20 teams spread across 3 divisions made the trip to the Rocky Mount area this past weekend to participate in the 2019 Top Gun 8u Summer World Series (SWS). Among those 20 teams were 6 teams ranked in our 8u North Carolina state-wide top 20. Here we recap a great weekend of baseball in the 8u divisions at the SWS.
D1
5 teams including #2 Dirtbags Black, #7 Dry Pond, #11 Dirtbags East, #15 Carolina Titans, and West Raleigh Blue faced off against one another in a 4-game round-robin pool play on Friday and Saturday. Dirtbags Black set the tone early on Friday morning, posting a 13-7 win over Dry Pond, followed by a 14-4 win over West Raleigh Blue. Dry Pond fell 14-10 against Dirtbags East in their other pool play game on Friday, while West Raleigh notched a 17-6 win over the Carolina Titans in their other game on Friday. Dirtbags East blanked the Titans 15-0 in their 2nd pool play game on Friday. On Saturday, Dirtbags Black finished off an undefeated run in pool play with an 11-8 win over Dirtbags East and a 10-9 win over the Carolina Titans. Dirtbags East finished 3-1 in pool play with a 13-12 win over West Raleigh Blue in addition to their loss against Dirtbags Black on Saturday. Dry Pond finished 1-3 in pool play with a 20-7 win over the Titans and a 19-4 loss against West Raleigh. This left West Raleigh at 2-2 and the Titans at 0-4 after the completion of pool play.
On Sunday, in the #4/5 play-in game, Dry Pond edged past the Titans 11-10 to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, West Raleigh scored a 13-9 win over Dirtbags East while Dirtbags Black topped Dry Pond 15-6. In the finals, Dirtbags Black finished off a dominant 6-0 weekend with a 17-5 win over West Raleigh Blue.
Predicted champion: West Raleigh Blue
Champion: Dirtbags Black
D2
The D2 division featured 2 teams ranked in North Carolina (#12 NCDB Rivercats and #13 Canes Baseball NC - Hartman) among the 7 teams. The NCDB Rivercats impressed early in pool play, going 4-0 on their way to the #1 seed for Sunday. Along the way they defeated our current #2 team in Virginia, the Fauquier Raiders by the score of 11-7, they scored a 15-12 win over Canes - Hartman, topped West Raleigh Red 13-10 and got past the Carolina Thunder 18-12. Canes - Hartman received the #2 seed after going 3-1 in pool play with an 8-7 win over the Cabarrus Bandits, an 18-7 win over the Walkoff Warriors, and a 22-7 win over the Fauquier Raiders. The Raiders finished with the 7th seed after going 1-3 in pool play with a 17-2 loss against the Cabarrus Bandits and a 13-6 win over the Walkoff Warriors, in addition to their losses against the Rivercats and Canes.
In the #4/5 play-in game on Sunday, the Carolina Thunder rolled to a 16-7 win over the Walkoff Warriors. In the #2/7 play-in game, the Fauquier Raiders edged past Canes - Hartman 15-14. In the #3/6 play-in game, the Cabarrus Bandits scored an 18-11 win over West Raleigh Red to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, the Rivercats blasted their way to a 16-3 win over the Carolina Thunder while the Raiders scored a 20-14 win over the Cabarrus Bandits. In the finals, the Rivercats finished off a 6-0 weekend with a 15-9 win over the Fauquier Raiders.
Predicted champion: NCDB Rivercats
Champion: NCDB Rivercats
D3
8 teams faced off in the D3 division in the 8u age group this past weekend. The East Carolina Bombers earned the top seed for bracket play with a 15-7 win over the Carolina Chargers and a 20-3 win over West Raleigh Blue 7u on Friday and a 9-6 win over the Carolina Titans and a 14-13 win over the Carolina Crushers on Saturday. The Crushers scored the #3 seed in the Gold bracket with a 10-7 win over Greenville Athletics - Warren, an 8-2 win over Cleveland Wildcats Red, and a 9-2 win over West Raleigh Blue 7u in addition to their loss against the Bombers. The Benson Bulls earned the #3 seed in the Gold bracket with a 12-6 win over the Carolina Chargers, a 9-6 win over West Raleigh Blue 7u, a 9-7 win over Cleveland Wildcats Red, and a 14-11 loss against the Greenville Athletics - Warren. Greenville Athletics - Warren topped the Carolina Titans 12-5 and a 19-15 win over the Carolina Chargers in their other pool play games and scored the 4th and final seed in the Gold bracket.
In the Gold bracket semifinals on Sunday, Greenville Athletics - Warren topped East Carolina Bombers 11-6 and the Benson Bulls notched an 11-4 win over the Carolina Crushers. In the finals, Greenville Athletics - Warren brought home the 8u D3 title with a 12-4 win over the Benson Bulls.