The Park Sharon Nationals continue to be the class of the 10u age group, and as they make the move to SBA this spring, there will be numerous challengers looking to knock them from the top spot. Here we recap some of the best teams and performances from 10u teams from around the state of North Carolina this fall.
1. Park Sharon Nationals
The 10u Park Sharon Nationals appear to be as far ahead of their competition as any team in North Carolina. Coming off a title at the 9u USSSA Wilson Demarini Elite World Series in Viera, Florida this past summer, the Nationals had a lot to live up to as a 10u team. Despite this, the Nationals did just that, going 20-2 this fall with their only losses coming against 11u competition. During the fall season they scored two wins over #2 SBA Premier - Simmons, two wins over #7 Carolina Blue Mizuno, and a win over #12 Dirtbags East. The Nationals will head into the spring season as the clear #1 in the 10u age group and they will do that with a new name and affiliation as they recently announced they are moving over to SBA to become SBA Futures.
2. SBA Premier - Simmons
Perhaps no one has been more affected by the dominance of the Nationals than SBA Premier - Simmons. They finished 13-5-1 this fall season, and highlighted their fall season with a win over #5 Dirtbags Black and two wins over #6 SBA Premier - Pitts. Of their losses, two came against #1 Park Sharon Nationals, one came against 11u competition, one came against SBA Premier - Pitts, and another came at the hands of Line Drive Black (GA), who finished 9-0 in USSSA play this fall and are ranked 6th in the 10u Majors USSSA National Power Ranking.
3. West Raleigh Blue
West Raleigh Blue posted an impressive 16-2 record this fall season. They scored a number of impressive wins including a win over #5 Dirtbags Black, a win over #12 Dirtbags East, two wins over #14 Greenville Athletics - Scott, two wins over #16 LBC Thunder, and a win over Line Drive Black, who as noted above gave SBA Premier - Simmons 1 of their 4 losses against 10u teams this fall. In addition, West Raleigh Blue successfully avenged both of their losses this fall with wins over #9 NCDB Rivercats and a win over 16-3 Virginia Stars - Colangelo.
4. Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro
Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro were one of the surprise teams of the fall as a relatively new team. They were one of the highest performing teams of the fall season, going 17-1 overall. Among their 17 wins, the Nationals notched a win over #7 Carolina Blue Mizuno as well as 3 wins over #16 LBC Thunder. In addition to posting a 17-1 record, the Nationals won all 5 tournaments they entered.
5. Dirtbags Black
The Dirtbags played one of the more competitive schedules of the fall season, going 13-8 across all competition. 6 of their 8 losses came against ranked teams (#1 Park Sharon Nationals, #2 SBA Premier - Simmons, #3 West Raleigh Blue, #12 Dirtbags East, #13 Smash Baseball, and #14 Greenville Athletics - Scott), with another loss against 26-6 Knoxville Stars. They notched 5 wins against ranked teams this fall including two wins over #9 NCDB Rivercats, a win over Smash Baseball, a win over Greenville Athletics - Scott, and a win over #15 Wilson Reds.
6. SBA Premier - Pitts
Similar to Dirtbags Black, SBA Premier - Pitts played an extremely competitive schedule this fall, posting an 18-9 overall record. Highlighting their fall campaign, SBA - Pitts notched a win over #2 SBA Premier - Simmons and a win over #7 Carolina Blue Mizuno. They also had losses against #2 SBA Premier - Simmons (x2), Line Drive Black (GA), East Cobb Astros Navy, and the 37-3 Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley (SC) (x2).
7. Carolina Blue Mizuno
Carolina Blue Mizuno posted a 15-6 record this fall season to finish with the #7 spot in our final rankings. They notched a 1-1 record against #6 SBA Premier - Pitts this fall season and faced excellent competition throughout the fall. Among their 5 other losses, two came against #1 Park Sharon Nationals, one came against #4 Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro, and another came against the Knoxville Stars.
8. Carolina Rockies Black
The Carolina Rockies Black finished their fall season with an impressive overall record of 21-5. They had a very impressive record, although their competition level wasn't as high as many of the teams ranked above them. Two of their 5 losses came against 11u teams, and they posted two wins over ranked teams (#19 Pfafftown Raiders x2).
9. NCDB Rivercats
The Rivercats finished the fall season 14-7. Along the way, they scored some impressive wins including a win over #3 West Raleigh Blue, a win over #10 Rock Solid Red, a win over #12 Dirtbags East, a win over #13 Smash Baseball, a win over #14 Greenville Athletics - Scott, and two wins over #15 Wilson Reds. Demonstrating the high level of competition they faced all fall, NCDB had losses against West Raleigh Blue and #5 Dirtbags Black (x2).
10. Rock Solid Red
Rock Solid Red posted an impressive 18-5 record this fall. Among those 18 wins, Rock Solid scored wins over #13 Smash Baseball, #14 Greenville Athletics - Scott, and #18 Summerfield Stars. They also had two losses against top 20 competition (#9 NCDB Rivercats and Greenville Athletics - Scott).
11. Carolina Red Sox - Jones
The Red Sox finished 13-6 overall this past fall. They notched 3 wins over ranked teams including a win over #13 Smash Baseball, a win over #18 Summerfield Stars, and #19 Pfafftown Raiders. Of their 6 losses, 4 came against ranked teams including a 1-run loss against #1 Park Sharon Nationals, a 1-run loss against #7 Carolina Blue Mizuno, and losses against #8 Carolina Rockies Black and Summerfield Stars. They also had a loss against Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley (SC), one of the best teams in South Carolina.
12. Dirtbags East
Dirtbags East finished 11-8 this fall against some excellent competition. Highlighting their fall campaign, they notched wins over #5 Dirtbags Black and a win over #15 Wilson Reds. Of their 8 losses, 4 came against top 20 teams including #3 West Raleigh Blue, #10 NCDB Rivercats, #14 Greenville Athletics - Scott, and #15 Wilson Reds. They also had two losses, including once by one run, against Virginia Stars - Colangelo, who went 16-3 this fall.
13. Smash Baseball
The Smash were another team that put up an impressive record this fall, going 22-9 overall. They did score a win over #5 Dirtbags Black to solidify their spot in the top 20. They had a handful of losses against top 20 teams including Dirtbags Black, #9 NCDB Rivercats, #10 Rock Solid Red, #11 Carolina Red Sox - Jones, #15 Wilson Reds, and two losses against #18 Summerfield Stars.
14. Greenville Athletics - Scott
Similar to some teams in other age groups, Greenville Athletics - Scott posed an interesting challenge when it came to final rankings. They posted a 9-9 record overall this fall, losing their last 3 games at the Top Gun Winter World Series. They did score a host of impressive wins including wins over #5 Dirtbags Black, #10 Rock Solid Red, #12 Dirtbags East, and #15 Wilson Reds. In addition, 5 of their losses came against ranked opponents including losses to #3 West Raleigh Blue (x2), Dirtbags Black, Rock Solid Red, and the Wilson Reds.
15. Wilson Reds
The Wilson Reds were a bit of a surprise to us, finishing 13-6-1 this fall including a tournament win at the D2 Top Gun Winter World Series. They scored 4 wins over ranked teams including wins over #10 Rock Solid Red, #12 Dirtbags East, #13 Smash Baseball, and #14 Greenville Athletics - Scott. In addition, 5 of their 6 losses came against teams who finished the fall in our top 20 (#5 Dirtbags Black, #9 NCDB Rivercats [x2], Dirtbags East, and Greenville Athletics - Scott.
16. LBC Thunder
The LBC Thunder posted an 18-8 record this fall in Top Gun competition, including going 8-2 in their last 10 games. They dominated against lesser competition, but a lack of wins over teams in our top 20 kept them from moving higher in our rankings. They did have losses against #3 West Raleigh Blue (x2), #4 Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro (x2), and Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley (SC).
17. Carolina Titans
The Titans went 13-6 this fall across all competition. They did have two wins over #14 Greenville Athletics - Scott to highlight their fall campaign. They also had losses against quality #5 Dirtbags Black and Team 24 Gamecocks - Ashley (SC) (x2) during their fall season.
18. Summerfield Stars
The Stars posted an impressive 16-7 record this fall. Among their 16 wins, the stars scored two wins over #13 Smash Baseball. In addition, they had losses against #10 Rock Solid Red and #11 Carolina Red Sox - Jones.
19. Pfafftown Raiders
The Raiders finished the fall season with an overall record of 13-4. They put up and impressive record but just couldn't get over the hump against ranked teams, going 0-4 with loss against #8 Carolina Rockies Black (x2), #11 Carolina Red Sox - Jones, and #18 Summerfield Stars.
20. OTK Saints
The OTK Saints notched an outstanding 15-3 record across USSSA and Top Gun play this fall season. Along the way, they went 1-1 against the LBC Thunder in their only games against teams ranked in our top 20.