Team photos courtesy of Sky’s the LimitPhotography; action shots - Baseball TheMagazine

It was a perfect weekend foryouth baseball as teams con-verged on the Charlotte, North

Carolina area for Nations Baseball’sUltimate NCI on April 17th throughApril 19th, 2009.

“What an event!” TournamentDirector Don Mason said. “The teamsplayed hard. The players gave it theirall. It was truly a great baseball week-end. With a paid NationalChampionship berth up for grabs ineach division it was exciting! Wewould like to thank the City ofGastonia Parks & Recreation, GastonCounty Parks & Recreation, andMecklenburg County Parks &Recreation for the tremendous jobthey did in making this tournament ahuge success.”

In the 9U division, the CarolinaSluggers went 4-1 for the weekend,scoring forty-nine and only allowingthirty-seven to cross the plate. WildcatBaseball settled for second as theyposted a 3-2 tournament record.

“Once again the Sluggers would like to take a moment to thank all the staff of CrystalCarolina Sports and Nation’s Baseball for yet another great weekend of top notch baseball,”said Jeff White of the 9U Carolina Sluggers. “The competition is always tough and to date,all have shown great sportsmanship. You guys and gals attract some great teams and weare proud to be a part of it.

To prove how tough the competition was, after losing the first game of the day to a verystrong 29ers team, the Sluggers barely made the Gold round by winning a nail biter thatwent into extra innings against a tremendously talented Carolina Prowlers. If we hadn’t hada great catch in right field by Gavin Barker, who in turn threw a strike to Marshall Raper athome, blocking the plate to get the runner tagging from third. Also we had some great pitch-ing by Justin Jarvis and Davis Hurd. Without that, we would have never made it to the Goldround on Sunday.

On Sunday the Sluggers came to play with tremendous pitching performances by BrianMcKinsey, Gavin Barker, Matt Stevens, and Jason White. There were stellar defensive playsby Drew Lord, Davis Hurd, Austin Hyde and Ryan O’Kelly, and the hot bats of and key hitsby Matt Stevens, Jason White, Drew Lord, Justin Jarvis, Austin Hyde and Gavin Barker.

I was extremely proud of how our boys bounced back from losing the first game of the

Carolina Sluggers Wildcat Baseball

29er Prep Carolina Twins

day on Saturday and barely squeakingby in the second game to come back tothe field and play as solidly and asenthusiastically as they did on Sunday.Especially having to play the same teamthat beat you the day before and notbeing intimidated says a lot for thesekids.

Once again, I would like to thank oursponsors Auto Bell, Hinson’s Electric ofKannapolis, and Tony’s Garage ofKannapolis. They truly are a great groupof sponsors and great friends of kids. Iencourage anyone in the area of thesebusinesses to use their services andsupport them when possible.” The finalresults for the 9U were: 1. CarolinaSluggers 4-1; 2. Wildcat Baseball 3-2;29er Prep 3-1; 4. Carolina Twins 2-2; 5.Garnet Crush 3-1; 6. CharlotteHurricanes 2-2; 7. Lake NormanCopperheads 2-2; 8. Carolina Prowlers 1-3; 9. East Coast Crew 1-3; 10. RutherfordCounty Pirates 0-4.

In the 10 Select division, theCherryville Roadrunners crushed theLake Norman Bears 10-0 in their firstgame. The damage continued as theydefeated the Southside Charlotte Royals11-1 in the first meeting and 6-1 in a re-match. The East Lincoln Mustangs wereworking their way through the bracket asthey went undefeated in their first fourgames, taking on the Lake NormanBears 12-1, the North Carolina Titans 10-

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2, and in a re-match, the LakeNorman Bears 12-2 and the WestUnion Warriors by a close 4-3 win.The next game would be betweenthe two undefeated teams still stand-ing, the East Lincoln Mustangs andthe Cherryville Roadrunners. TheRoadrunners would keep themomentum moving forward as theydefeated the Mustangs 13-1 to winall the marbles.

Coaches Heath Jackson, GregCrocker, Chris Brooks, and RonTreadway wrote in to tell us, “TheCherryville Roadrunners are a 10Uteam formed with eleven kids fromour local area. We have a greatgroup of boys who love baseball andwork really hard to learn the game.We try to teach the boys the basicfundamentals of baseball that willhelp them prepare for middle andhigh school ball. These boys reallyhave bonded as a team and not onlyare becoming better ball players butbetter young men. Baseball is agame of up and downs and youhave to react to all situations, just asin life, so we stress good sportsman-ship, manners, and most of allrespect for the game and all peoplewho take their time to promote base-ball.

The NCI was a great experiencefor our team and we played somegreat teams. Nations Baseball andCrystal Carolina really are doing agreat job in providing tournamentsfor our boys to take part in. Wewould like to thank Crystal Carolinaand all the people involved in mak-ing dreams like these come true. Wewould also like to tell all our spon-sors and friends thank you for thedonations of time, money, andresources to help these boysbecome better ballplayers. To thefamilies of our boys, we want to saythank you for your time and dedica-tion to your kids and you are blessedto have young men with the workethic and determination to becomegood people as well as better base-ball players. Last but not least, wewant to tell all the kids how proudwe are as coaches and how weenjoy the time we spend with them.The Cherryville Roadrunners lookforward to the rest of the season andthe challenges ahead. GO ROAD-RUNNERS!”

Mark McGinnis of the EastLincoln Mustangs had this to say,“This was the team’s first experienceplaying in the Ultimate NCI tourna-ment. The baseball was great andthe teams were great. We could nothave enjoyed ourselves more. I

NC Force

Carolina Storm

Cherryville Roadrunners

East Lincoln Mustangs

Carolina Heat

Gastonia Rangers

Huntersville Hawks

GC Mudcats

would like to thank all of the kids for their hardwork leading up to the tournament and theparents for all of the support they provide thekids and coaches on a daily basis. We look

forward to our next opportunity to play NationsBaseball.”

The final results for the 10U Select were: 1.Cherryville Roadrunners 4-0; 2. East Lincoln

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Mustangs 4-1; 3. West UnionWarriors 2-2; 3. South CharlotteRoyals 3-2; 5. North Carolina Titans 2-2; 5. Carolina Saber Cats 0-4; 5. LakeNorman Bears 0-4.

In the 10U Open division, the toughNC Force dropped their first gameagainst the Southside Americans 8-5,but rallied back to win three straightagainst the Carolina Copperheads 10-6, KM Blue Sox 10-0 and the CarolinaStorm 9-1. Settling for a second placewin, the Carolina Storm worked theCarolina Bulldogs 4-1, KM Blue Sox 9-2 and Southside Americans 7-4 beforelosing their last game to the Force.

Robbie Pope of the 10U NC Forcecommented, “Great Weekend! The NCForce guys played well. The UltimateNCI was a good tournament, whichanytime you are playing baseball isgreat. The guys really played good onSunday, defeating a good CarolinaStorm team in the Championshipgame.”

The final results for the 10U Openwere: 1. NC Force 3-1; 2. CarolinaStorm 3-1; 3. Southside Americans 3-2; 4. KM Blue Sox 1-4; 5. CarolinaCopperheads 2-2; 6. Carolina Bulldogs1-3.

In the 11U Select division, theCarolina Copperheads posted winsover the Steele Creek Rage 15-4,Carolina Warriors 10-1, East RowanRed Sox 11-9, Mallard Creek Clash12-2 and the tough Rowan Longhorns7-6 to capture the crown. The RowanLonghorns were working hard in thebracket also, but managed a 3-2record to secure second place andMallard Creek Clash weren’t too farbehind posting a 3-1 record for theweekend putting them in the thirdspot.

Walt Bundy from the Mallard CreekClash expressed, “Nothing beats asunny spring day at the ballpark and itwas an especially great time at theUltimate NCI Tournament. Our pitch-ers were bringing heat and our batterswere getting hits from both sides ofthe plate. Although we didn’t achieveour goal of winning the tournament, itwas still a good learning experiencefor the boys. We’ll be back strongernext time. Of course, none of thiswould be possible without our wonder-ful sponsors which include The RemiGroup, Metrolina Tire & Auto,Friendly’s of Huntersville, Dairy Queenof Mallard Creek, Aqua Detox, BACECorp., and Northlake Dentistry. Thanksfrom the Mallard Creek ClashCoaches, players and parents!”

The final results for the 11U Selectwere: 1. Carolina Copperheads 5-0; 2.Rowan Longhorns 3-2; 3. Mallard

Stix Baseball

Southside Bombers

Alexander Cougars

Carolina Copperheads

Rowan Longhorns

Mallard Creek Clash

Creek Clash 3-1; 3. Steele Creek Rage 2-2; 5.East Rowan Red Sox 2-2; 5. Tigers 3-1; 7.Upper Cleveland Crushers 2-2; 7. MatthewsGrizzlies 1-3; 9. Carolina Knights 2-2; 10. Lake

Norman Dawgs 1-3; 11. Carolina Warriors 1-3;12. Lake Norman Cobras 0-4.

In the 11U Open division, the Carolina Heatwere the team to beat as they burned up the

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Dallas Wildcats

Hickory Hurricanes

Southside Stealth

Carolina Patriots

Lake Norman Wildcats

Carolina Eagles

Gaston Crusaders

Spartanburg Bombers

bracket, going undefeated 4-0 for the weekend.The second place Gastonia Rangers were workinghard by winning their first three games, sendingthem to meet the Heat in the championship game.The championship game was a close game and inthe end it would be the Carolina Heat keeping thecharge and taking the win 3-2.

The final results for the 11U Open were: 1.Carolina Heat 4-0; 2. Gastonia Rangers 3-1; 3.Huntersville Hawks 2-3; 4. GC Mudcats 1-4; 5.Carolina Sluggers 2-2; 6. Carolina Cobras 1-3.

In the 12U Select division, it was a close battlebetween the Dallas Wildcats and the HickoryHurricanes. Both teams came out of the box readyto play and defeated everyone they faced. The twoscrappy teams met for the final game and what ashow it was. Dallas Wildcats took the win by onerun (9-8) and took the bragging rights for the nextyear.

Chris Neal of the Dallas Wildcats told us,“Team-work and perseverance is what it took for usto win the Ultimate NCI tournament. The team bat-ting average was .449 for the weekend and thedefense and pitching was exceptional. Thank youto our sponsors C & J Machine Co., Concrete

Supply, and South Point Family Dentistry.Also, thanks to our parents who support andencourage the team tremendously.Congratulations Dallas Wildcats!”

“The 12U Southside Stealth team ofCharlotte, North Carolina recently competedin the Nation’s Baseball Ultimate NationalChampionship Invitational,” said Greg Ball.“The Stealth had a very strong showing, fin-ishing in third place with their only lossescoming against the tournament champion. Asa team, the Stealth led the tournament in runsscored and also had the best differentialbetween runs scored and runs allowed.Individual performances of note include: MattBall had a perfect game going until the fifthinning and pitched a complete game sixinning shutout, striking out ten, no walks, andallowed only three hits; Bradley Kendallpitched four innings, allowing only one runand two hits; Jordan Belote led the team’soffense with eight hits including three doublesand one home run; Conor Elliott had sevenhits with one double; On base leaders were

Jordan Belote, Daniel Belsito, Matt Ball,Conor Elliott and Ryan Sweetman. Manythanks also go to our sponsors and we aregrateful for their support: Anzi Pizza, Nothingbut Noodles, Carolina Business Solutions, Dr.

Mark Petryna, Tavern on the Tracks, FlagstoneFine Homes and the Robinson/Elliott/SmithLaw Firm.”

The final results for the 12U Select were: 1.Dallas Wildcats 4-0; 2. Hickory Hurricanes 4-

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1; 3. Southside Stealth 3-2; 4. Carolina Patriots 2-2; 5. Carolina Pirates 2-2; 6. DenverBallbusters 2-2; 7. Carolina Outlaws 2-2; 8. Park Sharon Hawks 1-3; 9. Rowan Raptors 1-3; 10. Southside Bulldogs 0-4.

In the 12U Open division, Stix Baseball started the weekend by knocking off theCarolina Bulldogs in their first game 4-1, but the Carolina Sting took the wind away whenthey defeated Stix Baseball 8-1 in the second game. Stix Baseball came back re-charged

CS Baseball

Watauga Baseball

Hit Squad

Carolina Pride B.C.

Carolina Jays

CBC Cougars

Carolina Blast

Earl Hiatt of the Stix told us, “We had agreat tournament at the Ultimate NCI. Weloved playing three games on Sunday to getour championship win. Thanks to all of our

Alexander Cougars

Lake Norman Cougars

Carolina Bucks

Charlotte Pirates

great families for their support. Thank youBaseball The Magazine and Nations Baseballfor highlighting our team and all these greatyoung players. Our motto: ‘Always Do YourBest!’”

The final results for the 12U Open were: 1.Stix Baseball 4-1; 2. Southside Bombers 3-2;3. Carolina Sting 3-1; 3. Alexander Cougars 3-1; 5. Charlotte Crush 2-2; 5. Carolina Bulldogs1-3; 7. Carolina Cobras 1-3; 7. CarolinaRattlers 0-4.

In the 13U Select division, the AlexanderCougars turned in an exceptional record of 5-0, scoring twenty-nine and only letting eightruns cross the plate the entire weekend. TheLake Norman Cougars weren’t too far behindas they posted a 4-1 tournament record, onlyallowing nineteen.

Chuck Alexander of the Alexander Cougarscommented, “Our team’s experience at the

Ultimate NCI Nations Baseball tour-nament hosted by Crystal CarolinaSports was extremely positive. It ispriceless when you are involved intournaments that are run profes-sionally, played at great facilities andbring in top quality competition.Everyone wins - ESPECIALLY THEKIDS!”

The final results for the 13USelect were: 1. Alexander Cougars5-0; 2. Lake Norman Cougars 4-1;3. Charlotte Pirates 2-2; 3. CarolinaBucks 2-2; 5. North Carolina Vipers3-1; 5. Carolina Venom 2-2; 7.Carolina Bulldogs 1-3; 7. CBCCougars 1-3; 9. South CharlotteWildcats 2-2; 10. Mooresville Royals1-3; 11. Burke Phantoms 0-4.

In the 13U Open division, TheLake Norman Wildcats werestunned, dropping the first game tothe Gaston Crusaders 9-2, but wenton to rally and win three in a row,starting with the Carolina Eagles12-0, next was the GastonCrusaders 11-1 and finally, theCarolina Eagles in a re-match 4-1.

“Don Mason does a great jobwith the Nations Baseball tourna-ments and the NCI was no differ-ent...GREAT JOB,” said ChuckBreeden of the Carolina Eagles.

Greg Smith from the GastonCrusaders 13U commented, “TheUltimate NCI was a great tourna-ment. It had all the amenities youcould ask for when playing baseball;plenty of good competition, out-standing baseball, good umpiresand great facilities to showcase itall. Special thanks to CrystalCarolina Sports, Nations Baseballand Baseball The Magazine for ajob well done. I would also like tosay thank you to all our parents andfans for their continued support. Ourteam really enjoyed the experience.”

The final results for the 13UOpen were: 1. Lake NormanWildcats 3-1; 2. Carolina Eagles 1-3; 3. Gaston Crusaders 2-2; 4.Spartanburg Bombers 2-2.

In the 14U Open division,Carolina Pride B.C. went 3-1 for theweekend scoring twenty-eight andonly allowing seventeen. TheCarolina Jays settled for the secondplace trophy by finishing 3-1 withthird place going to CBC Cougars 3-1 and the Carolina Blast placedfourth with a 1-3 record for theweekend.

In the 14U Select division, CSBaseball won the bracket withWatauga Baseball hot on their heelsplacing second and rounding outthe top three were the Hit Squad.

and won the next three straight defeatingCarolina Cobras 6-2, Carolina Sting, in a sec-ond meeting, 7-4 and finally the SouthsideBombers for the crown by 8-4.

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