With 210 teams in the field, it was a great weekend of baseball at the Top Gun Winter World Series with some of the best teams in the state and from surrounding states going head-to-head. Many of or top 20 teams in each age division were in the fields. There were too many results to review them all, but please follow this link for complete results. We’ll try to summarize the results in a format that is understandable and easy to navigate.
8u
D1/D2
The #1 Carolina Threshers have been a surprise all fall, heading into this Winter World Series undefeated with wins over several ranked team, including #2 Dirtbags Black. For much of this tournament, it looked like the Threshers were going to continue their unbeaten ways. In game 1 on Saturday, there was a bit of an upset as the Hickory Hitmen took out the Dirtbags 17-6. The Dirtbags bounced back with a 19-5 win over the Virginia Beach Knights and eventually secured #4 seed in bracket play. Meanwhile the Threshers started in dominating fashion, going 2-0 in pool play with a 21-6 win over the Virginia Beach Knights, and a 9-7 win over the Hickory Hitmen, on their way to the #1 seed for bracket play. #3 West Raleigh Blue got the #2 seed for bracket play after 14-13 and 15-13 wins over the NCDB Rivercats and Greenville Athletics.
In the quarter finals, the Dirtbags outlasted Greenville Athletics 16-15, West Raleigh Blue took out the Virginia Beach Knights 16-7, and the Hickory Hitmen bested the NCDB Rivercats 12-5. In the semi-finals, it was the Carolina Threshers over Dirtbags Black 17-11, and West Raleigh Blue over the Hickory Hitmen 8-2. This set up a finals featuring our #1 team, the Carolina Threshers, going against our #3 team, West Raleigh Blue. In an absolutely fantastic 8u game, West Raleigh Blue edged out the Carolina Threshers 4-2 to win the championship.
Champion: West Raleigh Blue
Runner-up: Carolina Threshers
D3
The D3 tournament also featured some upsets and outstanding play from multiple teams. #9 Stix continued their inconsistent play this fall, going 1-1 with a 17-11 loss to the Youngsville Phantoms and a 13-5 win over the Carolina Crushers, and received the #5 seed for Gold bracket play. The #10 Leland Lugnuts went a disappointing 0-2 on day 1 with losses to the Cleveland Wildcats (14-8) and the Carolina Freedom (14-12) and landed in the Silver bracket. They were able to bounce back and win the Silver bracket going 2-0 on Sunday with wins over East Coast Elite (15-13) and the Carolina Freedom (11-3). The Phantoms also took out East Coast Elite 18-3 on Saturday to secure the #1 seed in the Gold bracket. The FV Wildcats went 1-1 on Saturday with a loss to East Coast Elite (15-8) and a win over Carolina Rampage (19-8) to secure the #4 seed.
On Sunday, FV Wildcats bested Stix 9-5 in the #4/#5 seed game to set up a semifinal game against #1 seed Youngsville Phantoms. The #6 seed Cleveland Wildcats dominated the #3 seed Carolina Crushers 14-4 in their quarter final game to set up a semifinal game against #2 seed Wendell select. In the semifinals, FV Wildcats topped the Phantoms 20-11 while the Cleveland Wildcats beat Wendell Select 9-3. In the finals, FV Wildcats continued their Sunday run with a 14-3 over the Cleveland Wildcats to secure the D3 Winter World Series championship.
Champion: FV Wildcats
Runner-up: Cleveland Wildcats
9u
D1
Like the 8u D1 division, the 9u D1 division started with a bit of surprise, as #2 Dirtbags Black went down 11-1 to the Virginia Stars – Colangelo. They were able to right the ship with a 10-5 win over #15 Carolina Red Sox – Jones to ensure their spot in the Gold bracket. #3 West Raleigh Blue went 2-0 in pool play and earned the #1 seed in the Gold bracket with a 10-6 win over the Aldie Senators and a 9-1 win over the Virginia Stars – Colangelo. #5 NCDB Rivercats started their weekend with a 4-1 win over #20 Wilson Reds, but then suffered a 12-6 defeat to the #19 SBA Canes and ended up with the #4 seed for Gold bracket play. #15 Carolina Red Sox – Jones also went 1-1 in pool play with a 13-1 win over the Wilson Reds in addition to their 10-5 loss to the Dirtbags. This allowed the Red Sox to claim the #3 seed in Gold bracket play. The SBA Canes received the #6 seed after going 1-1 with a 14-13 loss to the Aldie Senators in addition to their win over NCDB. The Wilson Reds received the #8 seed with their 0-2 Saturday. This left the following bracket match-ups (numbers represent bracket seed) for Sunday:
#1 West Raleigh Blue vs. #8 Wilson Reds
#4 NCDB Rivercats vs. #5 Dirtbags Black
#2 Virginia Stars – Colangelo vs. Aldie Senators
#3 Carolina Red Sox – Jones vs. #6 SBA Canes
In the quarter finals, it was West Raleigh Blue over the Wilson Reds 8-0, Dirtbags Black over NCDB 15-1, the Aldie Senators over Virginia Stars – Colangelo 7-4, and Carolina Red Sox – Jones over the SBA Canes 14-6. In the semifinals, the Red Sox edged out the Senators 4-3, while the Dirtbags beat West Raleigh 10-6. In the finals, it was all Dirtbags as they rolled over the Red Sox 12-1 to claim the 9u D1 Winter World Series title.
Champion: Dirtbags Black
Runner-up: Carolina Red Sox – Jones
D2
In the D2 tournament, the #10 Neuse River Broncos went 1-1 in pool play with a 10-9 loss to GBI Express and a 12-7 win over Virginia Warriors to earn the #6 seed in Gold bracket play. #11 Smash Baseball went (2-0 in pool play with a 7-6 win over #18 PITT413 and an 11-8 win over Virginia Warriors, which earned them the #3 seed. #13 Greenville Athletics – Scott earned the top seed in the Gold bracket going 2-0 in pool play with a 14-4 win over MVP Red and a 13-3 win over Riegelwood Lumberjacks. GBI Express earned the #2 seed by going 2-0 in pool play with wins over the Neuse River Broncos (10-9) and the Virginia Black Sox (11-1). The Gold bracket looked like this for Sunday(numbers represent bracket seed):
#4 PITT413 vs #5 MVP Red
#3 Smash Baseball vs. #6 Neuse River Broncos
PITT413 beat MVP Red 10-8 and went up against Greenville Athletics – Scott in the semifinals. The Neuse River Broncos edged out Smash Baseball 9-8 to earn their shot against GBI Express in the semifinals. In the semifinals, it was Greenville Athletics – Scott over PITT413 9-8 and GBI Express 12-4 over the Broncos. The finals were another tight game, with Greenville Athletics – Scott pulling out a 13-12 win over GBI Express.
Champion: Greenville Athletics – Scott
Runner-up: GBI Express
D3
In the 9u D3 division it was the Stix who took home the title, going 4-1 for the weekend. Their weekend got off to a rough start with a 17-10 loss to the Winterville Warriors. They were able to get a 28-6 win over the Rocky Mount Marshals to earn the #6 seed in bracket play. In addition to their win over the Stix, the Winterville Warriors also won over Greenville Athletics – Givens 14-2 to secure the top seed in bracket play. In the quarterfinal games, the Warriors blasted the Rocky Mount Marshals 15-0, while the Stix took out the #3 seed Orange County Crushers 11-1. In the semifinals, the Warriors continued to dominate winning 12-2 over Bomberz Baseball, and the Stix squeezed one out over the Cape Fear Elite EPJ 11-10. In the finals, however, it was the Stix who came out on top over the Warriors by the score of 16-3.
Champion: Stix
Runner-up: Winterville Warriors
11u
D1
This was an incredible division loaded with outstanding teams from North Carolina, but in the end it was two teams from Virginia who battle it out in the title game with Team Dirty South Venom (VA) securing the title. #4 Evoshield Canes NC – Simpson earned the top seed in the Gold bracket going 2-0 in pool play with wins over the Tidewater Horns (9-1) and the Williamsburg Revolution (8-4). In a bit of a surprise, as 10u #1 Evoshield Canes NC – Gilchrist earned the #2 seed with an 8-5 win over #6 Cleveland Wildcats and a 7-0 win over SC Jets Black. Evoshield Canes – Cheetham (VA) earned the #3 seed going 2-0 in pool play with wins over #14 MARA Cobras (8-0) and #18 NCDB Rivercats (20-6). Team Dirty South Venom secured the #4 seed with wins over the Mid Atlantic Red Sox (12-8) and #3 Evoshield Canes NC – Hood (9-2). #16 SBA Canes – Erwin went 2-0 in pool play and earned the #5 seed with a 5-4 win over the Cleveland Wildcats and a 9-7 win over #11 NSA 06 Elite. Evoshield Cane NC – Hood received the #6 seed going 1-1 with a 11-4 win over #17 Dynamite Stix in addition to their loss to the Dirty South Venom. #7 seed went to the MARA Cobras who scored a win over the Carolina Bruins (SC) (10-5) in addition to their loss to the Evoshield Canes – Cheetham. Finally, our #1 team SBA Canes – Ross hung onto the #1 seed after going 1-1 in pool play with an 11-1 win over the Tidewater Horns and a 13-12 loss to the Huguenot Red Legs. This left the following Gold bracket match-ups (numbers represent bracket seed) for Sunday:
#1 Evoshield Canes NC – Simpson vs. #8 SBA Canes – Ross
#4 Team Dirty South Venom vs. #5 SBA Canes Erwin
#2 Evoshield Canes NC – Gilchrist vs. #7 MARA Cobras
#3 Evoshield Canes – Cheetham vs. #6 Evoshield Canes NC – Hood
In the quarter finals, the SBA Canes – Ross topped the Canes – Simpson 11-1, Team Dirty South Venom dominated the SBA Canes – Erwin 9-1, Evoshield Canes NC – Gilchrist continued their run playing up an age group with a 9-4 win over the MARA Cobras, and Evoshield Canes – Cheetham edged out Evoshield Canes NC – Hood 7-6. In the semifinals, it was Evoshield Canes – Cheetham over Evoshield Canes NC – Gilchrist 17-6, and Team Dirty South Venom over SBA Canes – Ross 9-3. In the finals, Team Dirty South Venom outlasted Evoshield Canes – Cheetham 13-9 to win the Gold bracket title in what may have been the most competitive 11u tournament this entire fall.
In the Silver bracket, the Huguenot Red Legs took out the Dynamite Stix (11-8), the Williamsburg Revolution (17-2), and West Raleigh Blue (11-7) on their way to the Silver bracket championship. In the Bronze bracket, the Cleveland Wildcats were able to right the ship from a disastrous 0-2 start in pool play to beat the Tidewater Horns (7-4) and the Carolina Bruins (8-7) to win the Bronze bracket championship.
Champion: Team Dirty South Venom (VA)
Runner-up: Evoshield Canes – Cheetham (VA)
D2
With 29 teams in the D2 field and only 2 pool play games per team to decide seeding, it was imperative for teams to try to do what they needed to go 2-0 in pool play. Although the #20 Carolina Pilots started with a 7-4 win over Team Ghost on Friday, they fell against Western Branch Havoc (VA) on Saturday by the score of 12-3. This loss ended up pushing the Pilots into the Bronze bracket. In the end, there were 7 teams who finished pool play 2-0 to earn their spot in the Gold bracket. Team Ghost got the #8 seed with a 1-1 record with a win over 10-2 over Mid Atlantic Orioles – Namkoong in addition to their loss to the Pilots. The difference in runs allowed between the #8 seed and last spot in the Gold bracket and the #17 seed and top seed in the bronze bracket was 6 runs. That’s how close this field was. To put that another way, the Pilots earned the #17 seed and Team Ghost earned the #8 seed despite both having 1-1 records and the Pilots beat Team Ghost in pool play. As far as Gold bracket seeding/quarter final matchups went, Greenville Athletics earned the #1 seed with wins over Garner Baseball (10-3) and Black Mambas (12-5). They faced Team Ghost who earned the #8 seed. The Carolina Cubs earned the #2 seed with wins over the Carolina Titans (8-4) and the Tidewater Outlaws (11-4), and they faced #7 South Johnston who beat FBI Fungo (10-9) and Western Tidewater Rage (13-10) in pool play. Rock Solid Red was the #3 seed after wins over the Mid Atlantic Orioles – Namkoong (10-0) and the Virginia Stars – Justice (16-10) in pool play. They faced #6 seed Kernersville Bulldogs, who defeated Mid Atlantic Orioles – Caraher (7-5) and Hope Mills Vipers (13-12) in pool play. The #4 seed went to Western Branch Havoc who beat the Carolina Pilots (12-3) and the NSA Thunder (12-8). Team Rock Solid Black earned the #5 seed by beating the North Wake Shockwave (18-9) and the Carolina Titans (17-3).
In the quarter finals it was Team Ghost over Greenville Athletics 8-1, Western Branch Havoc on top of Team Rock Solid Black 6-5, Rock Solid Red all over the Kernersville Bulldogs (11-3), and the Carolina Cubs topping South Johnston 7-3. In the semifinals, Team Ghost stayed hot after an opening loss in pool play to beat Western Branch Havoc 12-5, while it was Rock Solid Red all over the Carolina Cubs 9-0. In the end, Team Ghost prevailed in the finals over Rock Solid Red by the score of 10-6.
Champion: Team Ghost
Runner-up: Rock Solid Red
D3
In The D3 division, the Carolina Rage took home the Gold bracket championship, going 4-1 for the weekend. The Rage opened up pool play with a 4-3 win over the Wendell Sharks, but followed that up with a 4-3 loss to the Carolina Muddawgs and earned the #5 seed. The top seed went to the Carolina Stingers who beat the Carolina Shockwave 7-2 and the Carolina Muddawgs 6-2. In quarterfinal play, the #1 seed Stingers went down to #8 seed Wendell Sharks (12-6), #2 seed Perquimans Rivercats edged out the #7 seed Carolina Muddwags (7-6), #3 seed Kiwanis Allstars lost to #6 seed GCAA Wildcats (7-6), and #4 seed Chatham Phoenix was blasted by the #5 seed Carolina Rage (11-2). In the seminfinals, the Rage again bested the Wendell Sharks, this time by the count of 11-10, and the Perquimans Rivercats beat out the GCAA Wildcats 5-3. In the finals, the Carolina Rage continued their run of strong play with a 15-4 win over Pequimans Rivercats to earn the D3 WWS title.
Champion: Carolina Rage
Runner-up: Perquimans Rivercats
13u
54/80 D1
#6 Diamond Thieves got off to a shaky start with an unimpressive 6-5 win over Walk Off Warriors followed by a 5-4 loss to #12 Greenville Athletics – Jones to earn the #5 seed. In addition to their win over the Diamond Thieves, Greenville Athletics – Jones beat CDP – Derick 13-1 and earned the #2 seed for bracket play. Dirtbags – Smith continued their run of strong play, going 2-0 in pool play with wins over Next Level (12-1) and CDP – Derick (8-2) to earn the #1 seed in bracket play. Akadema Baseball Gray also continued to play well in pool play with victories against the Warriors (16-3) and Next Level (10-5) to earn the #3 seed. Walk Off Warriors were able to shake off their loss to the Diamond Theives and beat the Warriors 5-2 to earn their spot as the #4 seed. The quarter finals lined up as follows (numbers represent bracket seed):
#1 Dirtbags Smith vs. #8 Next Level
#4 Walk Off Warriors vs. #5 Diamond Thieves
#2 Greenville Athletics – Jones vs. #7 CDP – Derick
#3 Akadema Baseball Gray vs. #6 Warriors
In the quarter finals, it was Dirtbags – Smith over #8 seed Next Level 12-2, Greenville Athletics – Jones over #7 seed CDP – Derick 15-4, Akadema Baseball Gray over #6 seed Warriors 5-0, and the Diamond Thieves edging out the Walk Off Warriors 5-2. In the semifinals, Akadema bested Greenville Athletics – Jones 8-2 while Dirtbags – Smith rolled over Diamond Thieves 10-0. In the finals, however, it was Akadema who continued their hot play with a 9-2 win over Dirtbags – Smith to take the 54-80 D1 title.
Champion: Akadema Baseball Gray
Runner-up: Dirtbags – Smith
54/80 D2
#20 Carolina Titans – Ambrose was our top tanked team in this division, and in pool play they continued their inconsistent play with a 10-7 win over North Wake Thunder followed by a 12-10 loss to Youngsville Intimidators. Unfortunately for the Titans, their 19 runs allowed relegated them to the Silver bracket, which they ended up winning. Five teams went 2-0 in pool play, including #1 seed RBI Raptors, who beat the Carolina Titans (7-0) and the Coastal Crush (11-1), #2 seed Akadema Blue, who beat Carolina Crusaders for Christ (6-0) and Five Star Wildcats (19-3), #3 seed Carolina Stingers, who beat On Target Baseball (13-0) and CDP – Roper (7-3), #4 seed 5 Star Carolina, who topped the NSA Bulls (9-1) and Riptide (14-5), and #5 seed NW Nitro, who beat PITT413 (7-6) and GBI Express Black – Gardner (8-5). In the quarterfinals, the RBI Raptors were upset by the #8 seed NSA Bulls 3-1, while Akadema Blue bested #7 seed CDP – Roper by the score of 6-2. The Carolina Stingers edged out #6 seed GBI Express Black – Gardner (5-2), and the NW Nitro took out #4 seed 5 Star Carolina (8-5). In the semifinals, the Stingers destroyed Akadema Blue 20-3, while the Bulls edged out the NW Nitro 3-1. In the finals, the Stingers completed their undefeated run going 5-0 for the tournament with a 18-7 win over the NSA Bulls.
Champion: Carolina Stingers
Runner-up: NSA Bulls
54/80 D3
6 teams went undefeated in pool play, with the North Wake Bandits earning the top seed and a bye in round 1 of pool play with two shutout wins over the Connie Corey Hurricanes (6-0) and South Wake Lightning (10-0). The Clayton Cyclones received the #2 seed with wins over Greenville Athletics (8-0) and the Carolina Titans (6-3) in pool play. The #3 seed went to Sidewinders, who bested the Clayton Stampede (14-5) and the Raleigh Fury (12-2) in pool play. Hammerheads were also 2-0 in pool play, winning over the New Bern Naughty Boys (9-5) and the Connie Corey Hurricanes (12-2) to earn the #4 seed. The Carolina Hawks took out South Wake Lightning (8-5) and the Virginia Chaos (11-3) to earn the #5 seed. The Neuse River Broncos also went undefeated in pool play with wins over the Carolina Titans (8-6) and the New Bern Naughty Boys (14-4). The final Gold bracket seed went to Greenville Athletics, who went 1-1 in pool play with a win over the Virginia Chaos (14-4) in addition to their loss to the Clayton Cyclones. In bracket play, the Hammerheads topped the Carolina Hawks 7-1 to set up a matchup against top seeded North Wake Bandits. The Cyclones took out Greenville Athletics 9-1 and the Neuse River Broncos beat Sidewinders 10-1 to set up the other semifinal matchup. The Bandits continued their hot run through the Winter World Series with a 4-2 win over the Hammerheads in the semifinals, and the the Cyclones edged out the Broncos 7-6 to reach the finals. In the finals, it was the North Wake Bandits edging out the Clayton Cyclones 7-6 to win the championship and complete their undefeated run through the tournament.
Champion: North Wake Bandits
Runner-up: Clayton Cyclones
60/90 D1
Second only to perhaps the 11u D1 tournament in terms of depth of field, our #1 team, Evosheild Canes NC – Gallaher lived up to its ranking, going 5-0 for the weekend and outscoring opponents 54-10 en route to the championship. The Canes NC – Gallaher opened up pool play going 2-0 with 15-2 win over previous #11 Holly Springs Rage Black – Ferreira and 10-3 win over Virginia Stars – Colangelo to earn the #4 seed in Gold bracket play. Previous #2 Evoshield Canes NC – Haire also went 2-0 with a 12-2 win over Seminoles and a 19-0 win over the Tidewater Outlaws to earn the top seed in Gold bracket play. Previous #3 East Coast Clippers was also 2-0 in pool play with wins over previous #9 Dirtbags Black (16-0) and a 7-3 win over Mid Atlantic Orioles – Tatro. This performance was good enough to earn the Clippers the #3 seed in bracket play. Previous #4 Charlotte Nationals went 1-1 in pool play with a 23-3 win over previous #11 Holly Springs Rage Black – Ferreira and 6-5 loss to the Virginia Stars – Colangelo, but this was enough to earn them the #8 seed in Gold Bracket play and set up a matchup against Evoshield Canes NC – Haire in the quarterfinals. Previous #5 NCDB Rivercats went 2-0 in pool play with a 12-9 win over The Performance Academy – Foster and a 9-8 win over MVP Terps Black, which earned them the #7 seed in Gold bracket play. The Mid Atlantic Pirates earned the #2 seed with a 15-1 win over the Mid Atlantic Orioles – Tatro and an 11-1 win over Seminoles in pool play. The #5 seed went to Stars Baseball White who bested The Performance Academy – Foster (9-5) and the Lynnhaven Wahoos (7-3) in pool play. This set up the following quarterfinal matchups:
#1 Evoshield Canes NC – Haire vs. #8 Charlotte Nationals
#2 Mid Atlantic Pirates vs. #7 NCDB Rivercats
#3 East Coast Clippers vs. #6 Silver Glove Baseball
#4 Evoshield Canes NC – Gallaher vs. Stars Baseball White
In the quarterfinals, it was the Charlotte Nationals over Evoshield Canes NC – Haire (3-2), the Mid Atlantic Pirates over NCDB (7-6), the East Coast Clippers topping Silver Glove Baseball (2-1), and Evoshield Canes NC – Gallaher over Stars Baseball White (11-3). In the semifinals Evoshield Canes NC – Gallaher continued their dominating run with a 9-1 win over the Charlotte Nationals, while it was the Mid Atlantic Pirates over the East Coast Clippers 7-3. The Evoshield Canes NC – Gallaher completed their undefeated tourney run with a 9-1 win over the Mid Atlantic Pirates and put some significant distance between themselves and the #2 team in our 13u rankings going forward.
Champion: Evoshield Canes NC – Gallaher
Runner-up: Mid Atlantic Pirates
60/90 D2
Our top ranked team in the field, #14 Carolina Naturals went 1-1 in pool play with a 6-3 loss to Carolina Rage in addition to a 14-1 win over Purpose Drive Baseball. This earned them the #5 seed in Gold bracket play. Interestingly both the #1 and #2 seed shutout both their pool play opponents and were separated by the runs scored tie breaker. The Virginia Stars Blue earned the top seed going 2-0 in pool play with shutout wins over both Rise Red (8-0) and the Huguenot Huskies (15-0). The Virginia Blacksox earned the #2 seed with 2 wins in pool play over the Huguenot Huskies (10-0) and the Rawlings Prospects NC (3-0). The Beach Bulldogs earned the #3 seed with wins over the Pamlico River Rats (12-1) and and the Carolina Rage (11-5) in pool play. The #4 seed went to the Mid Atlantic Orioles – Youngman, who also went 2-0 in pool play, with wins over South Wake Storm Red (6-0) and the Pamlico River Rats (11-6). Rawlings Prospects NC earned the #6 seed with a win over Purpose Driven Baseball (9-6) in addition to their loss to the Virginia Blacksox in pool play. The Virginia Stars earned the #7 seed going 1-1 in pool play with a win over the South Wake Storm Red (13-4) and a loss to Rise Red (10-9). The final seed in the Gold bracket (#8) went to the Carolina Rage who were 1-1 in pool play with their win over the Naturals in addition to their loss to the Beach Bulldogs. In quarterfinal play, it was #1 seed Virginia Stars Blue over #8 seed Carolina Rage (7-2), #7 seed Virginia Stars took out #2 seed Virginia Blacksox 12-5, #6 seed Rawlings Prospects NC bested #3 seed Beach Bulldogs by the final of 7-4, and #5 seed Carolina Naturals topped #4 seed Mid Atlantic Orioles – Youngman 7-2. In the semifinals, it was the Rawlings Prospects NC over the Virginia Stars 9-4 and the Carolina Naturals on top of the Virginia Stars Blue by the score of 10-5. In an absolutely great game in the finals, the Naturals edged out the Prospects 6-5 to take home the championship.
Champion: Carolina Naturals
Runner-up: Rawlings Prospects NC