The USSSA Fall Beast of the East (BoE) saw some of the very best teams in North Carolina and beyond come together for an outstanding tournament. Rain tried to ruin it, but after some delays and postponed Friday games, the tournament was able to be completed for all age groups. It was a huge weekend for SBA teams with tournament titles at 9u, 11u, and 12u, and the 9u and 12u teams making strong cases to assume the #1 ranking in their respective age groups this week. Here we recap the exciting weekend of play at the USSSA Fall BoE.
8u
Union County Crush - Bennett went 2-0 on Saturday in pool play with a 9-0 win over the MARA Mud Dawgs and a 9-5 win over the Carolina Reds. Union County Crush - Roadcap also play the Mud Dawgs and Reds, however they fell 15-0 against the Mud Dawgs and 12-2 against the Reds to finish pool play 0-2.
In the semifinals of bracket play on Sunday, the MARA Mud Dawgs topped the Reds 8-3 and Union County Crush - Bennett rolled to a 9-1 win over Union County Crush - Roadcap. In the finals, Union County Crush - Bennett completed a 4-0 weekend with an 11-3 win over the MARA Mud Dawgs.
Champion prediction: Union County Crush - Bennett
Tournament champion: Union County Crush - Bennett
9u
7 of our top 20 including or top 3 teams were in the 9u BoE field this weekend. #1 Dirtbags Black went 2-0 in pool play, scoring a 17-2 win over Ultimate Performance and a 9-1 win over the G-town Pirates (SC) on their way to the #1 seed for bracket play. #2 SBA Premier also went 2-0 in pool play with a 9-3 win over the Venom Stars and a 9-2 over the Upstate Young Guns (SC). #3 LBC Vipers also finished 2-0 in pool play after notching a 13-1 win over the Venom Stars and a 6-5 win over the Young Guns. #8 Triple Crown Lookouts also went 2-0 through pool play with a 4-1 win over #9 East Rowan and a 12-3 win over #12 Union County Crush - Gadd. East Rowan topped Union County Crush - Gadd 12-3 in their other pool play game on Saturday. #17 South Charlotte also went 2-0 in pool play after scoring a 7-1 win over Ultimate Performance and a 3-2 win over the G-town Pirates.
In the play-in games on Sunday, the Upstate Young Guns beat the Venom Stars 9-1, East Rowan out-slugged Union County Crush - Gadd 17-13, and the G-town Pirates edged past Ultimate Performance 7-6 to reach the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, SBA Premier rolled to a 9-1 win over the LBC Vipers, Dirtbags Black scored a 13-1 win over the Young Guns, East Rowan was able to get past the Lookouts 9-7, and South Charlotte scored a 14-6 win over the G-town Pirates. The first semifinal game saw a match up of our #1 and #2 9u teams, #1 Dirtbags Back and #2 SBA Premier. In this one, SBA Premier was able to get the better of #1 Dirtbags Black, notching a 13-3 win to reach the finals. In the other semifinal game, East Rowan rolled to a 13-3 win over South Charlotte to set up a showdown with SBA Premier in the finals. In the finals, SBA Premier finished off an undefeated weekend with an 11-6 win over East Rowan. For the weekend, SBA Premier finished 5-0 and defeated teams ranked #1, 3, and 9 on Sunday.
Champion prediction: Dirtbags Black
Tournament champion: SBA Premier
12u
Perhaps the best 12u field of the entire fall was present in Charlotte this past weekend for the BoE. Every one of our top 10 ten teams, and 11 of our top 12 teams were a part of this outstanding 22-team field. Our #1 team, Canes Baseball NC - Hood started the weekend with a 2-0 run through pool play with a 5-4 win over #10 SBA Canes - Erwin and a 6-5 win over Dirtbags National Prospects (TN). #2 SBA Premier also went 2-0 in pool play, notching an 11-4 win over the Asheville Braves and a 12-0 win over The Club Red (GA). #3 Dirtbags Charlotte was also 2-0 through pool play after a 6-2 win over the Weddington Warriors and a 13-2 win over Copperheads - Russ. #4 Mission Vipers Gold also went 2-0 in pool play and earned the top seed for bracket play with a 4-1 win over the Park Sharon Nationals and a 6-0 win over Showcase Baseball - Arnold (GA). #5 Canes Baseball NC - Simpson went 2-0 as well in pool play. They topped The Club Red 12-1 and Ultimate Performance Red 4-3 in their two pool play games. #6 Five Star Carolina - Neyra went 1-1 in their two pool play games, falling 3-2 against the Carolina Blue Sox and topping SBA Canes - Erwin 13-2. #7 NCDB Rivercats also went 1-1 in pool play with a 9-0 win over Mission Vipers Black and a close 3-2 loss against #12 Big Game 2025. Big Game fell 5-4 against Team VA in their other pool play game. #8 LBC Attack notched an 8-3 win over Copperheads - Russ and a 10-1 win over the Weddington Warriors to finish 2-0 in pool play. #9 Kernersville Bulldogs went 1-1 in pool play with a 5-1 win over Showcase Baseball - Arnold and a 5-4 loss against Ultimate Performance Red.
There were 6 play-in games in order to set the field for the round-of-16 games. In the play-in games, Showcase Baseball - Arnold topped the Weddington Warriors 3-1, the Kernersville Bulldogs notched a 13-5 win over The Club Red, the Braves topped Mission Vipers Black 10-1, Big Game 2025 edged past Copperheads - Russ 3-2, SBA Canes - Erwin scored an 8-3 win over Ultimate Performance Red, and Dirtbags National Prospects rolled past the Park Sharon Nationals 8-2. In the round-of-16, Five Star Carolina - Neyra blanked the Carolina Blue Sox 6-0, SBA Premier blasted their way to a 16-1 win over Showcase Baseball - Arnold, the Kernersville Bulldogs edged past Team VA 5-4, the Braves notched a 9-6 win over the LBC Attack, Canes - Simpson scored a 7-1 win over Big Game 2025, Dirtbags Charlotte was able to get past SBA Canes - Erwin 7-5, Mission Vipers Gold notched a 7-1 win over Dirtbags National Prospects, and NCDB edged past Canes - Hood 4-2. In the quarterfinals, SBA Premier topped Five Star - Neyra 10-2, the Bulldogs scored a 15-7 win over the Asheville Braves, Dirtbags Charlotte scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning to take an 11-10 win over Canes - Simpson, and Mission Vipers Gold notched a 3-1 win over NCDB. In the semifinals, SBA Premier got past the Kernersville Bulldogs with a 6-2 win and the Mission Vipers scored another 3-1 win, this time over Dirtbags Charlotte. In a finals match up of our #2 and #4 teams, #2 SBA Premier completed an impressive 6-0 weekend with an 11-0 win over Mission Vipers Gold. On Sunday, SBA Premier scored wins over our #4, 6, and 9 teams.
Champion prediction: Dirtbags Charlotte
Tournament champion: SBA Premier
13u
4 of our top 10 and 8 of our top 20 teams faced off in the 15-team 13u division in Charlotte this past weekend. #2 Canes Baseball Eastern NC had an interesting run through pool play, going 0-0-2 with a 6-6 tie against #10 Dirtbags Nationals and a 2-2 tie against #4 Dirtbags TBM. Dirtbags Nationals scored an 8-0 win over Upward Stars Showcase and Dirtbags TBM notched an 8-2 win over TPA Nationals - Foster in their other pool play game. #7 NCDB Rivercats went 1-1 in pool play, suffering a 9-8 loss to #12 Canes Baseball Charlotte and scoring a 7-2 win over #13 Golden Spikes. The Canes finished 2-0 in pool play with an 11-7 win over #18 Ultimate Performance Red, while the Golden Spikes dropped to 0-2 in pool play with a 6-5 loss against Canes SC in their other pool play games. Canes SC also scored a 7-0 win over Ultimate Performance Red in pool play. #14 SBA Premier went 1-1 in pool play with a 2-1 win over TPA Nationals - Batts and a 15-3 loss against Team 24 Gamecocks - Brown (SC). Team 24 - Brown fell 5-4 against SBA American in their other pool play game. SBA American topped TPA Nationals - Batts 1-0 in their other pool play game and earned the top seed and only bye for bracket play.
In the 7 bracket play play-in games, NCDB blanked SBA premier 8-0, Dirtbags Nationals blanked TPA - Batts 13-0, Dirtbags TBM edged past the Golden Spikes 8-7, Team 24 - Brown blanked the Carolina Vipers 10-0, the Charlotte Canes edged Upward Stars Showcase 7-6, Canes Baseball Eastern NC scored a 15-2 win over TPA Nationals - Foster, and Canes SC scored a 10-2 win over Ultimate Performance Red. In the quarterfinals, NCDB topped SBA American 16-3, Dirtbags Nationals notched a 13-2 win over Dirtbags TBM, Team 24 - Brown scored a 13-4 win over Charlotte Canes, and Canes Baseball Eastern NC got past Canes SC 10-5. In the semifinals, Dirtbags Nationals scored a 7-3 win over NCDB and Team 24 - Brown turned back Canes Baseball Eastern NC 8-5. In the finals, Dirtbags Nationals finished off an outstanding weekend with a 5-2 win over Team 24 - Brown to take home the 13u BoE crown.
Champion prediction: Canes Baseball Eastern NC
Tournament champion: Dirtbags Nationals