Two of the Georgia’s best baseball teams from any classification are facing off in the Class 6A quarterfinals beginning Friday, when No. 1 Houston County will be host to No. 2 Blessed Trinity.
They are two of the three highest-rated GHSA teams in any class, according to MaxPreps, which puts Houston County at No. 1 and Blessed Trinity at No. 3 overall with Class 7A’s top-ranked team, Parkview, in the middle.
Houston County, the 2021 6A champion, is 30-5 with one loss against a Georgia team. That came against Marist this week in a second-round series that Houston County won 8-3, 3-7, 18-7.
Blessed Trinity is 27-7 with in-state losses to Region 6 rivals Pope and Lassiter. Pope, ranked No. 3, is the defending 6A champion and plays at home starting Friday against No. 6 Tift County.
The highest-ranked teams have generally had their way through the first two rounds, although four unranked teams did reach the elite eight of Class 7A. Those are Lowndes, East Coweta, Mill Creek and Dacula.
Dacula upset No. 2 Denmark this week 4-1, 2-9, 10-0 while Mill Creek, another Gwinnett County school, beat No. 3 Kennesaw Mountain 8-6, 10-0. Dacula is at Parkview while Mill Creek is at No. 8 Hillgrove. (Schedule below.)
In Class 5A, No. 1 Cartersville has won 25 straight games but should be tested on the road this weekend by No. 4 Greenbrier. Those programs each have won six state titles in their histories. Defending 5A champion Loganville, ranked No. 3, must travel to No. 5 Locust Grove.
Defending 4A champion North Oconee, which plays at home against No. 9 Whitewater, remains heavily favored, but Buckhead private schools Westminster and Lovett, both unranked, have been the story of this class so far.
Westminster beat No. 3 Cedartown 11-2, 6-2 this week while Lovett beat No. 2 Cherokee Bluff 16-6, 6-7, 6-5. Lovett advanced on Joel Lopez-Ayala’s solo homer in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Westminster now plays at No. 6 Starr’s Mill while Lovett is home against unranked Wayne County.
In 3A, defending champion but unranked Pike County eliminated No. 4 Calvary this week and is home against No. 10 Franklin County. No. 1 Harlem is home against No. 7 Gordon Lee.
In 2A, the top four teams, headed by No. 1 Fellowship Christian, are still alive.
The Class A playoffs are a round behind the others and have quarterfinal games today.
All playoff rounds are best-of-three series that begin with a double-header.
Start times can be found on GHSA’s website.
Matchups:
Class 7A
No. 4 North Gwinnett at Lowndes
No. 5 Walton at North Paulding
Mill Creek at No. 8 Hillgrove
Dacula at No. 1 Parkview
Class 6A
No. 2 Blessed Trinity at No. 1 Houston County
Thomas County Central at Etowah
No. 9 River Ridge at No. 8 Woodward Academy
No. 6 Tift County at No. 3 Pope
Class 5A
No. 1 Cartersville at No. 4 Greenbrier
No. 3 Loganville at No. 5 Locust Grove
No. 7 Winder-Barrow at No. 2 McIntosh
Decatur at No. 9 Centennial
Class 4A
Westminster at No. 6 Starr’s Mill
No. 9 Whitewater at No. 1 North Oconee
Wayne County at Lovett
East Forsyth at No. 4 LaGrange
Class 3A
No. 7 Gordon Lee at No. 1 Harlem
No. 10 Franklin County at Pike County
Oconee County at No. 2 Savannah Christian
Columbus at No. 6 Ringgold
Class 2A
No. 3 Mount Paran Christian at No. 4 Jeff Davis
No. 10 Brantley County at No. 1 Fellowship Christian
No. 6 Appling County at No. 8 Redan
Cook at No. 2 North Cobb Christian
Class A Division I (second round)
Commerce at No. 6 King’s Ridge Christian
No. 10 Crawford County at No. 5 Irwin County
No. 8 Social Circle at No. 2 Elbert County
Lamar County at Bleckley County
Swainsboro at No. 3 Metter
No. 7 Athens Christian at No. 1 Prince Avenue Christian
Bacon County at Heard County
Darlington at No. 4 Whitefield Academy
Class A Division II (second round)
GMC Prep at Bowdon
McIntosh County Academy at No. 10 Seminole County
No. 2 Johnson County at No. 9 Washington-Wilkes
Jenkins County at No. 1 Charlton County
No. 7 Lanier County at No. 5 ECI
Chattahoochee County at Towns County
No. 6 Baconton at No. 4 Wilcox County
Lake Oconee Academy at No. 3 Schley County
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