11u
The SBA Futures were outstanding at the Beast of the East (BoE) this past weekend, going 6-0 and outscoring their opponents a combined 46-8. Canes Baseball NC - Foster were also very good, going 4-1 overall, before falling in the quarterfinals, but the margin between these two was small coming into the event. The Futures tournament win, therefore, was enough to push them to the top of the 11u rankings this week. Dirtbags Black has settled in at a firm #3 after they have gotten off to a 14-1 start this spring including a finals appearance at the BoE. Rawlings Prospects NC had a tough week at the BoE, going 1-2, while Dirtbags East posted a 3-1 overall record which allowed the Dirtbags to sneak just ahead of the Prospects in our rankings, although their hold on the #4 is by a slim margin currently. We did not move Canes Baseball NC - Slaydon down this week, despite an 0-3 showing at the BoE and here's why: their losses came against #2 Canes - Foster, #3 Dirtbags Black (by 1-run), and national #67 Motor City Hit Dogs (by 1-run). The Belmont Bandits are right behind them at #7, and it won't take much to move the Bandits in front of the Canes at this point. GRIT has moved up to #8 after going 3-1 at the BoE. Mission Vipers Black continues to be a big mover in our rankings and is now up to 10th after they scored a win over the Belmont Bandits this past weekend. The only new addition to the rankings this week was Diamond Mine, who moved to 9-1 this spring, with a tournament win in Morganton this past weekend that included a win over #19 Athlete's Lab.
12u
This was probably our most difficult decision of the week, and one we're still not sure we got right. We recently had an email correspondence with a reader who asked about our decision with Canes - Simpson and SBA Futures at #1 and 2. Here was our reply with details of our reasoning (we did change a few small things from initial email to the quote below, but nothing we feel was substantiative):
"As far as the discussion for #1 goes, your points are well-taken, and certainly items we have considered. The Futures 2-1 record against Canes - Simpson gives us pause about having the Canes at #1. But head-to-head is not the only determining factor for us, as you have also noted. As you mentioned, geographic location dictates that these two have played some different competition, which makes direct comparisons difficult. By our count, the Canes have two wins over a top 10 team in South Carolina (Carolina Bruins) and three wins over top 10 teams from Virginia (Western Tidewater Rage, Huguenot Red Legs and Tailormade Mizuno). Another thing to consider is that the Canes are 17-1 in their last 18 games, going back to early October 2018, including wins over NC #4, 6, 7, 13, Virginia #5, 6, 7, and SC #3 (x2). Over the same time period as the Canes last 18 or so games, the Futures are something like 19-4 with wins over a great team from TN, a great team from Michigan, and NC #3 (x2), 4, 5, 6, 9, 14, and 20. In addition, the Futures had a tough 0-3 showing at the Top Gun Winter World Series as their last event of the fall, an event at which Canes - Simpson was 6-0 and the tournament champions. Tough for us to stratify those two resumes, in our mind. We had Canes - Simpson slightly ahead of the Futures after the Fall 2018 season, and just felt like we couldn't move them down yet after they outscored 4 teams (including SC #3, whom they played twice) 46-1 this past weekend. Not sure that was the right call, but that's what we decided to do this week. "
Beyond #1 and #2, we moved Mission Vipers Gold back to #3 after they defeated #4 Dirtbags Legends at the BoE. Rock Solid Red has been a big mover in the 12u age group, now up to #7. They are now 10-2 this spring, with wins over NC #3 and #14. WNC Five Star is a new team to our top 20 this week, after an impressive showing at the BoE. They are a new team this spring, but already have wins over NC #6, 12, 13, and 20 this season. Carolina Titans Blue were the only new addition to the rankings this week, as they came in at #19, after a 2-1 weekend including a 1-1 split with #10 Dirtbags East moved them to 8-1 this spring.
13u
Canes Baseball Eastern NC has firmly established themselves at #1 after a tournament win at the BoE this past weekend. Dirtbags MVP had a good 4-1 weekend, but is slightly behind the Canes in the early Spring 2019 season thus far as evidenced by their 8-3 defeat at the hands of the Canes at the BoE. The 13u age group continues to slowly move into the full swing of travel baseball as the middle school seasons begin to wrap up. Five Star Carolina - Smith was our big mover of the week, after the went 4-1 at the BoE with wins over #5 Carolina Rockies - Wilson, #8 Team Elite American, and #13 SBA American. Outside of that, there were only a few other small moves in the 13u top 20 this week.