Triple Crown Border Wars 8u-10u Recap May 2019

27 ranked teams across North Carolina and Virginia were in the 8u-10u fields in Rocky Mount this past weekend. In total, there were 53 teams spread out across these three age groups. We saw numerous top 10 and 20 match ups between some of the best teams in Virginia and North Carolina. Here we recap the weekend's games from Rocky Mount in the 8u-10u age groups.

8u

The 8u division featured two top 20 from North Carolina as well as 3 of the top 10 teams from Virginia among the 13 teams in the field. In pool A, NC #9 Dirtbags East went 2-0 on Saturday with a 13-5 win over Ironbridge Baseball Academy (VA) and a 22-0 win over Garciaparra Baseball Group (GBG, VA). The New Kent Giants (VA) were also 2-0 in pool A, scoring a 15-10 win over Ironbridge and an 11-3 win over GBG. In pool B, VA #1 Team Vinci - Elrod went 2-0 with a 3-2 win over NC #18 NCDB Rivercats and an 18-2 win over VA #9 Virginia Invasion. The Rivercats notched a 20-9 win over the Coastal Closers (VA) in their other pool play game while the Invasion scored a 12-4 win over the James River Vipers (VA) in their second pool play game. The Closers finished 1-1 in pool play with a 16-12 win over James River in their other pool play game. In pool C, VA #4 Rockit Sports Blue went 1-0-1 with an 8-0 win over the Western Branch Bruins (VA) and a 7-7 tie against the Carolina Titans. The Titans scored a 14-7 win over the Peninsula Co Pilots and the Bruins topped the Co Pilots 16-3 in their other pool play games on Saturday.

Unfortunately, rain overnight on Saturday and into Sunday morning cancelled all game in the 8u bracket except for games between the 1-4 seeds. In the semifinals, top seed Dirtbags East notched a 6-2 win over #4 seed Rockit Sports Blue, and #3 seed Team Vinci rolled to a 19-3 win over the New Kent Giants. In the finals, Team Vinci took a 16-9 lead into the bottom of the 6th inning and held on for a 16-15 win over Dirtbags East.

 

 

9u
9u #2 Dirtbags Black was impressive at Border Wars, throwing shutouts in 4 of 5 games, including 3 straight in the Gold bracket.

The 9u age group was comprised of 22 teams, including 6 of the top 10 teams from Virginia and 7 of the top 20 teams from North Carolina. In pool A on Saturday, NC #2 Dirtbags Black went 2-0 in dominate fashion, notching a 17-0 win over the Western Branch Bruins Blue (VA) and an 18-1 win over the Mechanicsville RiverDogs (VA). The Stafford Warriors also went 2-0 in pool A with a 10-3 win over Bruins Blue and a 14-13 win over Rock Solid Red. NC #8 Five Star Carolina - Young also went 2-0 in pool A, notching an 8-3 win over the RiverDogs and a 5-3 win over Rock Solid Red. In pool B, VA #1 Canes 757 - Roach was the only undefeated team, scoring a 13-7 win over the Coastal Closers and an 8-4 win over NC #11 NCDB Rivercats. The Rivercats topped VA #7 5-3 in their other pool play game to finish 1-1 on Saturday. The Rage also went 1-1 on Saturday after a 14-4 win over NC #10 Dirtbags East in their other pool play game. Dirtbags East fell 8-0 against VA #3 Rockit Sports Blue in their other pool play to finish 0-2 on Saturday. Rockit Sports Blue fell 3-1 against the Coastal Closers in their other pool play game on Saturday to finish 1-1 for the day.

In pool C, NC #4 Canes Baseball NC - Harris went 2-0 with a 14-2 win over Team Vinci and a 12-2 win over the New Kent Giants. VA #2 Canes 757 - Ruberti went 1-0-1 in pool play, scoring a 4-3 win over Team Vinci and a 10-10 tie against NC #15 Youngsville Phantoms. The Phantoms notched a 15-0 win over the New Kent Giants in their other pool play game on Saturday. In pool D, VA #8 757 Dirtbags Platinum went 2-0 with a 22-5 win over the Carolina Pirates and a 14-5 win over NC #18 NCABC Fungo - Piscorik. Fungo topped the Virginia Beach Knights 12-3 in their other pool play game to finish 1-1 for the day. VA #4 VA Seminoles - Everett went 2-0 in pool D as well, edging the Virginia Beach Knights 13-12 and topping the Carolina Pirates 13-5.

Only the top 8 seeds made the Gold bracket for Sunday,  which left some of the best teams in the Silver and Bronze brackets for Sunday. In the Gold bracket quarterfinals, #1 seed Dirtbags Black blanked #8 seed Youngsville Phantoms 8-0, #4 seed Canes - Roach rolled to an 11-1 win over #5 seed Stafford Warriors, #3 seed 757 Dirtbags Platinum edged #5 VA Seminoles - Everett 2-1, and #2 seed Canes - Harris scored a 13-5 win over #7 seed Five Star Carolina - Young. In the semifinals, Dirbags Black shut out the top team in Virginia, Canes 757 - Roach, 8-0, and Canes - Harris edged past  757 Dirtbags Platinum 7-6. In the finals, Dirtbags Black threw their 3rd shutout in a row and 4th in 5 games in the tournament, notching a 7-0 win over Canes Baseball NC - Harris.

 

 

10u

5 ranked teams from North Carolina and 4 ranked teams from Virginia were in the 18-team 10u field this weekend in Rocky Mount. In pool A, NC #5 Dirtbags Black was the lone 2-0 team, topping VA #2 VA Seminoles - Dowdy 5-1 and edging VA #9 Stafford Warriors 9-8. The Seminoles fell 10-6 against MVP Athletics and failed to make the Gold bracket for Sunday. The Stafford Warriors fell 7-5 against VA #5 Tidewater Drillers in their other pool play game and also failed to make the Gold bracket. The Drillers tied MVP Athletics 6-6 in their other pool play game on Saturday. In pool B, NC #12 NCDB Rivercats went 2-0 with a 10-1 win over VA Seminoles - Smith and a 13-5 win over Rocky Mount Marshals - Ward. NC #7 Rock Solid Red went 2-0 as well in pool B, scoring a 5-3 win over Rise AAA (VA) and a 17-2 win over Rocky Mount Marshals - Ward.

In pool C, NC #15 Wilson Reds went 2-0 with an 8-2 win over VA #6 Western Tidewater Rage and a 14-5 win over the Coastal Closers (VA). The Rage scored a 16-6 win over Ironbridage Baseball - Wallace in their other pool play game to finish 1-1 on Saturday. In pool D, NC #9 Dirtbags East finished 1-0-1 in pool play with a 2-1 win over Virginia Venom - Motley and a 8-8 tie against the Richmond Spiders (VA).  Canes VA - Grauer also finished 1-0-1 with a 4-4 tie against the Venom and a 9-8 win over the Spiders.

12 teams made the Gold bracket for Sunday, with the top 4 seeds receiving byes into the quarterfinals. In the Gold bracket play-in games, #9 seed Rise AAA topped Canes VA - Graue 10-1, #5 seed topped #12 Virginia Venom - Motley 8-7, #6 seed Tidewater Drillers took out #11 seed Coastal Closers 12-3, and #7 seed Dirtbags East topped #10 Western Tidewater Rage 9-4. In the quarterfinals, the NCDB Rivercats scored a 12-6 win over Rise AAA, Dirtbags Black notched a 5-2 win over MVP Athletics, Rock Solid Red rolled to a 10-2 win over the Tidewater Drillers, and the Wilson Reds edged past Dirtbags East 8-7. In the semifinals, the Rivercats scored a 7-4 win over Dirtbags Black, and Rock Solid Red outlasted the Wilson Reds 17-13. In the finals, Rock Solid Red got out to a 6-1 lead through 2 1/2 innings and held on for an 8-6 win over the NCDB Rivercats.