Perhaps the biggest tournament in North Carolina is back. Held over two weekends, the 8u, 9u, 11u and 13u age groups will get underway on Friday. 30 ranked teams from North Carolina as well as 6 ranked teams from Virginia and one from South Carolina will compete across 4 age groups this weekend in the Rocky Mount area. Here we highlight some of the best games of the upcoming weekend.
8u
D1
5 teams including NC #2 Dirtbags Black, #7 Dry Pond, #11 Dirtbags East, #15 Carolina Titans, as well as West Raleigh Blue will compete in the hybrid D1 division in the 8u age group. What that means is that all teams in this field will play one another across 4 pool play games on Friday and Saturday. Only the #1 seed will get a bye into the semifinals, so seeding could be very important in this division.
West Raleigh Blue could be the wildcard in this division, and they hold a 1-1 record against Dirtbags Black from the fall. The biggest question surrounding the Blue will be their readiness as they have only played 4 travel games this spring thus far. The Dirtbags have been impressive this spring with only one loss at the 8u level, while Dry Pond could also make some noise as potentially one of the best teams in the state. In the end, we're going to go with West Raleigh Blue in this one, although it really feels like it could be anyone's division.
Predicted champion: West Raleigh Blue
D2
The D2 division features 7 teams including VA #2 Fauquier Raiders, NC #12 NCDB Rivercats, and # 13 Canes Baseball NC - Hartman. The Raiders will face NCDB, the Cabarrus Bandits, Canes - Hartman and the Walkoff Warriors in their 4 pool play games. The Rivercats will face Canes - Hartman, West Raleigh Red, and the Carolina Thunder in their other pool play games on Friday and Saturday. Canes - Hartman will go against the Cabarrus Bandits and the Walkoff Warriors in their other two pool play games.
Much like the D1 division, the D2 division is a wide open division with a number of teams competing for the crown. We think Canes - Hartman and the Rivercats will have the best chance this weekend, and these two are fairly evenly matched. The Canes hold the advantage this spring with a 2-0 head-to-head record, however the Rivercats are an impressive 24-7 this spring, including 14-3 in their last 17 games and we like them to stay hot in this event.
Predicted champion: NCDB Rivercats
9u
D1
The 7-team 9u D1 field will feature 6 teams ranked in North Carolina including #2 Dirtbags Black, #3 Canes Baseball NC - Harris, #5 HPT HiToms, #9 East Coast Elite, #13 West Raleigh Blue, and #16 Dirtbags East, as well as previously ranked LBC Lightning. Dirtbags Black will take on the LBC Lightning and the HPT HiToms on Friday and East Coast Elite and Canes - Harris on Saturday. Canes - Harris will go against the HPT HiToms, the LBC Lightning, and East Coast Elite in their other pool play games, while HPT will face West Raleigh Blue and Dirtbags East in their other two pool play games. East Coast Elite will go against West Raleigh and Dirtbags East on Friday, in addition to Canes - Harris and Dirtbags Black on Saturday.
This will be another very competitive division with a number of teams having a chance to take home the title. Dirtbags Black appear to us to be the favorite heading into this event, having gone 20-2 this spring with their lone loss against a 9u team coming against 9u #1 SBA Futures, who may be one of the top 9u teams in the United States. Canes - Harris has also posted an excellent 28-7 record this spring and could give the Dirtbags some trouble, but overall we think the Dirtbags look like the favorite here.
Predicted champion: Dirtbags Black
D2
Several ranked teams will also compete in the 9-team D2 9u division this weekend. This includes #8 NCABC Fungo - Piscorik, #17 NCDB Rivercats, #20 Area Stars Orange, and VA #8 757 Dirtbags Platinum. Fungo is set to take on the NCDB Rivercats, West Raleigh Red, NSA Select, and Carolina Rampage Baseball in their pool play games. The Rivercats will face NSA Select, Area Stars Orange, and 757 Dirtbags Platinum in their other pool play games. The Area Stars will face the Rampage and the Youngsville Phantoms on Friday, followed by West Raleigh Red in addition to the Rivercats on Saturday.
Fungo appears to be the top team in this field currently. They are 23-8 this spring, with multiple wins over ranked teams. They have played numerous close games over the past year against the Rivercats, who could also contend in this division. We would also not be surprised to see 757 Dirtbags Platinum make some noise this weekend.
Predicted champion: NCABC Fungo - Piscorik
11u
D1
This is a loaded 15-team division, with 7 ranked teams from NC and 1 from Virginia in the field. #3 Dirtbags Black look to be the favorite in this division, and will take on NCDB Rivercats 11u2 and Rock Solid Red on Friday as well as #15 West Raleigh Blue and #4 Rawlings Prospects NC on Saturday in what should be a great day of games. The Prospects will go against the Mid Atlantic Pirates (VA) and #10 GRIT on Friday and West Raleigh Blue in addition to Dirtbags Black on Saturday. #5 Dirtbags East drew the Mid Atlantic Pirates and GRIT on Friday and DUBS Baseball and VA #7 Battle Baseball on Saturday in their pool play games. NC #9 Canes Baseball NC - Slaydon is scheduled to go against West Raleigh Blue and #11 NCDB Rivercats on Friday and the Akadema Heat and Dirtbags Platinum on Saturday. In addition to the Prospects and Dirtbags east, GRIT will face the NCDB Rivercats and Canes 757 - Chalk (VA) in their pool play games this weekend. The Rivercats will take on DUBS Baseball and the Mid Atlantic Pirates in addition to Canes - Slaydon and GRIT in their pool play games. West Raleigh Blue will face DUBS in pool play in addition to their games against Dirtbags Black, Canes - Slaydon, and the Prospects.
Dirtbags Black has been one of the best 11u teams in North Carolina this spring, posting a 26-5 record thus far, including a win over #2 SBA Futures. They look to be the team to beat, but with 4 other teams in the top 11 and #15 West Raleigh Blue, who has already beaten #4 Rawlings Prospects NC this spring, in the field, this will be an extremely competitive weekend in Tarboro. Pool play will be extremely important as only 8 teams will make the Gold bracket and many of these top teams will be facing off against one another. We feel Dirtbags is the top team in this event, but certainly any of these teams could surprise and take home the crown this weekend.
Predicted champion: Dirtbags Black
13u
D1 60/90
30 teams are signed up in the D1 60/90 division this weekend. Among those 30 teams are 8 teams ranked in North Carolina, 3 ranked in Virginia, and 1 ranked in South Carolina. #5 Carolina Titans - Wilson is the highest ranked NC team in action this weekend and will take on #12 Sanford Cobras, Sandhills Heat, VA #10 Richmond Spiders, and SC #2 Warriors Baseball. The Cobras will take on the Richmond Spiders, Rock Solid Red, and the Southeast Outlaws in their pool play games. NC #7 Canes Baseball NC - Turner will face Carolina Titans Blue, the Frederick Hustlers (MD), Rawlings Prospects 2024, and Purpose Driven - Lee in their pool play games. #9 TPA Nationals - Christman will go against VA Stars - Tallent, VA #6 Stars - Huller, Warriors, and NC #14 HiToms Baseball. #15 Team Elite American will look to make their first big statement of the spring as they are set to take on #19 East Coast Clippers, HiToms Baseball, VA #9 Canes Baseball NoVA - Rowling, and Carolina Titans Blue. The HiToms will go against Canes Baseball VA - Celeta and the Richmond Spiders in addition to Team Elite American and TPA Nationals - Christman in their pool play games.
With none of the state's top 4 teams, this could be a hotly contested division this weekend. Only 6 teams will make the Gold bracket in this 30 team division, so going 4-0 in pool play might not be enough to get you in the Gold bracket this weekend. Any of the top 7-10 teams from NC should have shot, as should several of the out-of-state teams making the trip. We think the Warriors from South Carolina might be the favorite this weekend. They are 16-3 including a win over NC #6 SBA Futures. Canes Baseball NC - Turner is an intriguing team this weekend as they have been impressive in limited play thus far. Carolina Titans - Wilson are two weeks removed from an impressive weekend that included wins over 2 ranked teams, and should be in the mix this weekend. We could also see teams such as TPA Nationals - Christman and the Sanford Cobras make a run for the title this weekend.
Predicted champion: Warriors Baseball (SC)