Top Gun 8u Summer World Series Recap 2018

6 of our top 12 8u teams were in the Open division with another ranked team in the D3 division this weekend in Rocky Mount. We got to see numerous head-to-head match ups amongst some of the best teams in the state. In the end West Raleigh Blue showed this spring they are picking up where they left off with a 6-0 weekend and 8u open title at the Summer World Series. In the D3 division, the Weddington Wolves bounced back from a 2-2 performance in pool play to take the title. Take a look at our recap of the 8u age group from the Top Gun Summer World Series.

Open

Friday Pool Play

As we wrote in our SWS preview, the 8u Open division featured 6 of our top 12 teams in the state including Co-#1's Dirtbags Black and the Carolina Threshers, as well as #3 West Raleigh Blue. On Friday, the Threshers started their tournament run with a 16-4 win over GRIT and a 16-3 win over #9 Dirtbags East to finish 2-0 for the day. Dirtbags East also fell 15-10 to the Tega Cay Titans to finish 0-2 on Friday. Dirtbags Black also went 2-0 with a 15-9 win over #7 NCDB Rivercats and a 15-0 win over Union County Crush - Gadd. NCDB scored a 19-7 win over Crush - Gadd in their other pool play game on Friday to finish 1-1 for the day. West Raleigh Blue also finished 2-0 on Friday with a 17-1 win over GRIT and an 8-7 win over the Tega Cay Titans (SC). #12 Greenville Athletics went 1-1 on Friday falling 10-8 against the Youngsville Phantoms before scoring an 18-9 win over West Raleigh Red.

Saturday Pool Play

On Saturday, West Raleigh Blue opened with a 16-7 win over the Carolina Threshers and followed that with a 13-5 win over the Youngsville Phantoms to finish 4-0 in pool play and secure the top seed for bracket play. The Threshers notched a 14-6 win over Greenville Athletics in their other pool play game on Saturday to finish 3-1 in pool play and earned the #3 seed for bracket play. Dirtbags Black finished with the #2 seed for bracket play after going 4-0 in pool play with an 18-10 win over GRIT and a 13-10 win over the Titans on Saturday. The Youngsville Phantoms received the #4 seed in the Gold bracket after finishing 3-1 in pool play with a 14-8 win over Crush - Gadd and a 13-5 loss to West Raleigh Blue on Saturday. The NCDB Rivercats finished with the #5 seed in the Gold bracket after an 8-6 win over Dirtbags East and a 15-9 win over West Raleigh Red left them 3-1 in pool play. Tega Cay secured the 6th and final spot in the Gold bracket after finishing 2-2 in pool play.

Bracket Play

In the #4/5 play-in game, the Youngsville Phantoms faced off against the NCDB Rivercats. The Phantoms got out to an early 6-0 lead through 3 innings, however the Rivercats scored 1 run in the 4th, 4 runs in the 5th, and 1 run in the top of the 6th inning to tie the game at 6 heading into the bottom of the 6th inning. In the bottom of the 6th, the Phantoms were able to squeeze a run across  to take a 7-6 walk-off win over the Rivercats and move on to the semifinals. In the #3/6 play-in game, the Threshers faced off against the Tega Cay Titans. The Threshers jumped out to a 7-2 lead through 2 innings, however they couldn't muster much offense after that as the Titans scored 3 in the 3rd inning, 4 in the 4th, and 5 runs in the 5th to pull away for a 14-7 win.

In the semifinals, West Raleigh Blue was down 9-4 heading into the home half of the 4th inning. They scored 4 in the 4th inning followed by 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th to secure an 11-9 win over the Youngsville Phantoms. In the other semifinal, Tega Cay Titans scored their second victory of the day over a co-#1 team with a 6-4 win over Dirtbags Black. In the finals, West Raleigh Blue finished off a 6-0 weekend with a 5-1 win over the Tega Cay Titans.