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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Georgia High School Baseball Blog - May 13, 2008
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Step up to the plate: Hardball is the place to talk high school baseball on ajc.com. We’ll be posting scores as they become available, but if you’ve got the scoop, please feel free to post scores, recaps and highlights. Thanks.
Complete list: Second-round pairings for all classes
Brackets: AAAAA • AAAA • AAA • AA • A
The first round of the state baseball playoffs was full of surprises, but the usual suspects advanced to the second round. The Hardball staff was able to watch eight teams play — Woodward Academy, Dutchtown, Loganville, St. Pius, Parkview, Walton, Alpharetta and Brookwood — and there were plenty of top performances.
The late game heroes
These three players hit dramatic game-winning home runs, providing some first round momentum for their teams:
• Jordan Erisman, Brookwood — Before the Broncos shortstop delivered a two-run, opposite-field home run in the bottom of the ninth to beat Alpharetta, Erisman hit the first of back-to-back solo home runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh (Ross Heffley hit the other) to tie the game.
• Patrick Henry, Flowery Branch — With the Falcons trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Henry, a shortstop/pitcher who will play college ball at Valdosta State, hit a two-run homer to send the Region 7-AAA champions to the second round and a meeting with Stephens County.
• Sid Cooper, Camden County — With the Region 3-AAAAA champs behind 18-15 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh in the first game against Tift County, Cooper crushed a grand slam to give Camden a 19-18 victory.
Fore
These four teams knocked off a No. 1 seed to advance to the second round:
• Newnan — Trailing 8-5, the Cougars scored five runs in the top of the seventh to steal a 10-8 victory in the third game of the series against Region 2-AAAAA champion Redan.
• Burke County — The Bears lost 15-8 in the second game of the series against Cairo, but in the first and third games outscored the Region 1-AAA champs 19-1.
• Adairsville — The Tigers were humbled in a 12-2 loss in the first game, then came back to upset the Region 5-AA champions.
• Appling County — Dublin came into the playoffs with a six-game winning streak, but the Pirates left with a sweep and a second-round meeting with Screven County.
The second-round radar
Four second-round series we’re looking forward to:
• South Forsyth at Kell — The War Eagles are coming off a series victory against Harrison. Kell was taken to the limit against South Gwinnett but is always capable of a sweep with starters Zeke Spruill and Adam Martin.
• Walton at Mill Creek — The defending Class AAAAA champion Raiders looked good in sweeping Parkview and will face a Mill Creek team that’s flying under the radar, despite a Region 7-AAAAA title.
• Thomas County Central at Woodward Academy — Fans of pitchers’ duels need not apply. Woodward has an explosive offense and plays in a cozy ballpark, while the visiting Yellow Jackets have scored nine runs or more in 15 games and scored 44 runs in the first-round series against Effingham County.
• Blessed Trinity at Cartersville — Same round, same field as 2007 when Blessed Trinity shocked the Purple Hurricanes in a sweep. Good news for Cartersville: Evan Tieles, who won the first game of that series and drove in the winning runs in the nightcap, is at the University of Georgia. Bad news for Cartersville: So is former first baseman/pitcher Lyle Allen. But plenty of firepower remains, led by superstar Donovan Tate.
Squeeze bunts
Norcross coach Andy Collins picked up career victory No. 100 in the second game of the Blue Devils’ sweep of Woodstock. Collins, in his fourth year at Norcross, coached for two years at Johnson-Gainesville. … East Paulding junior Zach Wheeler pitched four perfect innings in the first game of the Raiders’ sweep of Ridgeland. Wheeler faced 12 batters and had 11 strikeouts in the 15-0 victory. … Pacelli had its 19-game winning streak snapped in the first game of its series with Turner County. No problem: the Region 4-A champions won the next two games in five innings, 11-1 and 14-4.
Step up to the plate: Hardball is the place to talk high school baseball on ajc.com. We’ll be posting scores as they become available, but if you’ve got the scoop, please feel free to post scores, recaps and highlights. Thanks.
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