Rain that pushed its way through the state on Tuesday pushed the start of the second round of the Georgia High School Association girls softball playoffs back a day.
A half-dozen northeast Georgia area softball teams were set to open series across five different classifications on Tuesday. Instead, all will now begin their series' on Wednesday looking for berths into next week's Elite 8 round in Columbus.
All second round series are a best-of-three format with doubleheaders on Wednesday and Game 3s, if necessary, on Thursday.
Three of the six area teams -- Buford, Jackson County, Banks County -- advanced to Columbus in 2017 with the Lady Wolves finishing in third in Class 5A and the Lady Leopards finishing third in Class 2A. Jackson County lost in the consolation round and finished in the top five.
In 2018, Buford is back once again and will take on Region 7-5A champion Woodland-Cartersville on the road in Class 5A. The Lady Wolves have advanced to Columbus each of the past 13 seasons.
In Class 4A, Flowery Branch travels to Madison County but will not open their series until Wednesday. The Lady Red Raiders are looking for a second consecutive trip to Columbus. The Lady Falcons are looking for their first-ever trip to the Elite 8.
In Class 3A, Jefferson, the Region 8-3A champion, will play host to Ringgold. But perhaps the most interesting matchup in Class 3A will be in Calhoun where the Lady Yellow Jackets, the defending Class 3A champion, will play host to Jackson County, which finished third in Class 3A in 2017.
In Class 2A, another outstanding matchup will have 2017 Class 2A state champion Rockmart playing host to Banks County, which finished third in Class 2A in 2017.
And in Class A Public, Commerce, the overall No. 2 seed, will play host to Lanier County.
2018 STATE TOURNAMENT 2nd ROUND
(All series are best 2-of-3 format at site of higher seeded team.)
(Games 1 & 2 will be doubleheaders on Wednesday; Game 3s, if necessary, on Thursday.)
(First pitch times may vary so check with individual school.)
(Area teams in bold)
CLASS 5A
Buford (Region 8, No. 2 seed) at Woodland-Cartersville (Region 7, No. 1 seed)
CLASS 4A
Flowery Branch (R7, 2S) at Madison County (R8, 1S)
CLASS 3A
Ringgold (R6, 3S) at Jefferson (R8, 1S)
Jackson County (R8, 3S) at Calhoun (R6, 1S)
CLASS 2A
Banks County (R8, 2S) at Rockmart (R7, 1S)
CLASS A PUBLIC
Lanier County (No. 15 seed) at Commerce (No. 2 seed)
