the Indian Trial Top Gun site, Union County Crush - Roadcap posted a 4-0 record and outscored opponents a combined 45-17 for the weekend. At the Pleasant Garden Top Gun site, the DC Bombers, who finished #15 in our final 8u rankings last year, went 4-0 and took home the title. For the weekend, they outscored 4 opponents a combined 46-9.
10u
In the Triangle Region event this past weekend, the FV Wildcats went 4-0, including a 12-9 win over the Carolina Thunder in the finals. For the weekend, the Wildcats outscored 4 opponents 62-20. In the 10u D1 division in Snow Hill, all 4 teams in the field finished in the top 20 of our 2018-2019 9u rankings (#2 Canes Baseball NC - Harris, #3 Dirtbags Black, #7 NCABC Fungo - Piscorik, and #20 NCDB Rivercats). On Saturday, Dirtbags Black posted an impressive 3-0 record with a 10-0 win over Canes Baseball NC - Harris, 7-6 NCABC Fungo - Piscorik, and a 12-8 win over the NCDB Rivercats.
At the Charlotte Top Gun site, the LBC Swarm continue to show why they have to be considered one of the better teams in the state in this age group as they moved their overall record to 10-1-1 with a 4-0 weekend. For the weekend, the Swarm outscored their opponents a combined 60-4. At the one-day event in Charlotte this past weekend, Team 24 Gamecocks - Higginbotham (SC) finished 2-0 with wins over On Deck O's Weddington and Bulldogs - Kane. In Hickory, Fury Baseball bounced back from a 1-1 Saturday to beat Athlete's Lab - Burns in the semifinals and the Lenoir Ravens in the finals to take home the championship. In Fayetteville, Area Stars Orange posted a 4-0 weekend including a 12-6 win over the Cape Fear Cougars in the semifinals and a 16-9 win over Next Level/JG in the finals. At the Indian Trial Top Gun site, the Anson Raptors went 4-0 for the weekend. They posted impressive wins over the MARA Spartans and the Stanly County Stars on Sunday to take home the title. At the Pleasant Garden Top Gun site, the Jr. Warriors finished 3-1 for the weekend including a 19-1 win over the Muddogs and a 22-17 win over P413 to take home the 10u championship.
11u
At the Charlotte Top Gun site, last year's #2 team in North Carolina, the SBA Nationals, proved they are right back where they were in the spring, going 4-0 for the weekend including a win over South Carolina's top team, Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley. They also had wins over #13 team Carolina Bearcats, and outscored opponents a combined 49-9. At the one-day event in Charlotte this past weekend, Hutters finished 3-0 scoring a 4-1 win over CBA Copperheads Red, an 11-4 win over Legacy Baseball (SC), and an 18-9 win over On Deck O's Orange.
12u
In the D1 division in the Triangle Region, NCDB Rivercats-2 scored the top seed for Sunday with an 8-4 win over Canes Baseball NC - Naylor, who finished 9th in our final 2018-2019 rankings in this age group, and a 5-2 win over the East Coast Clippers. The Canes scored a 7-4 win over the Clippers in their other pool play game to score the 4th seed for Sunday. In the semifinals on Sunday, Canes - Naylor got revenge on the Rivercats with a 7-4 win, while the FV Wildcats notched a 6-1 win over the Akadema Heat. In the finals, Canes - Naylor blanked the FV Wildcats 5-0 to take home the title. In the 12u D2 division in Snow Hill, Area Stars Orange bounced back from a 1-1 Saturday performance to go 2-0 on Sunday and take home the championship. They defeated the top seeded East Carolina Bombers 13-11 in the semifinals and the Diamond Thieves by the score of 15-6 in the finals.
At the Charlotte Top Gun site, last year's top team in the 10u age group, the SBA Futures, played up an age group and went 2-0 on Saturday with wins over SBA Canes LKN and Team 24 Gamecocks - Comer (SC). CBA Copperheads Black also went 2-0 on Saturday, and these two faced off in the semifinals on Sunday. In those semifinals, it was the Copperheads who came away victorious with a 5-3 win over the Futures. They faced off against the Carolina Regulators in the finals after the Regulators rolled to a 13-5 win over the Carolina Cannons (SC). In the finals, the Copperheads finished off a 4-0 weekend with a 16-8 win over the Regulators. At the one-day event in Charlotte this past weekend, the Carolina Spinners, who finished 18th in our final rankings last year, went 3- with a 9-1 win over the LBC Hammerheads, an 11-1 win over China Grove Raiders, and another 11-1 win over China Grove in the finals. At the Indian Trial Top Gun site, Aces - Edwards finished 4-0 in the D2 division to take home the crown this past weekend. They outscored opponents a combined 42-12 across 4 games this past weekend.
13u
In the D2 54/80 division in the Triangle Region, the HYAA Hawks posted a 4-0 record, including an 11-7 win over the North Wake Avalanche in the finals. In the 60/90 Open Division, the Hill City Sliders (VA) earned the top seed for Sunday. Team Elite American, who finished 9th in our final 2018-2019 12u rankings, went 1-1 in pool play with a 7-2 win over West Raleigh Blue and a 7-6 loss against the Sliders. The North Wake Shockwave went 1-1 in pool play, scoring a 7-2 win over the Perquimans Rivercats and a 6-5 loss against Rawlings Prospects 2025. In the semifinals on Sunday, the North Wake Shockwave blanked Rawlings Prospects 2025 6-0 and Team Elite American notched an 11-5 win over the Hill City Sliders. In the finals, the Shockwave rolled to a 9-1 win over Team Elite.
At the Charlotte Top Gun site, 27 teams faced off in the 13u division. Because there were so many teams, 8 teams went undefeated in pool play, but only 5 made the Gold bracket. Concord Athletics - Barbee scored the top seed with a 15-0 win over the Weddington Warriors and a 15-0 win over Five Star Heat DK. In the semifinals, the Athletics blanked the LKN Hurricanes, who finished 12th in our final 12u rankings last year, and last year's #6 Dirtbags Legends scored a 5-1 win over CBA Copperheads Black. In the finals, Concord Athletics - Barbee finished off a 4-0 weekend with a 6-5 win over Dirtbags Legends. SBA Patriots Red also went 4-0 this weekend, including a Silver bracket title and win over the Carolina Astros, who finished #18 in our final 12u rankings from last year. At the one-day event in Charlotte this past weekend, On Deck O's Black finished 3-0 with wins over the Matthews Wolves, Waxhaw Yankees, and the Pineville Blue Sox. In the 54/80 Open division in Fayetteville, Sandhills Stingrays - Baek posted the only undefeated record of the weekend, going 5-0, including 3 wins on Sunday. They started Sunday with a 15-3 win over the Crystal Coast Surge, and followed that with an 11-5 win over Area Stars Orange in the semifinals and a 23-5 win over the Walkoff Warriors in the finals.