Only about four weeks remain in the high school baseball regular season.
Here’s a look Georgia’s eight No. 1-ranked teams as they come down the home stretch leading into the state tournament. Note that three - Mill Creek, Lee County and Ringgold - have never won state titles, though they’ve come close. Only Blessed Trinity (2014, 2015) and Tattnall Square (2016) have won GHSA baseball titles since 2000.
AAAAAAA
Mill Creek – The Hawks returned only two full-time starters and a couple of their better pitchers from the 2017 state semifinalist, but the '18 team is off to a 15-3 start and is 7-0 in strong Region 6. Mill Creek has won 11 straight games, the last four by shutout. Brandon Blume pitched a one-hitter with none strikeouts and no walks on Monday against Duluth. Mill Creek is averaging 8.2 runs per game. Pitcher/third baseman Davis Sharpe has signed with Clemson. Alaska Abney, a righthanded pitcher, has signed with Coastal Carolina. Sophomore catcher Alek Boychuk made USA Baseball's 15U National team that played in Colombia last fall.
AAAAAA
Lee County – This classification has no front-runner as only Glynn Academy (15-1) among top-10 teams has fewer than three losses. Lee County, the state runner-up last year to Pope, comes in at 12-5 after losing a 5-1 decision Monday night to Veterans, the No. 5 team in AAAAA. Lee's top hitters have been catcher Garrett Suiter (.386, seven doubles) and infielder Spencer Ranson (.368, 11 stolen bases). Four pitchers get most of the mound work. They are Reid Hanson (4-0, 0.75 ERA), Gavin Paul (3-1, 3.44), Layne Wiard (3-2, 3.16) and Matthew Cooper (1-1, 0.40).
AAAAA
Wayne County – The Yellow Jackets were the AAAAA runners-up to Loganville last season. That was their best finish since 1968. Hoping to take things a step further, Wayne County is off to a 15-3 start. First baseman/pitcher Ford Townsend and utility man/pitcher James Mauldin have been the catalysts. Townsend, a Mercer signee, is hitting .386 with four home runs, three triples and four doubles for a .772 slugging average. He's 2-0 on the mound with a 1.37 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 15.1 innings. Mauldin, who plays third, first or outfield when not pitching, is batting a team-best .400 with 11 extra-base hits in 55 at-bats. As a pitcher, he is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in nine innings. The staff is deep. J.T. Crosby, a Coker College signee, has been the ace. He's 3-1 with a 1.05 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 33.1 innings. Also in the rotation are Brice Miller (3-1, 2.27 ERA) and Jasper Dubberly (4-0, 2.68 ERA). Shortstop Cooper Martin (.323) provides good defense. Grant Starling (.321, seven doubles) is another good hitter.
AAAA
Blessed Trinity – The Titans are 17-1 and ranked No. 7 nationally in MaxPreps' Xcellent 25. They are the most prominent Georgia team nationally at the moment. Junior shortstop C.J. Abrams, who is committed to Alabama, is hitting .426 with 20 stolen bases. Others with strong bats thus far are junior second baseman Jake Smith (.365), right fielder Steele Chambers (.333, 12 stolen bases), catcher Griffin McClure (.319) and center fielder Ryan Davis (.302, 15 steals). Clark Dearman (6-0, 0.58 ERA) and Sebastian Szot (2-0, 20.3 ERA) have been the most heavily used pitchers among 10 with at least five innings thrown. Dearman, a lefthander, has signed with Presbyterian. Blessed Trinity has reached the state finals each of the past four seasons and won in 2014 and 2015.
AAA
Ringgold – The Tigers, a state quarterfinalist the past two seasons, have won eight straight games and are 14-4 overall, 6-0 in Region 6-AAA. The team's best player is junior center fielder Andre Tarver (.422, four HR, 18 RBI, 24 runs scored), who is committed to Mississippi State. Tarver also is an all-state football wide receiver. Also swinging hot sticks are junior outfielder/pitcher Holden Tucker (.476, 2 HR, 25 runs), junior catcher/third baseman Daulton Schley (.424, two HR, 22 RBI), senior third baseman/outfielder Ty Jones (.419, Lipscomb signee), senior catcher/first baseman Gavin Hollis (.365, Lee University) and senior shortstop/pitcher Nathan Camp (.333. 2 HR, Louisiana-LaFayette). The rotation of Camp (6-0, 0.26 ERA, 33 SO, 27 IP), Tucker (3-2, 0.81, 41 SO, 26 IP) and Wyatt Tennant (5-0, 1.34, 46 SO, 26 IP) have nearly microscopic ERA's. Ringgold has reached five state finals in its history, most recently in 2012, and advanced at least one round each season since 2010, but is still seeking its first state title.
AA
Thomasville – The Bulldogs made the quarterfinals last season, their best finish since their Class AA championship in 1999. They are 16-4 overall, 6-1 in Region 1-AA, this season. Deep pitching and defense are the main reasons. Sophomore Hurston Waldrep (4-0) hasn't allowed an earned run in 25.1 innings. He's struck out 34. Senior Buck Bennett (6-2, 2.72 ERA) and sophomores Jacob Bradshaw (5-1, 1.29 ERA) round out the rotation, and J.T. Rice (0.00 ERA, three saves) and Dalton Dollar (1.90 ERA, two saves) are strong out of the bullpen. Rice, the school's record-setting quarterback in football, also is the baseball team's shortstop and leading hitter. He's batting .436 with eight extra-base hits and 10 stolen bases. Senior second baseman Hayden Donalson (.300, 14 steals) and freshman catcher Nathan Smith (.273, eight extra-base hits) also provide good hitting and defense.
A (Private)
Tattnall Square – The Trojans (16-3) has won 12 of its last 13 games and took the No. 1 spot this week. Pitching has been the team's strength despite returning just 42 innings from last year's staff. Most of the work comes from seniors Luke Laskey 6-1, 0.69 ERA) and Logan Fink (4-1, 0.90 ERA) and sophomores Brooks Gorman (4-0, 0.48 ERA) and Dawson Brown (2-1, 1.91 ERA). Laskey (.300, three home runs) and Fink (.291, nine doubles) are also good hitters. Fink, a slick-fielding first baseman when not pitching, has signed with Kennesaw State. Other top hitters are Trey Ham (.348), B.J. Spears (.333), Austin Marchman (.328, team-leading 20 RBI) and shortstop Logan Simmons (team-leading 18 runs). Simmons is a Georgia Tech signee and Perfect Game All-American.
A (Public)
Gordon Lee – The Trojans, the 2017 runner-up to Schley County, have been mostly a hitting team this season in route to a 9-3 record. They are batting .300 and averaging 7.5 runs per game. Second baseman McCain Barbee is hitting .521 (12-for-23 with four doubles) and scored 12 runs in just nine games. Other regulars batting .300 or better are first baseman Caleb Hopkins (.393, six doubles), Dylan Minghini (.364, doubles, two homers), shortstop J.D. Day (.348, two homers), infielder Hunter Hodson (.325, two homers) and center fielder Justin Wooden (.303). Jake Poindexter (1.50 ERA, 21 innings) has been the most consistent pitcher. Gordon Lee has won 13 playoff series since 2012 and reached the finals in 2013, 2014 and 2017. Its last state title came in 1984.
