10 ranked teams were in the fields across three age groups this weekend at the Top Gun sites around the Triangle. We saw several top 20 and top 10 matchups and 13u #2 Canes Baseball Eastern NC proved they will again be a force to be reckoned with in the 13u age group this year. Here's a brief rundown of the past weekend's Top Gun games in the Triangle area.
11u
NC #6 Dirtbags East earned the top seed for Sunday with a 10-4 win over the Coastal Lugnuts and a 10-6 win over #8 Canes Baseball NC - Naylor. Canes - Naylor topped the Lugnuts 6-4 in their other pool play game and earned the #4 seed for bracket play. Sandhills Stingrays - Norris earned the #2 seed for bracket play with a 7-5 win over the Akadema Heat and a 9-5 win over Rock Solid Red. The Heat topped Rock Solid Red 9-2 in their other pool play game on Saturday and earned the #3 seed for Sunday. In the #4/5 play-in game, Canes - Naylor scored a 12-8 win over the Coastal Lugnuts. In the #3/6 play-in game, Rock Solid notched a 6-2 win over the Heat. In the semifinals, Canes - Naylor scored a 7-4 win over Dirtbags East and Rock Solid Red topped the Stingrays 10-6. In the finals, Canes - Naylor fell behind 6-2 through 2 innings, but used 2 runs in the bottom of the 4th and 8 runs in the bottom of the 5th to storm their way to a 12-8 win over Rock Solid Red.
D2
NC #15 Cleveland Wildcats scored the #1 seed for Sunday with a 12-2 win over the Carolina Outlaws and a 10-6 win over American Dream in pool play. The Lincoln Lugnuts (WV) received the #2 seed after a 2-1 win over VA Squires Navy and a 9-4 loss against the NSA Prospects. The Squires topped the Prospects 9-8 in their other pool play game, which left the Squires with the #3 seed and the Prospects with the 4th and final spot in the Gold bracket for Sunday. In the Gold bracket semifinals, the Squires rolled to a 12-6 win over the Lugnuts while the NSA Prospects edged past the Wildcats 7-6. In the finals, the VA Squires Navy finished off a 3-1 weekend with an 11-3 win over the NSA Prospects.
12u
NC #16 Carolina Rage opened up pool play going 2-0 with an 11-5 win over Dirtbags Camo and a 14-1 win over TPA Nationals - Zuber and earned the top seed in the Gold bracket. #11 Rock Solid Red scored the #2 seed with a 12-5 win over Dirtbags Camo and a 19-2 win over TPA Nationals - Zuber. In the Gold bracket semifinals on Sunday, Rock Solid topped South Johnston 5-1 and the Carolina Rage got past Sandhills Alliance Baseball with a 7-4 win. In the finals, the Carolina Rage were able to hold off Rock Solid Red and score a 13-10 win to finish off a 4-0 weekend.
13u
54/80
The RBI Raptors went 2-0 on Saturday with an 11-3 win over the HYAA Hawks and a 7-3 win over the Carolina Stars and earned the #2 seed for Sunday. The HYAA Hawks topped the Stars 8-6 in their other pool play game and earned the #4 seed in the Gold bracket for Sunday. The top seed went to the Carolina Boyz who notched a 12-0 win over Diamond Dreams Raiders and a 7-6 win over the Carolina Freedom in pool play. In the Gold bracket semifinals, RBI Raptors blanked the Carolina Freedom 15-0 and the HYAA Hawks posted a 4-1 win over the Carolina Boyz. In the finals, the RBI Raptors finished off a 4-0 weekend with an 8-0 win over the HYAA Hawks.
60/90
It was an outstanding field in the 60/90 division this weekend with 5 top 20 teams, including 4 of our top 12 in action. In their first action of the spring, #2 Canes Baseball Eastern NC looked as dominate as ever, notching a 10-3 win over TPA Nationals - Batts and a 10-5 win over Hit & Run 5 Star Wilcats, and earned the #3 seed for Sunday. The top seed went to #12 TPA Nationals - Christman who blanked the Riptide 16-0 and topped #3 Sanford Cobras 7-5 in pool play. Dirtbags Black Raleigh scored the #2 seed with 6-4 win over Rawlings Prospects 2024 and a 10-2 win over TPA Nationals - McMillan. The Cobras ended up with the #4 seed after scoring a 13-3 win over the Riptide in their other pool play game. #9 Carolina Titans - Wilson went 0-2 on Saturday with a 7-6 loss against TPA Nationals - Batts and a 10-8 loss against Hit & Run 5 Star Wildcats and fell to the Silver bracket for Sunday. In the #4/5 play-in game, #17 New Bern Flames topped the Sanford Cobras 11-1. In the #3/6 play-in game, Canes Eastern NC blanked the Rawlings Prospects 2024 13-0. In the semifinals, the New Bern Flames topped TPA Nationals - Christman 13-5 and Canes Eastern NC rolled to a 20-1 win over Dirtbags Black Raleigh. In the finals, Canes Baseball Eastern NC finished off a dominate weekend with an 11-1 win over the New Bern Flames.