We are closing in on the end of the spring, but there was still some exciting baseball going on in Charlotte this weekend at the USSSA site. Multiple top 10 and 20 teams were inaction, including 9u #1 Park Sharon Nationals playing up in the 10u age group. Here's a recap of the weekend's games from Charlotte.
9u
#5 SBA Canes - Pitts started the weekend in dominating fashion with an 18-2 win over the Eastside Hurricanes and a 20-2 win over the AC Sluggers to finish 2-0 in pool play. SBA Canes - Goodyear was also 2-0 in pool play with a 9-4 win over the Carolina Reds (SC) and an 18-3 win over Ripstix Baseball. The Reds scored a 10-0 win over SBA Canes - Carroll in their other pool play game on Saturday. The Carolina Combat also finished 2-0 in pool play with a 13-5 win over the East Hurricanes and a 9-8 win over Copperheads - Sigler. In Gold bracket play on Sunday, the Carolina Reds scored an 11-5 win over SBA Canes - Pitts while SBA Canes - Goodyear topped the Carolina Combat 11-10. In the finals, the Reds rolled to a 6-0 win over Canes - Goodyear.
10u
#7 Dirtbags Black went 2-0 on Friday with an 8-5 win over Mission Vipers Black and a 20-0 win over the Venom Stars. #20 Mission Vipers Gold went 1-1 with an 11-7 win over Core Athletics and a 6-5 loss to GRIT. GRIT scored a 13-6 win over Mission Vipers Black in their other pool play game. 9u #1 Park Sharon Nationals played up this weekend and went 2-0 in pool play with an 11-1 win over Core Athletics and a 15-8 win over the Weddington Blue Ice. In Gold bracket play, Mission Vipers Gold topped Dirtbags Black 8-3 and GRIT scored a 9-5 win over the Park Sharon Nationals. In the finals, Mission Vipers Gold edged past GRIT 5-4 to take home the 10u crown. Of note, Dirtbags Black scored a 9-2 win over the Park Sharon Nationals in the consolation final.
11u
#12 Carolina Athletics went 1-1 on Saturday in pool play with a 6-5 loss to SBA Canes - Walker and a 4-3 win over WCW Black. #19 Canes Baseball NC - Barrett went 1-0-1 in pool play with a 5-0 win over the Powder Springs Silverhawks and a 15-15 tie against #14 Vision Bandits. The Bandits fell 8-4 against the Silverhawks in their other game on Saturday. In the Gold bracket play-in games, the Bandits topped the Silverhawks 11-3 while the Athletics scored a 7-5 win over WCW Black. In the semifinals, Canes - Walker edged the Bandits 8-6 while the Athletics rolled to a 17-6 win over Canes - Barrett. In the finals, Canes - Walker edged past the Athletics 9-8 to win the 11u title.
12u
Canes Charlotte went 2-0 on Saturday with a 21-9 win over the LE Gray Hawks and a 9-4 win over Spartans - Campbell. The Spartans topped the LE Gray Hawks 23-2 in their other pool play game. Blackjaxx also went 2-0 with a 9-8 win over Carolina Vipers White and a 9-8 win over SBA Canes - Ritter. Canes - Ritter notched a 10-3 win over Vipers White in their other pool play game. On Sunday, Canes - Ritter scored a 12-4 win over Vipers White in the first play-in game and Spartans - Campbell rolled to an 8-0 win over the Gray Hawks in the other play-in game. In the semifinals, Canes Charlotte scored a 5-3 win over Canes - Ritter, and the Blackjaxx notched a 6-4 win over Spartans - Campbell. In the finals, Canes Charlotte rolled to a 19-3 win over Blackjaxx.
13u
Team 24 Gamecocks (SC) went 2-0 on Saturday with an 11-0 win over Kings Mountain Storm and a 21-0 win over Charlotte Braves - Hueston. Heat Baseball Black was also 2-0 with a 14-11 win over the Storm and an 11-8 win over Academy Baseball - WCWAA. The Carolina Rockies Gray went 2-0 on Saturday notching an 8-6 win over the Karolina Kraken and an 11-9 win over HQ4 Clippers Gray. In the play-in game on Sunday, Ultimate Performance topped the South Charlotte Braves - Hueston 8-2. In the semifinals, Rockies Gray scored a 14-7 win over the Kraken and Team 24 topped Ultimate Performance 11-5. In the finals, Team 24 rolled to a 14-1 win over Rockies Gray to take home the 13u title.