A Baker's Dozen (13) Northeast Georgia-area baseball teams will embark on their dreams of winning state titles beginning Saturday as the Georgia High School Association playoffs get under way.
All series in the first round are best-of-three formats at the site of the higher-seeded team.
Buford in Class 7A and North Forsyth and Jackson County in Class will get things started.
Few teams were as hot as Buford (17-12) coming down the stretch. With almost an entirely new roster consisting mostly of freshmen and sophomores, the Wolves opened the season 4-10 overall and just 2-4 in Region 8-7A. But winning a pair of one-run games to take a series over new-rival Mill Creek jump started what would be a 13-2 overall finish, with their only losses coming to Class 7A No. 3 East Coweta and Marist, who made the Class 6A playoffs.
Buford opens at Gerald McQuaig Field against Region 7-7A fourth-seed Peachtree Ridge (13-14) with a doubleheader beginning at noon.
In Class 6A, Region 8-6A champ North Forsyth (20-10) led from start-to-finish to capture the region crown and will take on Region 7-6A No. 4-seed Roswell (16-13) in one of the tougher opening round series for a region champ. First-pitch for the Raiders' doubleheader will be 11:30 a.m.
Region 8-6A fourth-seeded Jackson County (14-16) has a supreme challenge traveling to No. 3 Blessed Trinity for a three-game series. They will get things going at 11 a.m. in Rowell.
Classes 7A and 6A will play Game 3s, if necessary, on Monday while Classes 5A down to 2A will open their first-round series' on Monday with doubleheaders. Both Class A Division 1 and 2 do not begin until Thursday.
(Check below for the full schedule of first round series' involving Northeast Georgia-area teams.)
BASEBALL PLAYOFFS, 1st round, Saturday, April 22
(Best-of-three series)
Class 7A
Peachtree Ridge (Region 7, Seed 4) at Buford (R8, S1) DH, noon
Class 6A
Jackson County (R8, S4) at Blessed Trinity (R7, S1), DH 11 a.m.
Roswell (R7, S4) at North Forsyth (R8, S1) DH, 11:30 a.m.
BASEBALL PLAYOFFS, 1st round, Monday, April 24
(Best-of-three series)
Class 7A (Game 3, if necessary)
Peachtree Ridge (Region 7, Seed 4) at Buford (R8, S1), 6 p.m.
Class 6A (Game 3s, if necessary)
Jackson County (R8, S4) at Blessed Trinity (R7, S1), 6 p.m.
Roswell (R7, S4) at North Forsyth (R8, S1), 5 p.m.
Class 5A
Flowery Branch (R8, S3) at Woodland-Cartersville (R7, S2) DH, 3 p.m.
Jefferson (R8, S4) at Cartersville (R7, S1) DH, 4:30 p.m.
Class 4A
East Forsyth (R8, S3) at Sonoraville (R7, S2) DH, 4:30 p.m.
Heritage-Catoosa (R7, S3) at Cherokee Bluff (R8, S2) DH, 4:30 p.m.
North Hall (R8, S4) at Cedartown (R7, S1), DH, 5 p.m.
Class 3A
Lumpkin County (R7, S3) at Oconee County (R8, S2) DH, TBA
Dawson County (R7, S4) at Franklin County (R8, S1) DH, TBA
Class 2A
Rockmart (R7, S3) at Banks County (R8, S2) DH, 4 p.m.
BASEBALL PLAYOFFS, 1st round, Tuesday, April 25
(Best-of-three series)
Class 5A (Game 3s, if necessary)
Flowery Branch (R8, S3) at Woodland-Cartersville (R7, S2), 5:30 p.m.
Jefferson (R8, S4) at Cartersville (R7, S1) 5:30 p.m.
Class 4A (Game 3s, if necessary)
East Forsyth (R8, S3) at Sonoraville (R7, S2), 5:30 p.m.
Heritage-Catoosa (R7, S3) at Cherokee Bluff (R8, S2), 6 p.m.
North Hall (R8, S4) at Cedartown (R7, S1), 4 p.m.
Class 3A (Game 3s, if necessary)
Dawson County (R7, S3) at Oconee County (R8, S2) DH, TBA
Lumpkin County (R7, S4) at Franklin County (R8, S1) DH, TBA
Class 2A (Game 3, if necessary)
Rockmart (R7, S3) at Banks County (R8, S2) DH, 4 p.m.
BASEBALL PLAYOFFS, 1st round, Thursday, April 27
(Best-of-three series)
Class A Division 1
Commerce (R8, S4) at Pepperell (R7, S1) DH, TBA
Class A Division 2
Mt. Zion-Carroll (R7, S3, at Towns County (R8, S2) DH, 4 p.m.
BASEBALL PLAYOFFS, 1st round, Thursday, April 28
(Best-of-three series)
Class A Division 1 (Game 3, if necessary)
Commerce (R8, S4) at Pepperell (R7, S1) DH, TBA
Class A Division 2 (Game 3, if necessary)
Mt. Zion-Carroll (R7, S3, at Towns County (R8, S2), 1 p.m.
