There were dozens of ranked teams in play at the Top Gun sites this weekend. 13u #1 Canes Baseball NC – Gallaher and #5 NCDB Rivercats split two games each taking one while playing against one another in the 14u age group in Wake County. Check out the recap for all the details.
Charlotte
8u
#4 East Rowan went 2-0 in pool play with a 12-3 win over Cherryville Baseball and a 18-9 win over the Tega Cay Titans (SC). Tega Cay won their other pool play game, scoring a 19-1 win over the Piedmont Panthers. In bracket play, Cherryville defeated the Panthers 16-0 in the play-in game. In the semifinals, the Titans beat Kings Mountain Storm 10-7 while East Rowan edged Cherryville 14-13. In the finals, East Rowan completed their undefeated weekend with a 12-8 win over the Titans.
9u
#8 Lake Norman Thunder went 2-0 on Saturday with a 18-3 win over SBA Canes Red and a 16-3 win over Team 24 Gamecocks – Wilson. The Bulldogs earned the top seed for bracket play with a 10-1 win over Team 24 and a 7-3 win over CoulOak Storm. The OTK Saints earned the #3 seed with a 7-6 win over the Stealth Elite Eagles and an 11-4 win over Elite9 (SC). In the play-in games, the Stealth Elite Eagles topped the Storm 13-1 while the OTK Saints beat the Charlotte Nationals 32-5. In the semifinals, the OTK Saints topped the Lake Norman Thunder 10-4 while the Bulldogs edged the Stealth Elite Eagles 9-7. In the finals, the Saints beat the Bulldogs 15-10.
10u
American
#11 Belmont Bandits went 1-1 in pool play with a 5-4 win over the SBA Canes and a 9-5 loss to the Carolina Spinners. The Lake Norman Hammerheads earned the top seed for bracket play with a 15-11 win over the Triple Crown Lookouts and a 8-6 win over Rivals Baseball (SC). The SBA Canes earned the #2 seed with an 11-4 win over the Spinners in addition to their loss to the Bandits. In the play-in games, the Spinners topped Rivals Baseball 11-3 while the Bandits beat the Triple Crown Lookouts 8-5. In the semifinals, the Spinners beat the Hammerheads 13-3 while the Bandits beat the Canes 13-4. In the finals, the Bandits blanked the Spinners in their rematch 10-0.
National
Belmont Bandits – McCarn earned the top seed for bracket play with a 14-2 win over Power Cross and a 26-9 win over Carolina Octane. Heat Baseball earned the #2 seed with a 12-10 win over the LKN Hurricanes and a 14-8 win over the On Deck O’s. In bracket play, the On Deck O’s topped the Octane 11-9 in one play-in game, while the LKN Hurricanes blanked Power Cross 13-0 in the other play-in game. In the semifinals, Heat Baseball edged the Hurricanes 3-2 while the On Deck O’s scored an 8-3 win over the Bandits. In the finals, Heat Baseball completed the 4-0 weekend with a 10-2 win over the On Deck O’s.
11u
American
#8 SBA Canes – Erwin went 2-0 in pool play with a 10-4 win over the Bravos and an 11-0 win over Copperheads – Herkey to earn the top seed for bracket play. #17 Athlete’s Lab Carolina Crushers went 1-1 on Saturday with a 5-0 win over the On Deck O’s and a 5-4 loss to Carolina Blue Mizuno. Carolina Blue also defeated the On Deck O’s 8-3 in pool play to earn the #2 seed for bracket play. The MCOC Miners went 2-0 in pool play with a 9-5 win over the Vision Bandits and a 14-4 win over 2025 SBA LKN Canes. In the play-in game, Athlete’s Lab topped the Vision Bandits 8-2. In the semifinals, MCOC Miners dropped Carolina Blue 4-3 and Athlete’s Lab topped SBA Canes – Erwin 6-2. In the finals, the MCOC Miners beat Athlete’s Lab 17-9.
National
Team USA Diamond Kings – Blue earned the top seed for bracket play with a 15-0 win over the Carolina Thunder and an 11-1 win over the Carolina Heat NC. Rivals Baseball earned the #2 seed with a 5-3 win over the Mount Holly Lightning – Taylor and an 18-0 win over Catawba Chaos in pool play. Elite Baseball EBC earned the #3 seed with a 16-3 win over Mayhem Baseball and an 18-3 win over the GSB Grizzlies. In bracket play, Elite Baseball edged Rivals 12-11 while Team USA Diamond Kings – Blue fell 11-4 to the Lake Wylie Warriors. In the finals, Elite Baseball was able to edge out the Warriors 6-5.
12u
American
#3 East Rowan went 1-1 on Saturday, scoring a 12-3 win over #17 SBA LKN Carolina Cobras and a 10-0 loss to #5 Five Star Carolina – Shelton. The Cobras topped Five Star – Shelton 16-6 in their other pool play game. Copperheads – Sumner earned the top seed for pool play with a 10-2 win over SBA North Ashe and a 10-8 loss to Team 24 Gamecocks – Wilson, as all teams found themselves 1-1 after pool play. In the play-in games, Team 24 edged the Cobras 7-6 while Five Star – Shelton blew out SBA North Ashe 14-2. In the semifinals, Five Star – Shelton beat East Rowan again, this time by the score 11-3, while Copperheads – Sumner beat Team 24 14-4. In the finals, Five Star – Shelton completed an impressive Sunday with a 15-1 win over the Copperheads.
National
The Belmont Bandits earned the top seed for pool play with a 10-2 win over the Concord Comets and a 15-0 win over Upstate Select (SC). The Carolina Cobras were the #2 seed after defeating the Lake Norman Steam 7-5 and scoring a 12-1 win over the HQ4 Clippers. Copperheads – Dimenna were also 2-0 in pool play after a 10-0 win over Cherryville Baseball and a 15-11 win over CoulOak Thunder. In the play-in game, the Copperheads defeated the Gold Hill Miners 10-7. In the semifinals, the Cobras beat the Elite9 Tomahawks 8-3 while the Copperheads beat the Bandits 12-2. In the finals, Copperheads finished out the undefeated 5-0 weekend with a 12-3 win over the Carolina Cobras.
13u
Rivals Baseball (SC) went 2-0 in pool play with a 2-1 win over Mayhem Baseball and a 5-1 win over GSB Grizzlies Claws and earned the #3 seed for bracket play. Elite Baseball EBC went 2-0 in pool play with a 11-0 win over Karolina Kraken and an 8-0 win over the Lake Wylie Warriors. The Park Sharon Nationals earned the #2 seed for bracket play with an 11-1 win over GSB Grizzlies Claws and an 18-0 win over GSB Grizzlies Teeth. In the play-in game, Stealth Elite Pelicans defeated Mayhem Baseball 8-4. In the semifinals, Elite Baseball outslugged the Stealth Elite Pelicans 16-15, while Rivals Baseball blanked Park Sharon 11-0. In the finals, Rivals Baseball scored a 6-1 win over Elite Baseball.
Fayetteville
8u
The Little Scots went 2-0 on Saturday with a 17-6 win over the Carolina Raiders and a 10-0 win over the Sandhills Storm and earned the #2 seed for bracket play. Cleveland Wildcats Black notched a 9-3 win over the Area Stars and a 13-0 win over the Carolina Freedom to secure the #1 seed for bracket play. In the play-in games, the Freedom defeated the Area Stars 9-2 while the Hope Mills Padres topped the Raiders 18-3. In the semifinals, the Cleveland Wildcats edged the Freedom 12-11 while the Little Scots beat the Padres 8-2. In the finals, the Little Scots scored a 12-6 win over the Cleveland Wildcats to take home the 8u title.
9u
Area Stars – Roberts were dominant all weekend going 2-0 in pool play with a 13-7 win over the CB Rockies and a 12-3 win over NSA Straight Gas to secure the #1 seed for pool play. Cape Fear Elite received the #2 seed after a 15-9 win over the Carolina Raiders and a 12-3 win over the NSA Braves. In the play-in games, the NSA Braves topped the CB Rockies 9-5 while Straight Gas edged the Carolina Raiders 12-10. In the semifinals, Cape Fear topped Straight Gas 9-1 while the Area Stars – Roberts beat the NSA Braves 7-4. In the finals, the Area Stars rode hot bats to a 16-8 win over Cape Fear.
10u
#17 Richmond Rockies went 2-0 on Saturday with a 14-4 win over the Walkoff Academy Warriors and a 6-1 win over the JG Sluggers. The Carolina Cubs went 0-2 in pool play with a 12-5 loss to the Warriors and a 13-7 loss against the Sluggers. In bracket play, the Sluggers edged the Warriors 11-10 while the Rockies blasted the Cubs 17-1. In the finals, the Sluggers scored another 1-run victory with a 4-3 win over the Rockies.
11u
Open
#10 Team Ghost went 1-1 on Saturday with a 9-4 win over the CB Kings and a 5-3 loss to the Dirt Devils. The Dirt Devils fell 10-9 in their other pool play game against Purpose Driven South. The NSA Thunder went 1-1 in pool play with a 5-4 loss to the CB Kings and a 17-6 win over Purpose Driven. In bracket play, the Purpose Drive defeated the CB Kings 7-6 in the play-in game. In the semifinals, Team Ghost defeated Purpose Driven 10-4 while the Dirt Devils beat the NSA Thunder 7-3. In the finals, Team Ghost scored an 8-6 win over the Dirt Devils to take home the title.
12u
In pool play, the Sandhills Stingrays scored an 11-0 win over the Carolina Sluggers and a 10-0 win over the CB Bandits to score the #1 seed for bracket play. Area Stars – Pete went 1-1 with a 2-1 loss to the Burgaw Nationals and a 17-5 win over the CB Bandits. The Sluggers also defeated the Burgaw Nationals 11-5 in pool play. In the play-in game, the Sluggers edged the Bandits 7-6. In the semifinals, the Area Stars topped the Nationals 8-5 while the Stingrays topped the Sluggers 7-1. In the finals, the Stingrays put up an 11-1 win over the Area Stars to complete a dominating tournament run.
13u
CDP – Roper went 1-1 on Saturday with a 13-10 loss to CB Elite and a 5-4 win over CB. CDP – Derick went 2-0 on Saturday with a 10-9 win over CB Elite and a 6-5 win over CB. On Sunday, CB Elite topped CDP – Roper and CB topped CDP – Derick 9-1 to reach the semifinals. In the finals, CB came all the way back from an 0-2 Saturday to score an 11-3 win over CB Elite and take home the title.
Indian Trail
9u
#20 Union County Crush – Walker went 1-1 on Saturday with a 15-14 loss to the SBA LKN Canes – Rinaman and a 15-7 win over Copperheads Duke. The SBA LKN Canes also defeated Copperheads – Duke 13-3 on Saturday to secure the #3 seed for pool play. The #1 seed went to Carolina Combat who scored an 18-3 win over Copperheads – Moffitt and a 5-2 win over Anson Baseball on Saturday. On Sunday SBA LKN Canes topped Union County Crush – Allen 16-1 in one semifinal, while the Combat edged past Crush – Walker 10-9 to reach the finals. In the finals, SBA LKN completed their undefeated tournament run with an 8-5 win over the Combat.
10u
Crush – Homewood went 2-0 on Saturday with a 10-1 win over the Concord Athletics and a 6-1 win over Rocky River Ridge and received the #1 seed for bracket play. Rocky River Ridge earned the #2 seed with a 15-3 win over the Concord Athletics in their other pool play game. In the play-in game, Crush – Henry was defeated 14-3 by the Concord Athletics. In the semifinals, Rocky River scored a 7-6 win over the Carolina Cobras while Crush – Homewood blasted their way to a 13-1 win over Concord Athletics. In the finals, Crush – Homewood finished a dominant tournament run with a 12-0 win over Rocky River. For the weekend, Crush – Homewood outscored opponents 41-3 in 4 games.
11u
Team Husqvarna was dominant in this 4-team tournament, scoring a 17-6 win over Carolina Fury – Matthews and a 14-4 win over Concord Athletics on Saturday. They followed that up with a 13-3 win over Concord Athletics in the semifinals and a 10-0 win over Carolina Fury – Matthews in the finals on Sunday.
Rocky Mount
8u
#9 Carolina Stingers went 1-1 in pool play, scoring a 20-5 win over the Cleveland Wildcats Red in addition to a 11-7 loss to the Virginia Squires. #14 Greenville Athletics went 2-0 on Saturday with a 18-6 win over the Carolina Storm Surge and a 17-2 win over the East Carolina Bombers. The Carolina Rampage earned the top seed for bracket play with a 16-1 win over the Cleveland Wildcats Red and a 15-0 win over the Rocky Mount Marshals 2029. On Sunday, the Stingers topped the Rampage 14-7 while the Squires beat Greenville Athletics 14-7. In the finals, the Squires edged the Stingers 3-2. In the consolation finals, Greenville Athletics edged the Rampage 9-8 to finish 3-1 over the weekend.
9u
Bomberz Baseball earned the top seed for bracket play with a 15-0 win over the Rocky Mount Marshals 2028 and an 8-6 win over the Rocky Mount Marshals 2027. The North Wake Force earned the #2 seed in bracket play with an 11-8 win over the Rocky Mount Marshals 2028 and a 15-7 win over the JoCo Spartans. The Rocky Mount Marshals 2027 earned the #3 seed for bracket play, going 1-1 on Saturday with an 11-6 win over the JoCo Spartans in addition to their loss to the Bomberz. In the play-in game on Sunday, Marshals 2028 topped the JoCo Spartans 14-8. In the semifinals, Marshals 2027 beat the Force 11-7 and Bomberz beat Marshals 2028 13-3. In the finals, Marshals 2027 defeated the Bomberz 13-7.
12u
The Wendell Nationals went 1-1 on Saturday with a 19-6 win over the Clayton Stampede and a 7-6 loss to the Carolina Titans Blue. The Titans Blue earned the top seed for bracket play, going 2-0 with a 10-2 win over RBI Raptors in addition to their win over the Nationals. The Carolina Rage earned the #2 seed with an 8-5 win over the Stampede and a 9-7 win over the TopHand Reds. On Sunday, the Wendell Nationals beat the TopHand Reds 6-0 while the RBI Raptors beat the Stampede 11-6 to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, the Nationals beat Titans Blue 13-5 while the Rage topped the Raptors 11-6. In the finals, the Nationals beat the Rage 16-7 to take the 12u title.
13u
#4 Diamond Thieves went 3-1 playing up in the 14u age group this weekend. On Saturday they beat Garner Baseball 9-1 and Coastal Baseball 8-2. On Sunday, they beat RBI 16-0 but lost in the finals 9-7 to Greenville Athletics.
Wake County
9u
The 9u age group was a 5-team, round robin format event. #19 NCDB Rivercats went 3-1 with a 3-2 loss to GBI Express and a 14-7 win over the Carolina Freedom on Saturday. They followed that up with a 17-0 win over East Chatham Elite and a 7-6 win over Rock Solid Red on Sunday. GBI Express finished 4-0 for the weekend with a 16-1 win over East Chatham Elite, a 6-5 win over the Carolina Freedom, and a 7-6 win over Rock Solid Red in addition to their win over NCDB. Rock Solid finished 2-2 with an 11-7 win over East Chatham Elite and a 5-1 win over the Carolina Freedom in addition to their losses to NCDB and GBI.
12u
D1
Canes Baseball NC – Harland went 2-0 on Saturday with a 15-4 win over Rawlings Prospects NC and a 12-2 win over Pirate Baseball. Rawlings scored a 16-6 win over the Carolina Wildcards in their other game on Saturday. The Wildcards also defeated Pirate Baseball 12-2 on Saturday. On Sunday, the Wildcards defeated Canes – Harland 10-8 while Rawlings defeated Pirate Baseball 7-4. This left the Canes, the Wildcards, and Rawlings all at 2-1, however Rawlings and the Canes moved onto to the finals due to having the least runs against. In the finals, Canes – Harland again topped Rawlings, this time by the score of 14-6.
D2
In pool play, the Youngsville Punishers went 2-1 with a 7-5 win over Deep River Elite, a 9-8 win over the HYAA Hawks, and an 8-6 loss to the Carolina Freedom. Deep River Elite also went 2-1 in pool play with a 15-9 win over the Carolina Freedom and an 8-2 win over the HYAA Hawks in addition to their loss to the Punishers. The Punishers and Deep River both advanced to the finals and the Punishers scored a 17-10 win to take the D2 title.
Of note, #20 NCDB Rivercats played up in the 13U D3 division and went 3-1. In pool play, they scored a 7-5 win over the Riptide and a 5-3 win over the Carolina Crusaders for Christ. They fell 9-4 to the Riptide in their first bracket play game, but bounced back to defeat the Raleigh Fury 9-5 in the consolation game.
13u
60/90
Previously ranked PITT413 went 2-1 in pool play with a 5-1 win over GBI Express Black – Gardner, an 11-5 win over Zone Select, and an 11-5 loss to TPA Nationals – Foster. TPA – Foster was 3-0 in pool play with a 9-4 win over GBI and a 6-4 win over Zone Select, in addition to their win over PITT413. This set up a rematch of PITT413 and TPA – Foster in the finals. In the rematch, PITT413 got their revenge with an 8-7 win over the Nationals.
Notably, both 13 #1 Canes Baseball NC – Gallaher and #4 NCDB Rivercats played up in the 14u age group. On Saturday, Canes – Gallaher scored a 12-1 win over CBC Blue Sox and a 9-0 win over NCDB. NCDB bounced back with a 4-3 win over Hit N Run in their other pool play game. In bracket play, the Rivercats topped the Blue Sox 10-2 to set up a rematch against Canes – Gallaher in the semifinals. In a tight battle, the Rivercats scored 2 runs in the top of the 4th inning to secure a 6-4 win over Canes – Gallaher. In the finals, Hit N Run was able to edge out NCDB with a 4-3 win.