Friday’s action in Cary, North Carolina for 17U Champs NC kept the action coming. Beginning the day with first round matchups and moving into the quarterfinals round, four teams punched their ticket to the semifinals. Catch up on all of the excitement from the third day of competition below.
CBA/Orioles Scout Team 2, 2027 Franklin Scout Team (BTD) 1
A tight-knit defensive battle resulted in a CBA 2-1 victory over Franklin Scout Team. CBA’s pair of runs came early in the contest, which ended up being enough to advance them into the quarterfinals. Coleton Newbern started the second inning strong for CBA with a single. Miguel Delgado followed up with a walk to put the pressure on. Then, Hudson Riordan’s two-RBI double brought his guys home. Franklin Scout Team wouldn’t go down without a fight, as they cut the lead in half after an RBI single from Davis Moncus, yet could not mount a rally.
USA Prime National/Detroit Tigers Scout Team 9, Performance Baseball/Milwaukee Brewers Scout Team 0
USA Prime National dominated their way into the quarterfinals with a 9-0 mercy-rule victory over Performance Baseball. Right-handed pitcher George Ferguson’s heat was too much to handle, reaching 97 mph on his fastball. Ferguson pitched four innings, notching eight strikeouts and allowing just two hits with no runs scored. USA Prime National’s offense was rolling, powered by a massive day at the plate from Carter Hadnot. Hadnot roped an RBI triple down the line in the first frame, then a fifth-inning, three-run homer gave them a 9-0 advantage. After walking the first batter in the bottom of the fifth, three consecutive outs ended it.
CBA/Orioles Scout Team 12, FTB Phillies 2027 4
In their second game of the day, CBA knocked off top-seeded FTB Phillies 2027 12-4 to advance to the semifinals. Aiden Kearney’s RBI double and Isaias Torres’ sac fly RBI gave FTB Phillies 2027 an early 2-0 lead in the first. CBA made a statement, posting 10 unanswered runs, taking a 10-2 lead in the fifth. A pair of groundout RBI’s gave FTB Phillies 2027 a spark, but it wasn’t enough. CBA tacked on two more insurance runs in the top of the sixth to keep the game out of reach. CBA’s John Hucko had a big day on the plate, going 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI.
USA Prime National/Detroit Tigers Scout Team 4, Stacked - KC Royals Scout Team 2
Another second-win team on the day was USA Prime National, who topped No. 2 seed Stacked - KC Royals Scout Team 4-2. USA Prime National came out hot to start the game, with four of their first five batters reaching base safely. Frankie Thomas III roped an RBI single, followed by an RBI walk from Hadnot and another RBI single from Broder Katke gave them a 3-0 advantage early. Stacked responded with a home run from Aiden Sun to cut USA Prime National’s lead to 3-1 in the first. A scoreless few innings afterwards was ultimately broken up by an RBI triple from Jordin Griffin to extend USA Prime National’s lead to 4-1 in the fifth. Later that inning, Aiden Anaya brought a runner home on a groundout RBI to bring Stacked’s deficit back to two runs. USA Prime National’s Isaac Vidal was dominant in relief to secure the win. In 2.1 innings, Vidal struck out six, while preventing any runs or hits to advance his squad into the semifinals.
Canes National 17U/NY Mets Scout Team 16, Team Elite 4
Tying the most runs scored by a single team thus far at Champs NC 2026, Canes National 17U exploded for 16 runs to cruise past Team Elite and into the semifinals. Everything was clicking for Canes National 17U, as all nine starters reached base safely and two big offensive innings told the story. In the first, they jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to three separate RBI singles and an RBI groundout. Then came the monster fourth inning, where they recorded 11 runs, which marks the most in one innings by a team this year. Despite the loss, Grayden Sellers made the most of his lone opportunity at the plate, and smacked a home run for Team Elite.
East Cobb Astros 12, Canes Midwest National 0
Three of the four quarterfinals games ended via mercy rule, including the East Cobb Astros shutting out Canes Midwest National 12-0 in four innings to advance to the semifinals. The East Cobb Astros only had the opportunity to bat in three innings, but made good use of all of them. After putting up just one run in the first off of a Hayden Maginnis groundout RBI, the bats came alive, tacking on four runs in the second and seven runs in the third to reach the 12-run mercy rule limit. Sullivan Reed had a major performance at the plate, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a run. Victor Acosta pitched a shortened, yet complete game, punching out seven in four innings allowing only two hits and no runs.
