Earlier this winter we made our first attempt at ranking teams outside of North Carolina. We did this for a few major reasons: 1) we had been asked on several occasions by coaches, players, parents in Virginia to provide some insights about the top competition in Virginia, and 2) many teams from North Carolina were playing in tournaments with teams from Virginia and there was some desire to help sort through those teams as we did for teams in North Carolina. After spending considerable time reviewing as many results as we could in the state of Virginia, we posted our initial rankings. Here we offer some thoughts on those rankings, and what we might see in the spring and summer of 2019.
- Initially we made a mistake with the 13u rankings. Rockit Sports Blue has been one of the top teams in the current 13u age group in Virginia for some time. They posted a 7-3 record in the fall, which at first blush did not appear as impressive as they had been in the past. What we did not realize at first, however, was all 10 of these games came against 14u competition. When we realized our mistake, we adjusted our rankings. Tidewater Horns earned our top spot, posting a 16-2 record this past fall including a win over #2 Dirty South Venom (although this may have been a scrimmage/exhibition), however we expect to see Dirty South and Rockit Sports Blue battle it out for the top spot as the spring and summer progress.
- #1 Virginia Stars - Camp might be the best team across any age group in North Carolina or Virginia. They finished 27-0 this fall, including wins over #3 Loudoun South Eagles, as well as NC #3 West Raleigh Blue (x3), #4 Rawlings Prospects NC, #5 Dirtbags Black, #7 Dirtbags East, #9 Canes Baseball NC - Naylor, and #19 Rock Solid Red. The Tidewater Horns are one team to watch in the 11u age group this spring. They were one of the best teams in the state as a 10u team, but focus on football in the fall so they have not yet played as an 11u team.
- We found the 12u age group exceedingly difficult to rank as there appears to be several teams bunched together. Our hope is to better sort teams ranked #3-8 as more games are played and we get to see some of these teams go head-to-head. We also had 4-5 other teams who we considered for spots in the top 10 that ultimately did not make our top 10, but who will most likely find themselves in the rankings as we expand them during the spring.
- We also made a mistake in the 9u age group when we posted our initial rankings, and completely missed #4 757 Dirtbags. Thankfully, a reader brought this oversight to our attention and we added them in at #4. Perhaps more so than any other age group, we observed there are a number of excellent teams at the top of the 9u age group.
We're excited to begin covering Virginia travel baseball and hope to be as accurate as possible. Please don't hesitate to let us know when we miss something.