Some of the best teams in North Carolina made the trip down to Atlanta this past weekend to test themselves against some of the top teams in the Southeast. 9u #1 Park Sharon Nationals and 9u #16 SBA Canes – Simmons, 10u #1 Canes NC – Gilchrist, 11u #1 SBA Canes – Ross, and 12u #2 Minion and #5 Park Sharon Nationals were all in action. Here’s a quick recap of how the North Carolina teams fared this past weekend in Atlanta.
9u
Park Sharon went into this tournament as without a doubt the best 9u team in the state of North Carolina. They opened up pool play against the Georgia Monarchs whom they topped 7-3. In their next game, they face the Carl Black Longhorns (GA) and jumped out to a 6-4 lead after 3 innings. Unfortunately, the Nationals gave up two runs in the bottom of the 5th inning and the Longhorns were able to secure a 6-6 tie, which left the Nationals in second place in pool A. In pool B, SBA Canes – Simmons took on East Side Thunder Premier (GA) in their opening game. They initially jumped out to a 4-0 lead through two innings and were able to hold on for a 5-4 win. In their second pool play game, the Canes faced off against Mayhem/Icon (AL). Much like their first game, this was a tight game all the way, but the Canes scored 3 runs in the bottom of the third inning to take the lead for good and held on for a 7-5 win.
In bracket play, Park Sharon faced off against the Gresham Yard Dogs (GA) in their opening game. Park Sharon jumped on them in the opening inning to take an 8-0 lead and never looked back notching a 13-0 win over the Yard Dogs. Meanwhile, the Canes – Simmons were matched up against the Meridian Panthers (GA) in their opening bracket play game. This game was tight through two innings, however the Canes exploded for 4 runs in the third to take a 7-2 lead and cruised to a 7-3 win behind stellar pitching that held the Panthers to just 1 hit. In their quarterfinal match up, the Nationals matched up against the FCA Blueclaws (FL). The Nationals were able to take the lead with a 4-run 3rd inning and secured a 7-4 win over the Blueclaws and reach the semifinals. In the Canes’ quarterfinal game, they were matched up against All American Arsenal (GA). The Canes jumped out to a 7-2 lead after two innings and methodically built from there to take an 11-3 win and become the second North Carolina team in the semifinals. In the semifinals, the Nationals faced the East Cobb Astros (GA). The game was tight the whole way and the Nationals scored two runs in the top of the 5th inning to tie the game at 5. In the bottom of the 5th, the Astros hit a walk off home run to take a 6-5 win and send the Nationals home. In the other semifinal, the SBA Canes faced off against Force Baseball Academy – Griffen (GA). The Canes got behind early and were down 6-3 after two innings. They tried to battle back, scoring two runs in the top of the 4th, but came up just short and fell 6-5. In the finals, Force Baseball notched an 8-0 victory over the East Cobb Astros. Park Sharon finished 3-1-1 for the weekend and the Canes finished 4-1 in what was a great showing for both teams. Park Sharon is currently ranked #8 in USSSA’s national power rankings, while the Canes sit at #44 nationally.
10u
Canes NC – Gilchrist have been one of the more dominant teams regardless of age group in the state of North Carolina. They opened up pool play with an 8-1 win over Elite Sluggers – Rogo (GA). They followed that up 6-1 win over the East Cobb Yankees (GA) with two of their pitchers teaming up to throw a no-hitter. This left them in first place pool D. In their first bracket play game, the Canes were matched up against Five Star National Warner Robbins (GA). As was the theme for the weekend, the Canes’ pitching and defense won out and they scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning and held on for a 3-2 win and a trip to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, the Canes faced off against the East Cobb Astros Navy (GA). The Canes took the lead in the first inning and never looked back, scoring a 9-4 win over the Astros and a berth in the semifinals. In the semifinals, the Canes were matched up against Crusaders Baseball (TN). Again, the Canes dominating pitching and defense won out as the Canes rolled to an 8-0 win over the Crusaders. In the finals the Canes were met by Five Star Tigers – Martinez (FL) who, prior to this event, were ranked #4 nationally in USSSA’s national power rankings. As was the case all weekend, the Canes rode excellent pitching and stingy defense all the way to a 3-2 win and the 10u championship of the Atlanta Spring Super NIT. With the win, the Canes moved up to #6 nationally in USSSA’s national power rankings.
11u
SBA Canes – Ross made the trip to Atlanta to compete in their second USSSA Super NIT of the spring season. In their opening pool play game, the Canes faced off against GA Academy Power. The Canes fell behind early, giving up 5 runs in the first inning. However, there defense clamped down after the first inning and they slowly chipped away at the lead, scoring 2 runs in the top of the 5th inning to take a 7-5 lead. They were able to limit the Power to 1 run in the bottom of the 5th and notched a 7-6 win. In their second pool play game, the Canes matched up against the East Cobb Colt .45’s Navy (GA). This was a tight game, however the Canes scored 3 in the bottom of the 3rd inning to take a 6-3 lead, and held on after that to finish with a 6-3 win. In their first bracket game, the Canes faced off against the Meridian Panthers (GA). The Canes fell behind early, giving up 8 runs in the second inning, and were unable to battle all the way back falling 11-7 to the Panthers. Although it wasn’t the outcome they hoped for, the Canes remain in the top 10 nationally at #10 in USSSA’s latest power rankings.
12u
Minion headed into this Super NIT full of confidence after some dominating play early this spring in North Carolina. The Park Sharon Nationals have also been one of the best 12u teams in North Carolina, currently sitting at #5 in our latest rankings. Minion faced off against Georgia Academy Power Baseball in their first pool play game. The rode dominating defense and pitching to a 7-1 win over the Power. In their second pool play game, Minion matched up against the Georgia Braves. This game was tight all the way, but Minion scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 3rd and the bottom of the 4th innings to take an 8-5 lead heading into the last inning. In the top of the 5th, Minion was able to limit the Braves to 2 runs and hold on for an 8-7 win and a 2-0 performance in pool play. Park Sharon faced the Kennesaw Generals (GA) in their first pool play game. Park Sharon was down 5-0 after two innings and could never muster a come back effort as they fell 10-2. In their second pool play game, they faced Team Halo (GA). In this game, the got out to a 6-0 lead through 3 innings and held on for an 8-3 win. In bracket play, Minion faced off against the East Orlando Tigers (FL). Minion scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning, however the Tigers bounced back with 4 runs in the top of the second inning to take a 4-2 lead through two innings. The Tigers added another run in the top of the 5th inning, however Minion rallied for 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th to tie the game at 5. In the 6th inning, the Tigers were able to push across one run in the top half of the inning. Minion was unable to answer in the bottom of the 6th inning and fell 6-5 to the Tigers in a hard-fought game. Park Sharon was matched up against the Oconee Elite (GA) in their first bracket play game. This was also a tight game, going back and forth. Oconee had a 4-3 lead heading into the 6th inning and added two more in the top of the 6th. Park Sharon was unable to get any offense going in the bottom of the 6th inning and lost 6-3 to end their tournament run. This was Minion’s first loss of the spring season and they are currently ranked #20 nationally in USSSA’s national power rankings.