It was another great weekend of Top Gun baseball outside of the Winter World Series (recap coming soon). The team of the weekend goes to the 9u Piedmont Panthers who dominated the competition in Charlotte and have definitely earned a spot in this week’s top 20. Check out the recap of this weekend’s games.
Charlotte
8u
As expected, the #7 Lake Norman Vipers dominated the competition going 3-0 with a combined score of 39-14. Cherryville Baseball ended up 1-2 for the weekend, and WCW 0-2.
9u
The Piedmont Panthers showed they belong in our top 20 with an impressive 4-0 weekend to take home the Gold bracket title in Charlotte. The Panthers defeated Copperheads – Moffit 19-1 and the Team 24 Gamecocks – Cunningham (SC) 13-5 to earn the #1 seed for bracket play. In game 1 on Sunday, the Panthers beat the #14 Mount Holly Lightning 9-1. They followed up that win by avenging their only loss of the season beating the Carolina Havoc 10-7 in the finals. The Mount Holly Lightning finished a disappointing 2-2 this weekend after going 1-1 Saturday with a win over Elite 9 (18-3) and a loss to the SBA Canes Red (11-7). On Sunday, the Lightning crushed the 2027 SBA LKN Canes 27-7 in their opening game before falling to the Panthers in the semifinals. The Carolina Havoc finished 3-1 for the weekend with wins over the Stealth Elite Eagles (13-9) and the Charlotte Nationals (27-0) on Saturday, and the SBA Canes Red (12-0) in the semifinals before losing to the Panthers in the finals.
10u
It was the Triple Crown Lookouts who took home the Gold bracket championship, going 4-0 for the weekend. On Saturday, the Lookouts beat the Mooresville Legends 23-13 and the Concord Comets 15-5 to earn the top seed for bracket play. Rivals Baseball (SC) secured the top seed with wins over Crush Baseball (SC) (9-5) and Team Carolina (15-4) on Saturday. In their semifinal games, the Lookouts edged out Big Cats Baseball 10-9 and while Rivals Baseball outscored the Mooresville Legends 17-13. The finals were all Lookouts as they rolled over Rivals Baseball 14-3 to take the title.
11u
The #13 Weddington Warriors lived up to their ranking, dominating competition all weekend right up until the finals to finish 3-1 and a runner-up finish. On Saturday, the Warriors beat the SC Crush 19-4 and the Charlotte Nationals South 15-1 to lock in the #3 seed for bracket play. In the semifinals, the Warriors dominated Dirtbags 2025 16-3 to set up a showdown with Team 24 Gamecocks – Latham (SC) in the finals. Team 24 Gamecocks – Latham had earned the #1 seed by beating the Carolina Reds (SC) 9-2 and the Stealth Elite Falcons 17-1 on Saturday. In the semifinals, the Gamecocks edged out the Triple Crown Lookouts 8-4. The only letdown for the weekend for the Weddington Warriors came in the finals where they were beaten 12-2 by the Gamecocks.
12u
#9 5 Star Carolina was impressive all weekend, going 4-0 to win the 12u division Gold Bracket title. On Saturday, they defeated the Gold Hill Miners 21-4 and the On Deck O’s 19-3 to earn the #2 seed in bracket play. It was Elite Baseball EBC who earned the top seed beating Team 24 Gamecocks – Wilson (SC) 17-4 and the War Eagles (SC) 16-0 on Saturday. In the semifinals, it was 5 Star over the Couloak Thunder 10-2 and EBC over the On Deck O’s 8-6 to set up their match in the finals. In the finals it was 5 Star Carolina all over EBC to win 15-6.
13u
In a wide open division, it was formerly ranked Copperheads – Barozzino who took the title going 4-0 for the weekend. They started the weekend with a 5-4 win over Stars Baseball and a 15-2 win over SBA Canes LKN to earn the #3 seed for Sunday’s bracket play. The South Charlotte Tigers earned the #1 seed beating Copperheads – Smith 17-1 and Battalion Baseball 9-2 on Saturday. In the semifinals the Copperheads took out the #2 seed Rivals Baseball 10-6 and Hutters Baseball edged out the South Charlotte Tigers 4-3. In the finals, Copperheads used excellent pitching and defense to beat Hutters 6-1.
Cary
10u
In this D3 tournament, it was the Carolina Armor who won the championship, going 4-0 for the weekend in this round robin format tournament. On Saturday, the Armor edged out the South Wake Storm 11-9 and VA Squires 9-8. On Sunday, the Armor dominated the HYAA Hawks 20-7 and the Orange County Crushers 17-1 to win the championship.
12u
In a division with none of our top 20 in the field, it was the Carolina Thunder who took home the D2 championship this weekend, going 4-0 for the weekend. The Thunder crushed West Raleigh Blue 21-5 and West Raleigh Red 25-1 on Saturday to earn the top seed for bracket play. On Sunday, the Thunder beat the Fuquay Bengals 8-5 in the semifinals before edging out The Performance Academy – Viracola 5-3 in the finals. TPA – Viracola was 3-1 for the weekend with wins over West Raleigh Blue (8-2) and the Aldie Senators (VA) (17-10) on Saturday, and a win over the Carolina Pirates (15-2) in the semifinals. Of note, The North Wake Hurricanes took home the D3 division title, going 4-0 for the weekend with a win over the Wilson Reds (8-3) in the finals.
Indian Trail
10u and 12u
Unfortunately bracket games in the afternoon on Sunday were unable to be completed. In the 10u division, Panthers were 2-0 with wins over Aces – Edwards (8-7) and the Carolina Waves (15-10) on Saturday. Before the cancellations in the 12u division Aces – Dennis was 2-0 with wins over SBA Canes (13-12) and the Concord Comets (7-2).
Charlotte 1 day
9u
It was Copperheads – Duke who took home the 9u title, going 2-1 for the day. They started with a 10-8 loss to MCOC Storm but rebounded with a 22-3 win over Elite Baseball EBC to secure their spot in the finals. Meeting them in the finals was Davidson Force, who went 2-0 in pool play with a 15-8 win over EBC and a 18-14 win over Rangers. In the finals it was Copperheads – Duke who edged out the Force 9-7 to win the championship.
10u
The Mallard Creek Miners took home the 10u title going 2-0 in this 3 team round robin format. They beat the Lake Norman Hammerheads 11-7 and the ForTEC Defenders 10-5 to secure the title.
11u
In a bit of a surprise, it was the LKN Hurricanes who took home the championship. Although #12 Carolina Astros were the favorite heading in, they fell 8-5 in their opening game against the Bravos but rebounded with a 17-3 win over MPTLL. It was not enough to secure a spot in the finals, as the LKN Hurricanes went 2-0 with wins over MPTLL (10-2) and KM Storm (4-3) and the KM Storm went 1-1 with a win over the Bravos 5-1 in addition to their loss to the LKN Hurricanes to secure their spot in the finals on runs allowed. In the finals, it was the LKN Hurricanes over the Storm 10-9.