COLUMBUS — It figures to be a grueling three-day gauntlet for all four northeast Georgia teams that advanced to this weekend's "Elite Eight" of the state softball tournament at the Olympic Softball Complex in Columbus.
Even Buford, which is looking to extend its state-record title run to 10 straight beginning Thursday, is not a lock in Class AAAAA. The Lady Wolves will have to go through Walnut Grove -- the only team in Class AAAAA to hand them a loss this season -- and which took them down to the wire last year in the Class AAAA finals.
Jefferson and Stephens County, which finished 1-2 in Region 8-AAAA, could be on an early collision course as well in Class AAAA. And East Jackson in Class AAA faces a favorable start but most certainly will have to get through three-time state champion Calhoun at some point.
Following is a synopsis of the GHSA softball brackets area teams will face during the three-day tournament, which concludes on Saturday:
CLASS AAAAA
Buford once again should be the favorite, headlining what looks like an unbalanced bracket. The Lady Wolves have won nine consecutive state titles, spanning three classifications. It is the 11th consecutive trip to the quarterfinals for the Lady Wolves.
Walnut Grove, the team that Buford beat in last year’s Class AAAA finals, also advanced. The Lady Warriors snapped the Lady Wolves' 40-game postseason win streak in the Region 8-AAAAA tournament three weeks ago -- though the Lady Wolves did rebound with a pair of wins over the Lady Warriors in capturing the 8-AAAAA title.
Buford also is looking to extend an 18-game win streak in Columbus. And for all the talk of pitching behind Logan Caymol, the Lady Wolves feature an offense averaging 7.93 runs a game, the third-highest scoring attack they have taken to Columbus.
Yet it won't be easy, as the three top pitching teams and three of the four top offensive teams to advance are on the same side.
Buford and Walnut Grove are 1-2 in AAAAA in pitching with the Lady Warriors allowing just 32 runs and Buford just 42 runs on the season. The two would play in the second round if both teams advance on Thursday,
The Lady Wolves face an interesting first round matchup against Starr’s Mill, who is second in AAAAA in scoring (291 runs) but has allowed the second-most runs (135) of the eight teams in Columbus.
Whitewater, Walnut Grove’s first round opponent, is the only team in the field in the top five in both scoring (259, 5th) and pitching (67 runs allowed, 5th).
Union Grove (322 runs) is the top scoring team in AAAAA but also has allowed the most runs of any of the eight-team field. Union Grove, the 2012 state champion, plays Thomas County Central in the opening round, while the two teams with the fewest wins -- Ware County (18) and Harris County (19) -- take on each other.
CLASS AAAA
This classification shows that good pitching generally beats good hitting. The top five pitching teams and six of the top nine overall advanced to Columbus, led by Region 8-AAAA runner-up Stephens County -- which has yielded just 38 runs (1.35 rpg) behind phenom Emma Whitfield.
Only two top 10 offensive teams pushed through to the Elite Eight. Northside-Columbus, which enters with the most wins (29) of any of the eight teams, is second in scoring (281 runs) but also fifth in pitching (57 runs allowed). Marist is eighth in scoring but third in runs allowed (47). Northside and Marist are on the same side of the bracket and could meet in the second round.
Jefferson, the Region 8-AAAA champion, is tied with Marist for second-most wins (27) and is fourth in runs allowed (50). The Lady Dragons lead three 8-AAAA squads into Columbus.
Jefferson opens against Chapel Hill, the defending Class AAAAA champion, while Stephens County will take on Central-Carroll. One run may win that battle as Central-Carroll (42 runs allowed) is second in pitching behind the Lady Indians. Stephens County is the lowest-scoring team to advance, managing 122 runs (4.35 rpg) on the season.
Oconee County, the third 8-AAAA team, opens against Northside-Columbus.
Jefferson and Stephens County would meet in the second round if both win their openers. Three of Stephens County’s four losses this season have come to the Lady Dragons.
CLASS AAA
This may be one of the top two most competitive classifications. Four of the top six pitching teams -- Calhoun, Cook County, Pike County, Southeast Bulloch -- and the six of the top eight scoring teams -- Calhoun, Cook, Pike, Southeast Bulloch, Worth County, East Jackson -- advanced to Columbus.
East Jackson (26-11) comes in with the third-most wins but second-most losses of the eight teams left. The Lady Eagles, however, face a very favorable draw, taking on a Crisp County team that has allowed the most runs (152) and scored the fewest runs (201) of the eight teams to advance to Columbus. A win would have them play the Southeast Bulloch-Morgan County winner in the second round.
The Lady Eagles also benefit from the top two teams in Class AAA -- Calhoun (35-1) and Cook County (22-3) -- opening the tournament against each other. The two teams lead the classification in every major statistical category. Pike County, which is third in scoring and fifth in pitching, could be waiting for the winner.
Calhoun, the three-time defending state champion, leads AAA in scoring with 349 runs and Cook is second with 316 runs. Calhoun has allowed just 47 runs while Cook has given up 60. One of those teams will have battle all the way back from the loser’s bracket. Calhoun’s only loss was to Class A Gordon Lee, which has won five state titles in the past six seasons between two different classifications.
