Rankings Recap

Baseball is in full swing(Pun intended) and there were lot of early upsets and changes since the last rankings update. Remember that time marches on for this website. After the rankings update is complete, we move on to the next two weeks’ of tournaments. Also, keep in mind it’s not where you start its where you finish. Some teams are better at preparing indoors and ready for early season success. Many other teams have kids that are just knocking off the rust after a long season of playing other sports, which we are a huge proponent of.  A baseball body is much different than a basketball body right?

Every team has a peak…when will yours be?

Biggest Movers
These teams had some early success and climbed substantially in the rankings. We love it when teams prove us wrong and just go out and compete! Previously unranked Powerhouse TC Wagoner(IN) and Noblesville Millers Black(IN) made a deep run in Indy to climb into the state and National Rankings. The 12u PYO Patriots(OH) made a big Jump in Ohio after a solid showing at the Bat Flip Classic at Action Sports in Dayton, OH. Another Ohio team, the 14u Mid-Ohio Bullets(OH), jumped substantially in the rankings after beating a couple top 10 teams in bracket play. In that same age group, the PF Flyers-Edwards(OH) jumped to #2 after beating the Mid-Ohio Bullets and Cincinnati Riverbats in Bracket Play. There is a lot of parity in this age group, and we expect a lot of movement this year. The 14u Naperville Renegades(IL)  won two early season tournaments and defeated #5 along the way. This early success has catapulted them substantially in the Illinois State and National rankings.  

The 9u West Cobb Sox(GA) beat the top 2 GA teams to take control of the #1 spot in GA at 9u. The Dallas Tigers(TX) 14u beat Dulins’ Dodgers in a championship game, which earned them the #5 in Texas and the #13 National ranking. The Maryland Orioles(MD) 10u Team beat 4 top ranked MD teams to climb into the state rankings. Also in Maryland, The 12u East Coast Titans (MD) put themselves on the radar with quality wins against a couple ranked teams.

The 9u Drillers Baseball Club (CA) climbed into the California state rankings by beating the Dirtbags(AZ) and BC Pirates in the Championship game. Gulf Coast Edge 10u (AL) climbed all the way up to #12 in the national rankings after defeating the Kennesaw Generals (GA.) and competing at high level all year. The 9u Rawlings Tigers Black(NV) team defeated Sin City Thunder to take over the top spot in NV and climb in national rankings.

The Milwaukee Angels Red(WI) jumped Stiks Black to take over the #1 WI spot after a convincing win in Indy, however, another familiar name won it all. The 12u Canes Midwest(IN) proved they are still one of the top 12u teams in the Midwest. Speaking of Canes, Canes TN 12u(TN) beat the #6 GA (Who Beat #2 AL Convincingly) in Lakepoint, GA. This team continues their success as the #4 nationally ranked team at 12u. Also to note, this team has success developing and winning with its own players!

Mid-Atlantic and Midwest Teams Are Good
Who said Midwest and Mid-Atlantic baseball is weak? Not us. TBR is a National Site. We appreciate quality baseball everywhere. We are witnessing a pendulum shift in the competitiveness of baseball, (especially after PGs rule changes about grade-appropriate players). For those not familiar with the rule change. Prior to 2022, PG and many other sanctioning bodies allowed unlimited grade-appropriate players. Now PG only allows two per team up to 13u and the travel baseball landscape is changing as a result.

Historically, the top teams were taking advantage of the loophole stacking their teams with 5-8 players that were a full year older. This practice was predominantly done by some of the southern teams.  Another factor was the majority of the time the northern teams have to play in the south and rarely do the southern teams come north(the milder climate in the Summer is much better baseball weather btw). With that being said, TBR would like to commend the teams that are coming north to compete at the Elite World Series in Dayton in July-Oklahoma Fuel(OK), Arsenal(FL) and Vendetta(TX). 

The Motor City Hit Dogs Leonard 13u(MI) and Motor City Hit dogs Yates 13u(MI) both represented the Midwest in GA last weekend. Hit Dogs Leonard won the 54/80 division. Another Midwest team and arguably the best in the Midwest, Cangelosi Sparks Campbell 13u (IL)  beat a few highly ranked MO teams in games that were never close. In the Mid-Atlantic the New York Longhorns(NY) 11u continue to climb in the rankings and one thing is for sure. There is some excellent baseball in New York. Finally going back to last year, Wisconsin Elite 13u(WI)-Now Top Tier Biondich 14u(IL) took their team down to the POWER SHOWCASE World Championship and won it all against top level teams from all over the country. Great job to all these teams for representing their areas. 
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Teams/Organizations like Canes Midwest(IN), Bulls Black(IN), Dream Chasers(NY), Grit(NY), Longhorns(NY),Hit Dogs(MI), Cangelosi Sparks(IL), MA Show(NJ), Top Tier(IL), Vipers(KY), Upper Deck Cougars(IL), Team Fransisco Notorious 9(NY),  Ohio City(OH) and many more are proving there is not only excellent baseball in the Southeast/Southwest/West, but also in the Midwest and Northeast!

That’s it for this rankings update. We look forward to and welcome the movement in the next set of rankings. The rankings requests are reviewed and rankings are updated twice a month. If you want to submit your team next time, make sure to download the Apple and Android APP. Only Submissions through the app are reviewed. Also, make sure to review the criteria. As always, “Play The Best, Beat The Best”.