RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
North Carolina is producing more and more talent from the youth levels through the college scene.
One up-and-coming young club team in the Tar Heel State is the first-year Carolina Elite 14U – Church (Premier) team, based out of Taylorsville and coached by Daniel Church.
Here’s a closer look at the squad which won several tournaments in the East the last two years at the 12U level…
*****
The Carolina Elite 14U-Church (Premier) team, formerly the Alexander Gold ’06, joined Dave Maddaluna and his Carolina Elite organization at the end of 2018 and started competitive play in the spring of 2019.
Says Coach Church, “We were looking for an organization with proven success where we could grow and have the opportunity to get our players the exposure they deserve. We found that with the Carolina Elite and are very happy to be a part of the Elite family.”
As a first-year 12U team, the 12u Carolina Elite Premiere team sported a 43-5 record thru 2018 winning tournament championships including the Top Gun Spring World Series, Top Gun Summer World Series, USSSA Road to Florida, PGF Queen City Classic and several NSA tournaments In North Carolina.
In addition, the team placed second in the USA Softball national qualifier and third in the Childrens’ Health Care Classic in Atlanta. The 12U team also earned its bid to the USA Nationals in Illinois, which I competed in this summer (2019).
The Carolina Elite – Church team ended its second year as a 12U team in the summer of 2019 with a record 56-4 overall record and now moves up to 14U starting this fall.
The top-level tournaments the team competed in this summer prior to moving up included the PGF Tarheel Classic, Nationals in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the ASA States and the USA Nationals in Illinois.
By finishing second with an 8-2 record in the ASA Nationals in April—including key wins over teams from top organizations such as the Firecrackers, South Carolina Elite, North Carolina Challengers, Carolina Fire and Team NC and losing a hard-fought battle with Team NC-Huss after playing six games back-to-back to make it to the championship game, Church’s Carolina Elite Premier team earned a bid to ASA Nationals.
In June, the Carolina Elite team won the 12U USA/ASA North Carolina State Championship with big wins against Carolina Cardinals National and Team NC Huss.
