There were some impressive performances by teams across multiple age groups at the USSSA event in Charlotte this past weekend. Several teams who finished ranked in our top 20s last year earned tournament titles, and the 10u age group saw another battle between SBA Premier - Simmons and SBA Premier - Pitts in the finals. Here's a brief recap of the weekend's games from Charlotte.
9u
The HPT HitToms went 2-0 on Saturday with a 14-3 win over the Hub City Hops and a 10-1 win over PCAA. Union County Crush - Gadd went 1-0-1 with a 14-6 win over the Cherryville Sluggers and a 3-3 tie against the Hub City Hops. In the bracket play play-in game on Sunday, the Hub City Hops scored a 12-4 win over Cherryville. In the semifinals, Union County Crush - Gadd notched a 12-6 win over PCAA and the HPT HiToms blanked the Hops 10-0. In the finals, HPT completed an undefeated weekend with a 10-2 win over Union County Crush - Gadd.
10u
SBA Premier - Simmons, who finished #2 in our final 9u rankings last year, went 2-0 in pool play with an 11-2 win over Cherryville Baseball and an 8-0 win over the Haywood Havoc, who finished #16 in our final 9u rankings last year. The Havoc scored an 11-5 win over Mission Vipers Gold in their other pool play game on Saturday. SBA Premier - Pitts, who finished went 2-0 on Saturday as well with a 20-5 win over Cherryville and a 15-1 win over the Carolina Combat. In the Gold Bracket semifinals, SBA Premier - Simmons notched a 13-5 win over Mission Vipers Gold and SBA Premier - Pitts edged past the Havoc 4-2 to set up an all-SBA final. In the finals match up, SBA Premier - Simmons was able to get past SBA Premier - Pitts 10-1 to take home the 10u title in Charlotte.
11u
Mission Vipers Black, who finished 19th in our final 10u rankings last year, went 2-0 in pool play with a 10-1 win over L-town and a 12-0 win over the Indian Land Braves. They received the only bye into the semifinals for bracket play. Mission Vipers Gold also went 2-0 in pool play, scoring a 9-3 win over the LKN Dingers and a 14-2 win over the Indian Land Braves. In the quarterfinal games, the White Pines Fly Catchers topped the LKN Dingers 5-3, Mission Vipers Gold scored a 19-0 win over the Indian Land Braves, and the Carolina Reds topped L-town 11-2. In the semifinals, Mission Vipers Black scored a 12-4 win over the Fly Catchers and the Reds edged past Mission Vipers Gold 4-2. In the finals, Mission Vipers Black finished off a 4-0 weekend with a 9-1 win over the Carolina Reds.
12u
SBA Canes - Erwin, who finished 12th in our final 11u rankings last year, went 2-0 on Saturday with an 11-5 win over Team Husqvarna and a 12-4 win over the Team 24 Gamecocks (SC). Mission Vipers Black went 1-0-1 in pool play with a 7-6 win over Copperheads - Russ and an 8-8 tie against Ultimate Performance Red. Ultimate Performance topped the Copperheads 12-4 in their other pool play game on Saturday. In the bracket play play-in games, Team Husqvarna scored a 4-1 win over Copperheads - Russ and Mission Vipers Black notched a 13-1 win over Team 24. In the semifinals, SBA Canes - Erwin edged past Team Husqvarna 3-2 and Mission Vipers Black notched an 11-3 win over Ultimate Performance Red. In the finals, SBA Canes -Erwin finished out a 4-0 weekend with a 10-9 win over Mission Vipers Black.
13u
Team 24 Gamecocks - Stiles (SC) went 2-0 in pool play with a 12-3 win over Carolina Prime and a 6-2 win over South Charlotte Braves - Wrenn. The Carolina Vipers also went 2-0 in pool play with a 7-4 win over OTK and a 5-3 win over Team 24 Gamecocks - Miller (SC). OTK scored a 15-6 win over Kings Mountain Storm on Saturday to finish 1-1 in pool play. In the semifinals, OTK scored a 9-2 win over South Charlotte Braves - Wrenn and a 9-7 win over Kings Mountain Storm. In the finals, OTK notched a 10-5 win over the Carolina Vipers to take home the 13u title in Charlotte.