GAINESVILLE -- Area teams caught some big breaks, others made their own, and one -- Jackson County -- made history in the first round of the state baseball playoffs.
And there could be even more excitement in store as those programs left standing head to the second round, beginning Wednesday with doubleheaders. Game 3s, if necessary, will be on Thursday.
Commerce pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in the state in any classification in the first round, knocking off No. 3 Miller County in the Class A Public bracket. The Tigers are the No. 14 seed and were the only team in the Class A playoffs with a losing record. They didn’t let that stop them holding a powerful Pirates offense, which came in averaging nearly nine runs a game, to just 15 total runs in their three-game series.
Most everywhere else, sweeps dominated the action. Gainesville, Buford, North Hall, Jefferson, Jackson County, and Rabun County all moved on in impressive fashion, winning two straight games in their respective classification matchups. Union County, meanwhile, won two one-run games to advance.
However, all eight area squads face tougher and more intriguing second round foes. Gainesville entertains Evans from the baseball-rich Augusta area in Class AAAAA. The Red Elephants, as long as they keep advancing, will now get home field advantage all the way until the semifinals with the upset loss of Starr’s Mill in the first round.
In Class AAAA, North Hall plays host to Upson-Lee, which knocked off Region 1-AAAA champ Crisp County, and No. 2 Buford plays host to Perry in Class AAAA.
In Class AAA, No. 3 Jefferson faces the toughest challenge, traveling to No. 5 Pierce in AAA. Jackson County also will be on the road at Jackson (Jackson, Ga.) in AAA in the second round. They are part of Region 8-AAA, which swept out Region 7-AAA in the first round.
The series win last week for Jackson County was its first in program history.
In Class AA, No. 9 Rabun County plays host to No. 5 Bacon County while Union County travels to Fitzgerald in second round action.
Follow us on AccessWDUN for all the action throughout the playoffs.
Below is a look at each classification for second round series.
CLASS AAAAA
No. 7 Gainesville’s road to the semifinals and beyond got a little bit more favorable with the loss of Region 4-AAAAA champ Starr’s Mill to South Effingham. That loss means the Red Elephants will get to play host to the first three rounds. With the loss of Region 3-AAAAA champ Richmond Hill to Northgate on the upper half of the bracket with GHS, the Red Elephants’ longest road trip until the finals would be to Cumming to play Region 7-AAAAA champ Forsyth Central if both make it that far. Forsyth Central, however, faces a very tough 22-win Jones County team in the 2nd round. A loss by the Bulldogs would give GHS home field all the way to the finals if they can continue to advance. ... The Red Elephants face a very good Evans (19-8) squad in the 2nd round at Ivey-Watson. Three of the Knights losses have come to No. 1 Greenbrier, two by three runs or less. ... All four No. 1 seeds are still alive on the other side of the bracket from the Red Elephants, who would travel in the finals if another No. 1 seed advances to the finals on the other side of the bracket. ... Greenbrier advanced but faced two elimination games before beating Hardaway in three games ... Region 8-AAAAA was close to sweeping 7-AAAAA with Salem (Forsyth Central) and Winder-Barrow (Creekview) both taking their first round opponents to three games before losing. ... Regions 2-AAAAA, 4-AAAAA, and 5-AAAAA each had three teams advance to the 2nd round. ... Regions 1-AAAAA (Columbus), 6-AAAAA (Stephenson) and 3-AAAAA (South Effingham) each had just one team advance. ... Sixth-ranked Columbus and ninth-ranked Loganville, who both won state championships in 2012, will meet in the 2nd round. No. 5 Allatoona is also in that quadrant.
CLASS AAAA
Buford came into the playoffs ranked 2nd in the classification behind Troup County but the Tigers dropped 2-of-3 to Whitewater in the regular season finale to finish second in 5-AAAA. The two teams would now meet in the semifinals if both advance that far. Buford steamrolled Heritage, Catoosa in a 1st round sweep and will take on Perry, which scored 36 runs vs. a good Cook team in the 1st round, in the 2nd round. It should be an interesting matchup with one of the classifications best offenses vs. perhaps the best pitching staff in the state. Perry is averaging just under 8 rpg (7th in AAAA) while Buford has allowed just 35 runs (No. 1 in AAAA) all season ... North Hall came in ranked 10th and was impressive in a sweep of Pickens in the 1st round. The Trojans face a streaking Upson-Lee team that knocked off Region 1-AAAA champ Crisp County in the 1st round. Crisp came in 3rd in AAAA in scoring (8 rpg) but was held to just 15 runs in a three-game series loss, 11 coming in its only win. Upson-Lee scored just 9 runs but won the series. ... The Trojans committed just one error in its series win and will need another sound defensive effort. They are 5th in AAAA in runs allowed (2.5 rpg). ... Regions 2-AAAA and 4-AAAA each had three teams advance while Regions 1-AAAA and 3-AAAA each had just one team advance. ... Seven No. 1 seeds advanced to the 2nd round. Only Crisp County did not make it out of the 1st round. ... The Wolves face a tough road to the semifinals with Perry, Columbia, and Locust Grove -- the other three teams in their quadrant -- combining for 62 wins so far. ... It won’t be any easier for the Trojans, who have the Nos. 3, 4, and 6 ranked teams still left in their half. However, No. 3 Whitewater and No. 6 Pike County face off in the 2nd round. If North Hall gets past Upson-Lee it gets the winner of that battle. No. 4 St. Pius looms as the favorite on the top half of that bracket and could await the Trojans in the semifinals. ... No. 1 Troup County and Cartersville could meet in the quarterfinals, though Thomas County Central will be a tough 2nd round matchup for the Hurricanes.
CLASS AAA
Like AAAA, this classification saw seven of the eight No. 1 seeds advance. Only Region 7-AAA champ Franklin County did not advance. In fact, Region 8-AAA swept 7-AAA out in the 1st round. All 10 of the top 10 ranked teams are still alive in AAA. ... Region 8-AAA rivals Jefferson and Jackson County are all that is left from our area and the two foes both face tough road trips in the 2nd round. ... Jefferson, considered a dark horse contender for a state title, will take on Pierce County in what figures to be a pitching battle. The No. 3 Dragons have given up just 59 runs (2.26 rpg), fourth best in AAA, while No. 5 Pierce County has allowed just 72 runs (2.55 rpg), sixth best. However, the Bears are among the leaders in AAA with 279 runs (9.9 rpg) on the season. Pierce County outscored Southwest Macon 25-1 in a 1st round sweep. ... The side of the draw for the Dragons and Jackson County features four of the top seven teams in AAA. The winner of the Jefferson-Pierce Co battle is likely to get No. 6 Callaway... The Panthers will travel to face Region 2-AAA champ Jackson (Jackson, Ga.) but get a break when No. 7 Ringgold will take on No. 8 Westminster in their quadrant. If the Panthers can get past the Red Devils, who needed three games to get by Region 1-AAA No. 4 seed Jenkins, they would get the winner of that matchup. The Panthers have proven to be a solid road team going 11-4 on the season, including a sweep of East Hall in the 1st round on the road. ... No. 1 and defending champ Blessed Trinity has a tough road with possible matchups vs. No. 4 and Region 8-AAA champ Oconee County in the quarterfinals and possibly No. 2 Westside-Augusta in the semifinals if they all advance. ... Runs could be at a premium throughout the classification as eight of the top nine pitching teams in AAA are still alive.
CLASS AA
No. 9 Rabun County begins its gauntlet run but will get home field advantage at least through the quarterfinals with the loss of Region 4-AA champ Monticello to Harlem in the 1st round. That could prove big with travel for teams having to trek up to the northeast Georgia mountains. ... Seven of the eight No. 1 seeds also moved through to the 2nd round in AA. ... The Wildcats, who are 10-2 at home in 2015, play host to No. 5 Bacon County in the 2nd round and then possibly No. 2 Lovett, the 2013 state champ, in the quarterfinals. Bacon County is 7-3 on the road but is just 3-3 in last six road games. ... Rabun County has allowed the fewest runs in AA (45) but has not faced balanced offenses like Bacon County (193 runs) or Lovett (239 runs) during the season. No. 3 GAC (253 runs) looms in the semifinals. If they can keep runs to a minimum they could pull the upset. ... No. 13 Union County, the 8-AA runner-up, faces a much easier road with just No. 11 Fitzgerald, its 2nd round opponent, in its quadrant but they have travel in the 2nd round. The Purple Hurricanes are 10-2 at home while Union County is 6-2 on the road, but the Panthers have not beaten a team with a winning record on the road in 2015. ... The Panthers were outscored 22-21 by Model in the 1st round but won two one-run games to advance. Union County came in allowing just 58 runs but was touched up by a Model offense that was in the middle of the AA pack. They will have to find their pitching again with Fitzgerald (7.3 rpg), Heard County, third in scoring with 239 runs, and Dublin, ninth with 190 runs, looming in their quadrant. ... Defending state champ and No. 7 Benedictine and No. 8 Gordon Lee face off in the 2nd round and the winner more than likely will get top-ranked Wesleyan, which take on No. 11 Metter, in the quarterfinals.
CLASS A
No. 14 seed Commerce pulled off the only upset in Class A and one of the biggest in the state in the 1st round taking down No. 3 seed and red-hot Miller County winning the final two games to take the series 2-1. Miller County had won 14 of its last 15 games coming into the playoffs. ... The Tigers (14-15) now get No. 6 Atkinson County, who needed three games to get past No. 11 Jenkins County, in the 2nd round. Treutlen (21-3) and two-time defending Class A Public champion Charlton County (21-5) are the top two seeds and both advanced. Another upset and series win by Commerce could set up a showdown with the defending champs in the semifinals. ... The Tigers pitching staff did an excellent job holding down Miller County, which came in as the No. 2 scoring team in the Public A playoffs at just over 9 rpg, to just 15 runs in the three games. Atkinson County and Commerce both are averaging 7.8 rpg but the Rebels are yielding just over 4 rpg. After giving up 16 in a Game 1 loss to Jenkins County, the Rebels allowed just four runs in Games 2 & 3 combined. ... An interesting 2nd round matchup has No. 4 Schley County, which has allowed just 1.78 rpg on the season, taking on No. 5 Hawkinsville, which is averaging just 8.0 rpg. Schley Co. is averaging just over 9.0 rpg while Hawkinsville has yielded just over 3.0 rpg. Something will have to give there.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL 2nd ROUND SCHEDULE
Wednesday, May 5
(2nd round state playoff series, best-of-3)
(Wednesday doubleheaders)
Evans at Gainesville, 4 p.m. (Class AAAAA)
Perry at Buford, 4 p.m. (Class AAAA)
Jackson County at Jackson, 4:30 p.m. (Class AAA)
Union County at Fitzgerald, 4:30 p.m. (Class AA)
Upson-Lee at North Hall, 4:30 p.m. (Class AAAA)
Bacon County at Rabun County, 5 p.m. (Class AA)
Jefferson at Pierce County, 5 p.m. (Class AA)
Commerce at Atkinson County, TBA (Class A)
Thursday, May 7
(Game 3s, if necessary)
Bacon County at Rabun County, 1 p.m. (Class AA)
Perry at Buford, 4 p.m. (Class AAAA)
Union County at Fitzgerald, 4:30 p.m. (Class AA)
Evans at Gainesville, 5 p.m. (Class AAAAA)
Jefferson at Pierce County, 5 p.m. (Class AA)
Upson-Lee at North Hall, 5 p.m. (Class AAAA)
Jackson County at Jackson, 5:55 p.m. (Class AAA)
Commerce at Atkinson County, TBA (Class A)
