USSSA Highlights 6/13-6/14/20

Dozens of ranked teams made their way to the USSSA sites across the state this past weekend. We got to witness numerous games between ranked teams and even an upset of our #1 13u team. Here's some of the highlights from this past weekend's USSSA games.

 

8u

The big guns were out in Charlotte this past weekend as the #2 team in North Carolina (Five Star Carolina - Hilton) and the #2 team in South Carolina (Carolina Reds) were both in action. In addition, #10 Dirtbags Black and #12 South Charlotte Cardinals were both in the 8u field. Five Star - Hilton went 2-0 in pool play, including a win over the Carolina Reds. Dirtbags Black, Carolina Reds, and the South Charlotte Cardinals all finished pool play with 1-1 records, with the Cardinals scoring a win over the Dirtbags. In the quarterfinals, the Dirtbags avenged their pool play loss with a 12-4 win over the Cardinals, while Five Star - Hilton fell victim to a 13-5 upset at the hands of Union County Crush. Dirtbags Black and the Carolina Reds both rolled into the semifinals, and the Reds took home the title with a 10-4 win over the Dirtbags.

In Morganton, #3 Asheville A's rolled through the weekend going 3-0 while outscoring opponents a combined 40-5. Athletes Lab also went 3-0 in their pool, outscoring their opponents a combined 56-24.

 

9u

In Charlotte, current North Carolina #10 SBA Rowan Spinners, #14 Mission Baseball - Smith, and #23 Union County Crush - Roadcap were all in the 9u field. Mission - Smith was the lone undefeated team in pool play, going 2-0 including a 5-4 win over the Spinners. In the semifinals of pool play, the Spinners took an 11-7 lead after scoring 4 in the bottom of the 5th and held on for a 11-10 win over the SBA Nationals. Mission - Smith also had a close call, scoring a 6-5 win over Union County. In the finals, the Spinners had a bit of an easier time, rolling to an 11-1 win over Mission - Smith. In Morganton, two divisions were in place - American and National. Dry Pond rolled to a 4-0 record in the National division, outscoring their opponents a combined 50-8. In the American division, Southern Athletics also impressed, going 4-0 and outscoring opponents a combined 46-18 along the way.

 

10u

Our #5 team in North Carolina, the LBC Swarm, was in action at the Charlotte site this past weekend. They were joined by #7 SBA Nationals as the only ranked teams in the field. The Swarm went 2-0 in pool play, including a 12-3 win over the Nationals. The followed that up with a 7-5 win over the Nationals in the semifinals and an 8-7 win over the SBA Americans in the finals. In Greensboro, #4 NCABC Fungo - Piscorik rolled to a 2-0 record in pool play. #16 Dirt Devils also posted a 2-0 record in pool play, including an 11-2 win over #12 Summerfield Stars, who finished pool play with a 1-1 record. In the semifinals, the Dirt Devils posted an 8-3 win over Summerfield and Fungo - Piscorik blasted their way to an 11-0 win over Proehlific Power. In the finals, Fungo - Piscorik notched a 9-5 win over the Dirt Devils to finish up the weekend with a 4-0 record. In Morganton, 5 Star Heat posted a 4-0 record for the weekend. This included a 6-4 win over Athletes Lab - Vogel in the semifinals and a 10-2 win over Athletes Lab - Burns in the finals.

Our #1 team in North Carolina, the SBA Futures, played up in the 11u age group in Charlotte. They finished with a 2-1 record, falling 5-4 against 11u #4 Five Star Carolina Elite in their bracket play game.

 

 

11u

In Charlotte, both our #4 team in North Carolina, Five Star Carolina Elite, and our #19 team, Union County Crush - Walker, went 2-0 on Saturday, as did 10u #1 SBA Futures. In the semifinals on Sunday, the 10u Futures had a 4-3 lead heading into the last inning, but gave up 2 runs in the top of the 5th inning and couldn't stage the comeback in the bottom of the 5th and fell 5-4 against Five Star Carolina Elite. In the other semifinals game, Union County rolled to a 9-1 win over Carolina Hustle. In the finals, Five Star Carolina Elite finished off a 5-0 weekend with a 13-4 win over Union County. In Morganton, #16 Carolina Bearcats and #17 Athletes Lab headlined the field of 5 in the American division. The Bearcats had a tough weekend, going 0-1-1 in pool play before dropping their first game in bracket play 9-8 against the SBA LKN Mustangs. Athletes Lab scored the #2 seed for bracket play, going 1-0-1 in pool play with their tie coming against the Bearcats. In the semifinals, Athletes Lab edged past Five Star Heat - Carter 5-4 and the Venom Stars notched an 8-3 win over SBA LKN Mustangs. In the finals, Athletes Lab scored another 1-run win, this time notching an 8-7 win over the Venom Stars.

 

12u

The Red division in Charlotte featured 5 teams ranked in our top 25 in North Carolina including #4 SBA Futures, #5 Mission Vipers Gold, #8 CBA Copperheads Black, #15 SBA Senators, and #22 Carolina Spinners. The SBA Futures, Mission Vipers, and the Spinners all finished 2-0 in pool play with both the Futures and Mission Vipers notching wins over Copperheads Black. In the opening round bracket plays games, Copperheads Black edged the Carolina Spinners 7-6 and the SBA Senators rolled to a 10-1 win over the SBA Nationals. In the semifinals, the Futures blasted their way to a 14-6 win over Copperheads Black and Mission Gold notched an 8-2 win over the SBA Senators. In a finals matchup of top 5 teams, Mission Vipers Gold finished off a 4-0 weekend with a 14-10 win over the Futures. In Morganton, #13 Equip went 2-0 on Friday night in their only games of the weekend. In Goldsboro, both the East Coast Clippers and 11u #11 Summerfield Stars went 2-0 in pool play on Saturday. =In the semifinals on Sunday, the East Coast Clippers rolled to a 10-2 win over the Triad Cardinals, and GBC Prospects - Breedlove notched an 8-7 win over the 11u Summerfield Stars. In the finals, the East Coast Clippers finished off a 4-0 weekend with an 11-3 win over the 11u Summerfield Stars.

 

13u
13u East Coast Clippers - Anderson went 4-0 on their way to the title in Greensboro.

In Charlotte, 13 teams competed in the 13u division including North Carolina's #8 (Five Star Carolina 2024) and #9 (Dirtbags Charlotte) teams. 4 teams made it through pool play undefeated. This included Dirtbags Legends, Five Star 2024, South Charlotte Braves - Smith, and WCWAA. In the Gold bracket semifinals on Sunday, Dirtbags Legends rolled to a 10-2 win over On Deck O's Black while Five Star Carolina 2024 pitchers were able to scatter 7 hits across 6 innings and earn a 4-0 shutout victory. In the finals, Five Star Carolina 2024 finished off an undefeated weekend with a 7-4 win over Dirtbags Legends. In Greensboro, East Coast Clippers - Anderson rolled to a 2-0 record in pool play, and a 15-0 win over Riptide Gold in the semifinals. In the finals, however, the Clippers fell behind 5-1 after 5 innings, but scored in the bottom of the 6th and 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th to take home the title in a walk-off 6-5 win over the Luckies.

Our #1 team, the SBA Futures, played up in the 13u age group in Charlotte, as did #6 Concord Athletics - Barbee, #16 SBA LKN 2025 Black, and Athletes Lab - Rembert. Both Concord Athletics and Athletes Lab made it through pool play with 2-0 records while the Futures finished 1-1 on Saturday. On Sunday, Concord Athletics fell 10-3 against the Carolina Tomahawks in their opening game of the Gold bracket. Athletes Lab and the Futures faced off in their semifinal game in the Silver bracket, with Athletes Lab coming out on top by the score of 6-4. Athletes Lab subsequently fell 12-1 in the Silver bracket finals against Team 24 Gamecocks Black.