Over 130 teams were in action this past weekend at the Top Gun site in Charlotte. Numerous teams who finished in the top 5 of our rankings across multiple age groups were in the fields this past weekend. There were several big wins and upsets. Here we recap the past weekend's Top Gun games in Charlotte.
9u
11 teams faced off in the 9u age group in Charlotte this past weekend. Team 24 Gamecocks - Clayton (SC) went 2-0 in pool play with a 26-1 win over Stealth Elite Ravens and a 25-4 win over the Carolina Lynx and earned the top seed for bracket play. The LBC Vipers, who finished 4th in our final 2017-2018 8u rankings, also went 2-0 in pool play with a 41-4 win over Outlaws Baseball and an 11-6 win over the Triple Crown Lookouts, and earned the #2 seed in the Gold bracket. The Lookouts scored a 14-3 win over the Cabarrus Bandits in their other pool play game and earned the #3 seed for bracket play. In the Gold bracket semifinals, the Triple Crown Lookouts scored a 15-7 win over the Vipers and Team 24 blasted their way to an 18-3 win over the Cabarrus Bandits. In the finals, the Lookouts edged past Team 24 Gamecocks - Clayton with a 7-6 win to take home the 9u title.
10u
American
The Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro went 2-0 in pool play with a 10-0 win over Force Baseball and a 12-2 win over the LBC Thunder, who finished 7th in our final 9u rankings last year. The Thunder scored a 10-8 win over Hutters in their other pool play game. Carolina Blue Mizuno, who finished 4th in our final 9u rankings last year, also went 2-0 in pool play with a 17-0 win over Ripstix Baseball and a 9-1 win over SBA Elite. In the Gold bracket, #1 seed Carolina Blue Mizuno scored a 6-1 win over #4 seed Hutters and #2 seed Park Sharon topped Force Baseball 9-4. In the finals, Park Sharon Nationals - Pirro edged past Carolina Blue Mizuno 5-3 to finish 4-0 for the weekend.
National
The Carolina Flight (KW) went 2-0 in pool play scoring a 15-4 win over CBC Baseball Club and a 19-2 win over the Charlotte Nationals and earned the top seed for bracket play. The SouthWest Ripperz earned the #2 seed with a 6-5 win over Team 24 Gamecocks - Wilson (SC) and an 11-10 win over SBA - Datta. SBA - Datta scored a 9-8 win over Team 24 in their other pool play game. In the #4/5 play-in game, CBC Baseball edged out Team 24 with an 8-7 win. In the #3/6 play-in game, SBA - Datta scored an 11-5 win over the Charlotte Nationals. In the semifinals, the Carolina Flight blasted their way to a 16-1 win over CBC Baseball Club and the SouthWest Ripperz rolled to a 12-2 win over SBA - Datta. In the finals, Carolina Flight (KW) finished off a 4-0 weekend with a 13-6 win over SouthWest Ripperz.
11u
American
The Carolina Spinners earned the top seed for bracket play with a 14-1 win over White Pines Flycatchers and a 15-5 win over the SC Venom. SBA Elite went 2-0 in pool play with a 7-3 win over Copperheads - Snell/Heis and a 23-5 win over the Mooresville Legends. The Copperheads scored an 8-6 win over the On Deck O's East in their other pool play game. In the #4/5 play-in game on Sunday, the Copperheads topped the Flycatchers 11-7. In the semifinals, SBA Elite scored a 14-7 win over the Stealth Elite Orioles and the Copperheads rolled to a 17-0 win over the Spinners. In the finals, SBA Elite edged past Copperheads - Snell/Heis with a 7-6 win.
National
Team 24 Gamecocks - Comer (SC) earned the top seed for bracket play with an 18-1 win over the On Deck O's Orange and an 18-5 win over Team Carolina. CBC Baseball Club also went 2-0 in pool play on Saturday with a 19-4 win over the On Deck O's Black and a 15-6 win over Rivals (SC). Elite Baseball EBC earned the #3 seed for bracket play with a 15-3 win over RBA Blue and a 23-14 win over the GSB Grizzlies on Saturday. In the #4/5 play-in game on Sunday, RBA Blue advanced to the semifinals with an 11-4 win over the On Deck O's Orange. The semifinals saw Team 24 sneak out a 7-6 win over RBA Blue and Elite Baseball EBC take a 1-run 3-2 win over CBC Baseball Club. In the finals, Team 24 Gamecocks - Comer finished out a 4-0 weekend with a 10-2 win over Elite Baseball EBC.
12u
D1
The Carolina Blue Sox, who finished #3 in our final 11u rankings this past year, went 1-1 on Saturday with an 8-4 win over the On Deck O's and a 7-5 loss against the OTK Saints, who finished 17th in out final 2017-2018 11u rankings. The Saints also scored a 22-6 win over the On Deck O's on Saturday and finished with the #3 seed for bracket play. The LBC Attack, who finished #7 in our final 11u rankings last year, went 1-1 in pool play with a 12-6 win over SBA Elite and a 6-1 loss against Dirtbags Charlotte, and earned the #5 seed for Gold bracket play. Dirtbags Charlotte also scored a 7-1 win over the Carolina Canes and earned the top seed for bracket play. 11u SBA Premier, who finished #1 in our final 10u rankings last year, earned the #2 seed for bracket play after a 12-4 win over the Vision Bandits and an 8-4 win over 11u East Rowan Mustangs, who finished 9th in our final 10u rankings last year. On Sunday, the #4/5 play-in game, the LBC Attack topped the Carolina Blue Sox 3-2. In the #3/6 play-in game, the Vision Bandits defeated the OTK Saints 12-4. In the semifinals, Dirtbags Charlotte notched a 6-2 win over the LBC Attack and 11u SBA Premier blasted their way to a 13-2 win over the Vision Bandits. In the finals, Dirtbags Charlotte completed an undefeated weekend with an 8-0 win over SBA Premier.
D2
16 teams battled it out in the D2 division in Charlotte this past weekend. Copperheads - Herkey earned the top seed for bracket play with a 16-3 win over HQ4 Clippers and a 6-1 win over SBA - Wielechowski. The Weddington Warriors earned the 2nd seed for bracket play with an 11-1 win over the HQ4 Clippers and a 13-5 win over the SBA - Wielechowski. The Carolina Renegades earned the #3 seed with a 4-0 win over the Black Mambas and a 10-6 win over SBA Select. Team Husqvarna also went 2-0 in pool play with a 9-6 win over Team 24 Gamecocks - Latham (SC) and a 16-1 win over the Carolina Reds. In the #4/5 play-in game on Sunday, CBC Baseball Club scored a 12-3 win over Team Husqvarna. In the #3/6 play-in game, the Carolina Renegades blasted their way to an 18-7 win over the NC Stars. In the semifinals, CBC Baseball Club notched a 5-2 win over Copperheads - Herkey and the Weddington Warriors rolled to a 10-0 win over the Carolina Renegades. In the finals, the Weddington Warriors blanked CBC Baseball Club 8-0.
D3
Rivals Baseball (SC) earned the top seed for Gold bracket play with an 8-2 win over Carolina Heat NC and a 13-0 win over Union County Crush - McLean. The Indian Trail Rivals earned the #2 seed with a 7-6 win over the Lake Wylie Warriors and a 5-2 win over the Cabarrus Bandits. The Bandits edged the Lake Wylie Warriors 7-6 in their other pool play game and earned the #4 seed for bracket play. SBA LKN Canes Red earned the #3 seed with a 13-10 win over the Bessemer City Mudcats and an 11-1 win over the Weddington Wolverines. In the Gold bracket semifinals, the Indian Trail Rivals topped SBA LKN Canes Red 10-6 and the Cabarrus Bandits notched a 12-9 win over Rivals Baseball. In the finals, the Cabarrus Bandits topped the Indian Trail Rivals 14-5.
13u
With 25 teams in 13u field and only 2 pool play games, even going undefeated was likely not going to be enough to get into the 5-team Gold bracket. Team 24 Gamecocks - Brown (SC) earned the top seed for bracket play scored a 15-0 win over On Deck O's Black and an 8-0 win over CBC Baseball Club. Spartans Gold scored a 15-0 win over the Concord Comets and a 16-1 win over Elite Baseball EBC and earned the #2 seed in the Gold bracket. Athlete's Warehouse edged past the Pro-Fit Spartans with a 3-2 win and an 11-1 win over the Gold Hill Miners and earned the #3 seed in the Gold bracket. The Bulldogs earned the #4 seed with a 7-2 win over the Lake Norman Steam and a 4-2 win over the LKN Hurricanes. The #5 seed went to Union County Crush - DeVore after a 13-3 win over the HQ4 Clippers and a 14-2 win over Copperheads - DiMenna. Of note, Dirtbags MVP, who finished #2 in our final 12u rankings last year, went 2-0 in pool play with an 11-0 win over Ultimate Performance and a 6-5 win over Carolina Premier. Five Star Carolina - Smith, who finished #11 in our final 12u rankings last year, also went 2-0 in pool play with a 7-0 win over SBA LKN - Chapter and an 11-5 win over Copperheads - Gaffney. Canes Charlotte also went 2-0 in pool play with a 5-4 win over RBA White and a 7-3 win over Elite Baseball EBC.
In the Gold bracket #4/5 play-in game, the Bulldogs scored a 6-4 win over Union County Crush - DeVore. In the semifinals, Team 24 Gamecocks - Brown notched an 18-3 win over the Bulldogs, and Athlete's Warehouse edged past Spartans Gold 5-3. In the finals, Athlete's Warehouse finished a 4-0 weekend with a 7-4 win over Team 24. In the Silver bracket, Carolina Premier topped SBA Elite 5-0. In the Silver bracket semifinals, Canes Charlotte defeated Dirtbags MVP 9-4 and Five Star Carolina - Smith topped Carolina Premier 8-2. In the Silver bracket finals, Canes Charlotte edged past Five Star Carolina - Smith 6-5.