With 3 top 20 teams in the D1 field and another in the D2 field, as well as two of the top teams from the state of Virginia, there was plenty of high-level baseball being played last weekend at the 11u Summer World Series. 10 teams squared off in the D1 division, and there were 23 teams in each of the D2 and D3 divisions, making this is largest age group of the weekend by number of teams. Here's our recap of the weekend's games.
D1
Friday Pool Play
#8 Cleveland Wildcats Elite was our highest ranked team in the D1 field. They went 1-1 on Friday with a 15-1 win over the Carolina Pilots and a 17-7 loss to West Raleigh Blue. #16 NCDB Rivercats also went 1-1 on Friday with a 6-2 win over the Carolina Pilots and a 5-1 loss to West Raleigh Blue. #20 Dirtbags East went 0-2 on Friday in pool play with a 10-1 loss to the Huguenot Red Legs (VA) and a 6-3 loss to the Georgia Generals. The Red Legs scored an 8-2 win over the Generals in their other game on Friday. Team Dirty South Bats Venom went 2-0 in pool play on Friday with a 17-9 win over Team Ghost and a 19-3 win over the Rawlings Stars N.C. Prospects.
Saturday Pool Play
On Saturday, Team Dirty South Bats picked up where they left off with an 11-1 win over Cleveland Wildcats Elite and a 10-6 win over West Raleigh Blue. They earned the top seed for bracket play with a 4-0 showing in pool play. Wildcats Elite notched a 17-12 win over Rawlings Stars N.C. Prospects in their other game on Saturday to finish 2-2 in pool play and earn the #6 seed in the Gold bracket. West Raleigh Blue scored a 13-10 win over the Huguenot Red Legs in their other game on Saturday to finish 3-1 in pool play and earned the #4 seed for bracket play. The Red Legs earned the #2 seed after finishing 3-1 in pool play with an 18-3 win over the Pilots in their other pool play game. The NCDB Rivercats earned the #7 seed in the Gold bracket with a 1-3 finish to pool play including a 5-4 loss to Dirtbags East and a 7-2 loss to the Georgia Generals. Dirtbags East finished 2-2 in pool play, scoring a 13-2 win over Team Ghost in their other game on Saturday. This earned them the #5 seed for bracket play.
Bracket Play
In the #8/9 play-in game, Team Ghost edged the Carolina Pilots 9-8. In the #7/10 play-in game the NCDB Rivercats scored a tight 2-0 win over Rawlings Stars N.C. Prospects. In the quarterfinals, West Raleigh Blue topped Dirtbags East 10-2, Cleveland Wildcats Elite notched a 7-6 win over the Georgia Generals, Team Dirty South Bats rolled to a 12-0 win over Team Ghost, and the NCDB Rivercats scored a 7-4 win over the Huguenot Red Legs to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, Team Dirty South Bats continued their dominant run with a 9-1 win over West Raleigh Blue, while the Cleveland Wildcats stormed back from an early 5-0 deficit to take a 7-6 win over the Rivercats. In the finals, it was all Team Dirty South Bats Venom as they rolled to a 17-1 win over the Cleveland Wildcats Elite and a 7-0 weekend.
D2
Friday Pool Play
23 teams faced off in the D2 pool, including #19 HM Kings, who went 2-0 on Friday with a 9-1 win over Purpose Driven North and an 8-7 win over GRIT. West Raleigh Red also went 2-0 on Friday, scoring a 13-5 win over the Vision Bandits and an 11-4 win over Purpose Driven South. The Western Tidewater Rage (VA) also went 2-0 on Friday with a 7-0 win over previously ranked North Wake Fungo and a 7-6 win over Carolina Titans Blue. The Hill City Sliders (VA) went 2-0 on Friday with a 15-2 win over Purpose Driven South and an 11-8 win over Dirtbags Gold. Rock Solid Black (VA) was also 2-0 in pool play on Friday, notching a 13-8 win over the North Wake Shockwave and a 10-9 win over the Carolina Titans. The Shockwave scored a 15-0 win over the Carolina Titans in their other pool play game on Friday.
Saturday Pool Play
Western Tidewater went 2-0 on Saturday, and 4-0 overall in pool play, with a 14-5 win over the SBA Canes and a 10-2 win over the Shockwave. Western Tidewater finished with the #1 seed for bracket play. The #2 seed went to West Raleigh Red who scored a 10-6 win over the Carolina Titans Blue and an 11-0 win over Dirtbags Gold. The Hill City Sliders ended up with the #3 seed in the Gold bracket following a 2-0 Friday and a 2-0 Saturday that saw a 7-2 win over the HM Kings and an 8-6 win over the Carolina Titans. The Kings topped Chatham Phoenix 12-3 in their other pool play game on Saturday to finish 3-1 in pool play and received the #6 seed for bracket play.
Bracket Play
In the quarterfinals, #1 Western Tidewater Rage defeated #8 GRIT 10-4, #2 West Raleigh Red scored a 10-8 win over the Alamance Angels, #3 Hill City Sliders edged the HM Kings 9-8, and #4 Rock Sold Black topped the Carolina Rage 6-3. In the semifinals, West Raleigh Red scored a 1-run 4-3 win over the Hill City Sliders and Rock Solid Black edged Western Tidewater 8-6 to reach the finals. The finals appear to not have been completed, however West Raleigh was winning 3-0 heading into the bottom of the 2nd inning.
D3
Friday Pool Play
Like the D2 division, 23 teams faced off in the 11u D3 division this past weekend. 10u #6 Dirtbags East played up and went 0-2 on Friday with a 10-8 loss to the Washington River Rats and an 11-6 loss to the Triangle Sports Hawks. The River Rats scored a 13-4 win over RBA Prep Green (VA) in their other pool play game on Friday. The Triangle Sports Hawks also notched a 9-1 win over the Grand Slam USA Stars. The Diamond Dawgs (SC) went 2-0 on Friday with a 15-4 win over the Carolina Wood Ducks and a 12-0 win over the Blue Ridge Titans (VA). The Carolina Storm went 2-0 on Friday with a 7-2 win over the Carolina Pirates - Marut and a 9-1 win over the Carolina Pirates - Long.
Saturday Pool Play
The Diamond Dawgs finished 4-0 in pool play after a 14-4 win over the CB Chaos and a 14-4 win over the Carolina Braves on Saturday, and earned the #1 seed for bracket play. The Storm earned the #2 seed for bracket play with a 9-7 win over the OC Sluggers and an 8-3 win over the Blue Ridge Titans. The Triangle Sports Hawks scored a 10-5 win over the Perquimans Rivercats and a 13-4 win over RBA Prep Green to finish 4-0 in pool play and earned the #3 seed for bracket play. The Washington River Rats topped Team Rock Solid Yellow (VA) 9-5 and the Carolina Armor 18-4 on Saturday to finish 4-0 in pool play and earn the #4 seed in the Gold bracket.
Bracket Play
In the quarterfinals, #1 Diamond Dawgs topped the Carolina MudDawgs 7-6, #2 Carolina Storm fell to #7 seed Grand Slam USA Stars 7-1, #3 seed Triangle Sports Hawks scored a 13-3 win over the North Wake Avalanche, and #4 seed Washington River Rats fell 14-2 against the Virginia Raptors. In the semifinals, Grand Slam USA Stars edged past Triangle Sports Hawks 9-8 while the Diamond Dawgs rolled to a 12-2 win over the Virginia Raptors. In the finals, the Diamond Dawgs completed a 7-0 weekend with a 5-3 win over Grand Slam USA Stars.