7 top 20 teams from North Carolina and another top 10 team from Virginia were among the 63 11u teams that competed across 3 divisions in the Top Gun Summer World Series this past weekend. In the D1 division, we saw a bit of a surprise with #11 NCDB Rivercats making a big run through the Gold bracket on Sunday on their way to the D1 title. In the D2 division, the Alamance Patriots continued to show why they should be considered one of the better teams in North Carolina with an impressive 7-0 run to the title. Here we recap an exciting weekend of baseball in the 11u age group.
D1
15 teams, including 7 top 20 teams from North Carolina and 1 top 10 team from Virginia faced off in the 11u D1 division this weekend. #10 GRIT earned the top seed in the Gold bracket, posting the only 4-0 run in the field through pool play. On Friday, they scored a 7-5 win over #5 Dirtbags East and a 14-8 win over #4 Rawlings Prospects NC. On Saturday, they notched an 11-5 win over Canes Baseball 757 - Chalk (VA) and a 14-8 win over #11 NCDB Rivercats. #3 Dirtbags Black scored the #2 seed in the Gold bracket by going 3-1 in pool play with a 10-3 win over NCDB Rivercats 11u2, a 12-3 win over Rock Solid Red, a 5-4 loss against #15 West Raleigh Blue, and a 5-4 win over Rawlings Prospects NC. The #3 seed in the Gold bracket went to NC #9 Canes Baseball NC - Slaydon, who went 3-1 in pool play with a 4-0 win over West Raleigh Blue and a 9-6 loss against the NCDB Rivercats on Friday, followed by a 4-3 win over the Akadema Heat and a 9-5 win over Dirtbags Platinum on Saturday. VA #7 Battle Baseball also finished 3-1 in pool play, and ended up with the #4 seed in the Gold bracket. On Friday, Battle scored a 3-0 win over the Akadema Heat and a 5-4 win over Dirtbags Platinum. On Saturday, Battle fell 13-9 to Dirtbags East in extra innings and notched an 11-3 win over Rock Solid Red. Dirtbags East earned the #5 seed after going 3-1 in pool play with wins over the Mid Atlantic Pirates (6-2; VA) and DUBS Baseball 10-8, in addition to their win against Battle and loss against GRIT. The NCDB Rivercats were the final 3-1 team in pool play and earned the #6 seed for Sunday. In addition to their win over Canes - Slaydon, the Rivercats blasted their way to a 14-5 win over DUBS Baseball. On Saturday, the Rivercats scored a 3-2 win over the Mid Atlantic Pirates, in addition to their loss against GRIT.
In the #1/8 quarterfinal game on Sunday, GRIT topped Dirtbags Platinum 8-2. In the #2/7 quarterfinal, Dirtbags Black rolled to a 10-2 win over West Raleigh Blue. In the other quarterfinal matchups, #4 seed Battle Baseball edged #5 seed Dirtbags East 8-7 in extra innings and #6 seed NCDB Rivercats edged past #3 seed Canes - Slaydon 4-3. In the semifinals, Battle rolled to a 12-3 win over GRIT while the Rivercats topped Dirtbags black 7-3. In the finals, the NCDB Rivercats rode hot bats and stellar pitching and defense to an 11-2 win over Battle. For the weekend, NCDB was 6-1 with wins over the #3 and #9 (x2) teams in NC as well as the #7 team in Virginia.
Instant Analysis
Dirtbags Black has been one of the very best teams in the Southeastern US and has earned their spot as the #3 team in North Carolina and #56 in the nation. It just didn't come together for them this weekend as they fell against the NCDB Rivercats in the semifinals. The Rivercats produced one of the more impressive weekends in the 11u age group in North Carolina going 6-1 on their way to the SWS crown. They showed they belong in the discussion among the best teams in the state with wins over Dirtbags Black, Canes - Slaydon (x2) and Battle Baseball. Having to win 3 games on Sunday and play in 7 games total over 3 days is much more a testament to a team's depth than who would win a 1-game playoff. On this weekend, it appears the Rivercats depth won out. It was a bit of a disappointing weekend for NC #4 Rawlings Prospects NC, who have been one of the better 11u teams in North Carolina up to this point. NC #10 GRIT was also impressive throughout the weekend, scoring wins over Rawlings Prospects, #5 Dirtbags East, and the Rivercats before coming up short in the semifinals against Battle Baseball.
Predicted champion: Dirtbags Black
Champion: NCDB Rivercats
D2
The D2 division featured 25 teams including a number of teams who have been in and out of rankings this year. Area Stars Orange earned the top seed in the 8-team Gold bracket after posting a 12-2 win over the Carolina Raiders and an 8-7 win over the Virginia Venom on Friday, and a 4-3 win over the East Carolina Bombers and a 10-2 win over the Blue Ridge Tigers (VA) on Saturday. The Alamance Patriots earned the #2 seed in the Gold bracket after also going 4-0 in pool play. The Patriots scored an 8-7 win over West Raleigh Red and a 20-5 win over Team Virginia on Friday as well as an 11-7 win over OC Sluggers Red and an 11-1 win over C35 2026RS on Saturday. JG Sluggers/Next Level was the final 4-0 team in pool play. They earned the #3 seed in the Gold bracket with a 13-2 win over the PC Dynamite, a 12-11 win over RISE (VA), a 13-6 win over the Carolina Raiders, and a 19-3 win over NCABC Fungo Elite.
In the quarterfinals on Sunday, #1 seed Area Stars Orange scored a 6-3 win over #8 Aces - Hartsell, #2 seed Alamance Patriots notched a 5-2 win over C35 2026RS, #3 seed JG Sluggers/Next Level rolled to a 13-5 win over the Blue Ridge Tigers, and #4 seed Wendell Knights got past the East Carolina Bombers with a 10-6 win. In the semifinals, the Alamance Patriots scored a 6-3 win over JG Sluggers/Next Level and the Area Stars edged Wendell 5-3 to set up a final matchup of 6-0 teams. In the finals, the Alamance Patriots were able to outslug Area Stars Orange 15-10 to take home the 11u D2 SWS crown.
Instant Analysis
The Alamance Patriots have routinely found themselves squarely on the edge of our top 20. They are a very competitive team in North Carolina, but have not faced the same depth of competition as many of the teams ranked ahead of them. They went 7-0 on their way to the D2 title this weekend, and moved to 22-5 this spring and 34-7-1 overall as an 11u team. Despite this impressive record, the Patriots don't currently have a win over any team in our current top 20. Another impressive weekend at the Summer World Series should serve as validation that the Patriots are ready to make the jump up to the D1/Majors level.