Over 100 teams were in action this past weekend at the Top Gun event in Charlotte. Several ranked teams from our final spring rankings were in action and put up some impressive performances. Here we recap this past weekend's games from the Charlotte Top Gun sites.
9u
American
The LBC Vipers, who finished 4th in our final 8u rankings last year, earned the top seed for bracket play by going 2-0 in pool play with a 10-3 win over Union County Crush - Gadd and a 12-3 win over the Weddington Wolves. Crush - Gadd scored a 13-0 win over the Wolves in their other pool play game and earned the #2 seed for bracket play. In the #4/5 play-in game, the Triple Crown Lookouts topped Kings Mountain Storm 11-3. In the #3/6 play-in game, South Charlotte blasted their way to a 15-5 win over the Weddington Wolves. In the semifinals, the Lookouts notched an 8-5 win over the Vipers and Crush - Gadd rolled to an 11-1 win over South Charlotte. In the finals, Union County Crush - Gadd finished out a 3-1 weekend with a 10-6 win over the Triple Crown Lookouts.
National
Inferno Baseball/Wayne Automatic Fire went 2-0 in pool play with a 20-9 win over Copperheads - Beekley and a 10-6 win over the Carolina Lynx. Dry Pond Baseball also went 2-0 in pool play with a 16-4 win over Raptors - Jason and a 5-2 win over the PR Regulators. In Gold bracket play, Inferno Baseball/Wayne Automatic Fire notched a 13-3 win over the PR Regulators and Dry Pond scored a 12-11 win over Copperheads - Beekley. In the finals, Inferno Baseball/Wayne Automatic Fire edged past Dry Pond Baseball with a 10-9 win.
10u
The Stealth Elite Eagles, who finished 19th in our final 9u rankings last year, went 2-0 in pool play with an 11-6 win over CCBA Bombers and a 10-6 win over the Charlotte Nationals. RBA also went 2-0 in pool play with a 5-1 win over Carolina Flight (EW) and an 11-5 win over CBC Baseball Club and earned the top seed in the Gold bracket. In the Gold bracket semifinals, Stealth Elite topped the Mission Vipers 14-6 and RBA edged past the Carolina Flight 5-4. In the finals, RBA rolled to a 14-4 win over Stealth Elite Eagles to finish 4-0 for the weekend.
11u
American
Copperheads - Snell/Heis went 2-o in pool play with a 10-0 win over the On Deck O's Orange and a 6-3 win over the Roberson Ramblers and earned the top seed for bracket play. The Roberson Ramblers notched a 20-1 win over the On Deck O's Orange in their other pool play game and earned the #2 seed for bracket play. In the Gold bracket semifinals, the Ramblers scored a 10-0 win over the Stealth Elite Orioles and the Copperheads notched a 16-9 win over the On Deck O's East. In the finals, Copperheads - Snell/Heis finished off a 4-0 weekend with an 11-6 win over the Ramblers.
National
Battalion went 2-0 in pool play with an 11-4 win over CBC Baseball Club and an 11-3 win over Team Carolina, and earned the top seed for bracket play. Team 24 Gamecocks - Comer earned the #2 seed with a 15-0 win over GSB Grizzlies and a 12-8 win over Raptors Baseball. SBA Select earned the #3 seed after a 25-5 win over the Davidson Force and a 13-4 win over SBA Canes LKN. In the #4/5 play-in game, SBA Canes LKN scored a 10-6 win over Raptors Baseball. In the semifinals, SBA Select notched an 11-1 win over Team 24 and Battalion edged past SBA Canes LKN 10-9. In the finals, Battalion finished a 4-0 weekend with an 18-9 win over SBA Select.
12u
American
17 teams faced off in the 12u American division. SBA Canes - Erwin, who finished 12th in our final 11u rankings last year, went 2-0 in pool play with a 6-3 win over Team USA Diamond King and an 11-8 win over Copperheads - Caldwell and earned the #4 seed in bracket play. The Vision Bandits earned the top seed with an 8-0 win over SBA Canes - Baldwin and a 10-1 win over SBA Elite. The 11u SC Jets earned the #2 seed with a 4-0 win over Stars Baseball and a 4-2 win over SBA Canes Baldwin. CBC Baseball Club earned the #4 seed with a 14-2 win over Stars Baseball and a 15-5 win over Elite Baseball EBC. In the Gold bracket semifinals, CBC Baseball Club edged past the SC Jets 13-12 and SBA Canes Erwin scored a 9-1 win over the Vision Bandits. In the finals, SBA Canes Erwin finished off an undefeated weekend with a 7-6 win over CBC Baseball Club.
National
Aces - Thompson earned the top seed for bracket play with an 8-0 win over Union County Crush - McLean and a 12-9 win over the LBC Lightning. Rivals Baseball (SC) received the #2 seed in the Gold bracket with a 13-2 win over the Triple Crown Lookouts and a 12-8 win over Ultimate Performance. Ultimate Performance topped Crush - McLean 14-7 in their other pool play game and earned the #4 seed for Gold bracket play. In the semifinals, the LBC Lightning rolled to a 13-0 win over Rivals Baseball and Ultimate Performance scored a 7-4 win over Aces - Thompson. In the finals, Ultimate Performance finished off a 3-1 weekend with a 10-4 win over the LBC Lightning.
13u
14 teams were in the field this past weekend in the 13u age group in Charlotte. With only 5 teams qualifying for the Gold bracket, there was a significant premium on defense and pitching in pool play. Dirtbags Nationals earned the top seed in the Gold bracket with a 14-0 win over Team Carolina and a 17-2 win over the Concord Comets. Union County Crush - DeVore earned the #2 seed with a 6-0 win over Hutters and a 3-2 win over the Mooresville Biscuits. SBA - Moffitt earned the #3 seed with a 4-3 win over Spartans Black and a 7-5 win over the Hickory Hurricanes. The LKN Hurricanes also went 2-0 in pool play and earned the #4 seed for bracket play following a 10-6 win over the Hickory Hurricanes and a 10-3 win over Spartans Black. The On Deck O's Orange earned the 5th and final seed for bracket play with a 7-6 win over the Park Sharon Nationals and a 10-3 win over the Concord Comets. In the #4/5 Gold bracket play-in game, the LKN Hurricanes topped the On Deck O's Orange 11-3. In the semifinals, Crush - DeVore scored a 7-2 win over SBA - Moffitt and Dirtbags Nationals notched a 6-2 win over the LKN Hurricanes. In the finals, Dirtbags Nationals finished off an undefeated weekend with an 8-0 win over Union County Crush - DeVore.
Of note, HIToms Baseball went 4-0 this weekend with an 11-5 win over Hutters and an 8-5 win over Ultimate Performance in pool play. In Silver bracket play, the HIToms scored a 10-7 win over the Mooresville Biscuits and a 7-1 win over the Park Sharon Nationals.