Rankings Rationale 11u-13u 10/11/18

Our first rankings of the fall season are out and we'll be the first to admit, we've got some work to do. There were several familiar faces at or near the top, with 2 teams (10u Park Sharon Nationals and 11u SBA Premier) earning #1 spots in their respective age groups after finishing the 2017-2018 season at #1. Here we provide some rationale for how we formulated these rankings as well as where we think we missed.

11u

SBA Premier kept their #1 rankings from this past spring. They are 8-2 this fall with their only losses against 12u #2 Dirtbags Charlotte and FCA BlueClaws - Hannah (FL). The TPA Nationals, previously Canes Baseball NC - Gihlchrist, returned to #2 in our rankings and are currently 5-2 this fall playing only 12u competition thus far. Dirtbags East is an astounding 23-2 already this fall. They have wins over #5 Rawlings Prospects NC, #14 NCDB Rivercats, #15 Rock Solid Red, #16 Carolina Thunder (x2), and #17 FV Wildcats.  #4 West Raleigh Blue is currently 12-4 this fall with wins over Rawlings Prospects NC and Rock Solid Red. The Rawlings Prospects came in at #5 with the Port City Rebels coming in right behind them at #6. Port City hasn't been as active this fall due to the recent Hurricane, but did recently score two close wins over the NCDB Rivercats. Although #7 Dirtbags Black's 5-5-1 record this fall may not seem impressive initially, however their competition level has been quite impressive with a win over Showcase Baseball (GA), PRO Select (SC), and losses against the FCA BlueClaws (FL), PRO Select, East Cobb Astros Orange, SBA Premier, and a tie against the Carolina Havoc, who came in just behind at #8. GRIT and GRIT - Koonin came in a 9th and 10th respectively, with a 9-6 win by GRIT over GRIT- Koonin separating the two teams right now. The Akadema Heat are currently 11th with a win over #3 Dirtbags East and a win over #20 Wendell Knights bolstering their record this fall. The 8-0-1 Alamance Patriots are currently 12th in our rankings, but haven't faced near the competition as the teams above them. East Rowan Mustangs are an interesting challenge for us. They are a great team, but have a 5-7 record against largely 12u competition this fall. #14 NCDB Rivercats are in a similar position as the Mustangs, with a 5-7 record this fall. They have wins over the Rawlings Prospects, Carolina Thunder, and Wendell Knights. Among their 7 losses, they have 2 against 12u competition, and losses against #3, #5, and #6 (x2). Rock Solid Red is currently 15th, with the Carolina Thunder, who boast wins over Dirtbags East and the Wendell Knights this fall, right behind at 16th. Rounding out our top 20, the FV Wildcats, SBA Elite, Copperheads - Snell/Heis, and Wendell Knights came in at 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th, respectively.

 

 

12u
#1 Canes Baseball NC - Hood has been impressive on their way to an 8-1 record this fall.

The 12u age group, perhaps more than any other, has seen many of the top 5 and 10 teams go head-to-head this fall. Although the 12u age groups is very competitive at the top, Canes Baseball NC - Hood has earned our #1 spot this fall with an 8-1 record including wins over #3 SBA Premier, #4 Mission Vipers Gold, #6 Five Star Carolina - Neyra, #15 Dirtbags East, and #17 Rock Solid Red. Dirtbags Charlotte is at #2 in our rankings, with a 13-4 record, including wins over SBA Premier, Five Star - Neyra, #9 LBC Attack (x3), 11u #1 SBA Premier, and #19 Carolina Blue Sox. SBA Premier came in at #3 this fall with an 11-5-1 record with wins over #5 Canes Baseball NC - Simpson and #7 Big Game 2025. Mission Vipers Gold is currently 8-3 this fall with wins over Dirtbags Charlotte, Canes - Simpson, and #11 Carolina Astros already this fall. Although Canes - Simpson is 5-5 this fall, they have wins over SBA Premier, the Astros and #18 OTK and losses against #3 (x2) and #4 demonstrating the strength of their schedule thus far. Five Star - Neyra is in a similar position with a 2-3-2 record thus far, but with a win over #4 Mission Vipers Gold and ties against #3 SBA Premier and #7 Big Game 2025. Big Game 2025 came in at #7 and 11-1 SBA Canes - Erwin earned the #8 spot in our rankings. LBC Attack boasts a win over #11 Carolina Astros and #19 Carolina Blue Sox and came in at #9, while the 8-1 NCDB Rivercats have largely steamrolled lesser competition on their way to the #10 ranking.

The 10-5 Carolina Astros came in at #11 while the Carolina Rage, with wins over #14 Cleveland Wildcats Elite and #15 Dirtbags East, came in at #12. The Kernersville Bulldogs are 4-0-1 currently and have an impressive win over Big Game 2025 to support their ranking. Cleveland Wildcats Elite came in at #14 while 13-3 Dirtbags East came in at #15. We had 12-3 Carolina Rockies - Mayhew at #16 and Rock Solid Red at #17 this week, with OTK, Carolina Blue Sox, and the Vision Bandits rounding out our top 20 in the 12u age group.

 

 

13u
Dirtbags MVP earned the top spot in our initial fall rankings, including a title at the Perfect Game Super 25 qualifier.

Dirtbags MVP and Canes Baseball Eastern NC went back and forth for the top spot in the 12u rankings last spring, with the Canes ultimately earning the top spot. This fall looks to be no different, but these two will face some increased competition from a few other contenders. This week, we ranked Dirtbags MVP #1. They are 14-3 currently and have wins over #4 Sanford Cobras, #7 TPA Nationals - Christman, and #12 Canes Charlotte (x2). Canes Eastern NC came in at #2 with a 7-1 record with a win over #5 Carolina Titans - Wilson, #7 TPA Nationals - Christman, #11 NCDB Rivercats, and #19 New Bern Flames. We're not sure what to do with the Five Star Tigers. They are currently 11-3, including a win over #9 Carolina Rockies - Wilson, playing a largely 14u schedule. However, although they list themselves as a 13u team, we have received notification that this team is a combination of 13u and 14u players. If we can verify, we'd removed them from the 13u rankings, for obvious rankings. The Sanford Cobras came in at #4 this week after an 8-1 start this fall, including wins over Carolina Titans - Wilson, the TPA Nationals, and #8 Dirtbags Nationals. Carolina Titans - Wilson have been off to impressive start this fall. They are currently 16-2 with two wins over #11 NCDB, two wins over #19 New Bern Flames, and a win over #18 East Coast Clippers. We have Carolina Rockies - Wilson currently at #9 and Athlete's Warehouse at #10. These two are 1-1 against one another this fall. The NCDB Rivercats are 6-4 this fall, but have wins over Canes Eastern NC, the TPA Nationals, and the New Bern Flames to support their ranking. Canes Baseball Charlotte - Wearing is currently ranked 12th in our rankings. They are a team we expect to move up before all is said and done this fall. They currently have 11 wins this fall, including wins over Dirtbags MVP (x2) and a win over #15 Five Star Carolina - Smith. The Golden Spikes came in at #13 in our rankings. They are 8-1 this fall and have a win over #14 Spartans Gold. The Spartans are off to an impressive 15-4 start this fall, including a win over Chain Baseball (GA) and losses against Athlete's Warehouse and Golden Spikes. We had Five Star - Smith at #15 this week and the Carolina Vipers at #16. We rounded out our top 20 with some teams who have played excellent competition but may not have the best of records. The Venom Stars came in at 17th with the East Coast Clippers, New Bern Flames, and SBA Premier coming in at 18th, 19th, and 20th, respectively.