Here are some news and notes from the first two rounds of the baseball state playoffs. For the schedule, click here.
Class AAAAAA
Walton’s top three are sizzlin’
The top of Walton’s batting order is sizzling in playoff sweeps of South Forsyth and Hillgrove. Leadoff hitter and second baseman Parker McCoy and No. 2 hitter and first baseman are each 7-for-10. No. 3 hitter and center fielder Tyler Heinrichs is 5-for-12 with two doubles and a home run. Walton, the Region 5-AAAAAA champion is 26-3, winners of 14 straight games.
Mountain View winning the close ones
Mountain View has won three one-run games in series victories over Brookwood (2-11, 4-3, 3-2) and Tift County (2-1, 10-6). Robert Kwiatkowski’s two-run double in the first inning stood up in the 2-1 win over Tift County. Kwiatkowski is 6-for-14 in the playoffs. Cameron Hankins is 6-for-10 with five walks. Both are front-line pitchers for the Bears. Also hitting well are outfielder Luis Vilchez (7-for-20) and third baseman Sam Freitas (6-for-15). Mountain View had not won a playoff series until this season.
Parkview’s Inman has two playoff shutouts
Parkview pitcher Ryne Inman has thrown two playoff shutouts, one a no-hitter against Miller Creek. He’s pitched 11 innings, allowed three hits and struck out 18 in victories over Mill Creek and Lowndes. Seven Parkview players have hit home runs in the playoffs. They are center fielder Brandon Hill, designated hitter Brian Kregel, second baseman Diano Deas, right fielder Jason Awtrey, first baseman Johnathon Whitmer, shortstop Trevor Brown and catcher Austin Biggar. Dais is 5-for-11 in the playoffs. Kregel is 4-for-10, all four hits for extra-bases.
Pope allows only 4 runs in 4-0 playoff start
Pope, which won state titles in 2009 and 2013, is looking like quite the contender again. It’s mostly about pitching. The Greyhounds have allowed only four runs in its two-game sweeps of North Forsyth and Marietta. Brandon Zarbinsky, a West Virginia signee, has struck out 21 in 13 innings. Cameron Allison, committed to Auburn, allowed one hit and struck out 10 in 6.2 innings in a 3-0 victory North Forsyth in the first round. Sophomore lefthander Ryan Webb got a start in the Marietta series and struck out 11 in a 5-1 victory.
Three AAAAAA series go down to Game 3
Three AAAAA series ended in deciding third games on Thursday. North Gwinnett beat Valdosta 2-1 in nine innings. Ben Carswell pitched a complete game. Tanner Hanes produced a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth. Kennesaw Mountain beat Milton 7-3 despite only four hits. Matt Cole pitched a complete game, and No. 8 hitter Garrett Blinkhorn had two hits and two runs. Etowah beat Region 4 champion Harrison 14-1. Tristan Mooney was 3-for-3 with a home run and four RBI. Sawyer Gipson-Long threw a four-hitter over the five-inning game.
Class AAAAA
Loganville pitching shuts down Columbus
Loganville got good pitching efforts from juniors Mitchell Miller (7 IP, 1 ER) and Timothy Elliott (5 IP, 1 ER) in its sweep of Columbus. Elliott (6-for-17) also has hit well in the series. In the first round, Loganville was down 1-0 in the series and 2-1 in Game 2 when Elliott hit a home run to left-center field to lead off the seventh inning. Loganville went on to win 5-2, then 12-6 to win the series. Junior first baseman Jonothan Lee (8-for-16 with two home runs) has been Loganville’s top hitter in the playoffs.
No. 4 seed South Effingham hits way into quarters
South Effingham, the team that stunned No. 1-ranked Starr’s Mill in the first round, is now the only No. 4 seed remaining in AAAAA after beating Alexander 15-2 on Thursday in Game 3 of their second-round series. South Effingham has scored 42 runs over its last four games. In the Alexander series, the hottest bats belonged to center fielder Dalton Griffin (5-for-11, double, six RBI), right fielder/pitcher Garrett Hodges (5-for-11, 4 RBI, 1 HR), first baseman Corey Horne (5-for-11, 5 RBI, 1 HR) and sophomore shortstop Austin Thompson (4-for-8, 4 walks, 6 runs). Hodges pitched a three-hit shutout in a 10-0 victory in Game 1.
Class AAAA
Veterans keeping up Houston County tradition
In 2014, Houston County High became the first Houston County school to win a state title in baseball (Class AAAAA). This season, six-year-old Veterans of Houston County is in the AAAA quarterfinals as the Region 2 champion. Veterans has allowed only two runs – both unearned - in four playoff games in sweeps of Cairo (2-0, 8-1) and Northwest Whitfield (2-1, 12-0). Preston Sparks, who has signed with Abraham Baldwin, has pitched a one-hitter and a two-hitter, striking out 17. Ryan Johnson has thrown 11 innings, allowing one unearned run.
Buford mows down hitters
The only team pitching as well as Veterans is Region 8-AAAA champion Buford. Jake Higginbotham pitched a no-hitter on Wednesday in a 3-0 victory over Perry. Higginbotham, who has signed with Clemson, struck out 14. Keyton Gibson, who is headed to Georgia Tech, pitched Game 2, a 13-0 victory. Buford has allowed one run in four playoffs games.
Class AAA
Region 8-AAA puts all four teams in quarters
Four teams from Region 8-AAA – No. 1 Oconee County, No. 2 Jefferson, No. 3 Jackson County and No. 4 Hart County – are in the quarterfinals. No other region in any class has fared so well. Three region champions have been beat at the hands of the Region 8 four – Region 7’s Franklin County (by Hart County), Region 1’s Pierce County (by Jefferson) and Region 2’s Jackson (by Jackson County). Jefferson beat Pierce County 8-7 in Game 3 on Thursday in 10 innings. None of the four Region 8 teams has won a state title.
Class AA
Gordon Lee eliminates AA defending champ
Gordon Lee, the Class A public-school runner-up last season, moved up in class and knocked out defending AA champion Benedictine with a 5-2, 2-0 sweep this week. Chaney Rogers pitched a three-hit shutout, hit a double and scored a run in Game 2. Conrad Broom, the Game 1 winner, is 8-for-12 with a home run in the playoffs. He pitched a no-hitter in the first round against Oglethorpe County. Gordon Lee was the second-place team out of Region 7.
Darlington advances on do-or-die rally in 7th
The best Class AA quarterfinal series was had in Rome, where Darlington, the Region 7 champion, beat Jeff Davis 6-5 in Game 3 on Thursday. Darlington trailed 4-3 entering the top of the seventh. The first two batters made outs. Third baseman Tripp Flournoy (3-for-3) singled to right field, the start of four straight hits by the Tigers that included doubles by catcher Drake Frix and pitcher Burton Dulaney and a single by shortstop Seth Little. Dulaney pitched a complete game. He also hit a two-run homer in the first inning.
Class A
First-time champ guaranteed in Class A public
All four semifinalists in the Class A public-school division are looking for their first-ever state championships in baseball. Each has been a recent semifinalist – Treutlen in 2011-13-14, Schley County in 2006, Atkinson County in 2005 and Emanuel County in 2014. Private schools had won nine straight Class A championships until the public-private split in 2012-13.
King’s Ridge survives ELCA onslaught
Defending Class A private-school champion King's Ridge needed a 10-inning victory in Game 2 to survive its quarterfinal series against Eagle's Landing Christian, the 2013 champion. King's Ridge lost the opener 12-3 and blew leads of 6-1 and 10-5 in Game 2, which was 10-10 after seven. Shortstop Tarez Miller and catcher Lawson Hill hit back-to-back doubles in the top of the 10th to score the game-winner. John Byrnes pitched four scoreless innings in relief. King's Ridge won 7-2 in Game 3 and will play No. 1 seed Tattnall Square in the semifinals.
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