Baseball playoffs: Jefferson, Dawson, Branch, Towns all advance to 2nd round

Opening day of the Georgia High School Association baseball playoffs was a success as four of the five Northeast Georgia teams advanced to the second round on Tuesday.

In Class 5A, Jefferson and Flowery Branch represented Region 8-5A well, sweeping their opponents. 

In Class 3A, Dawson County pulled off the upset sweep of seventh-ranked Bremen at home, and Towns County, in Class A Division 2, eliminated Glascock County. 

Round two games are set for Monday, April 29, as all four teams will be on the road. 

Jefferson heads to No. 1 seed Cartersville. Flowery Branch gets No. 1 seed Greater Atlanta Christian. Dawson County will travel to No. 1 seed Franklin County, and Towns County gets No. 1 seed Schley County—game times to be announced. 

JEFFERSON 11, 11,
MIDTOWN 1, 0

The Dragons (17-13, Region 8-5A No. 2 seed) left no doubt as they scored 22 runs in the doubleheader against Midtown to advance to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs. 

Jefferson made a statement early, going up 5-1 in the first inning. Chris Law, who was 4-5 with four RBIs on the day, hammered one of his two homers, a two-run long ball, in the inning to give the Dragons a 3-1 advantage. Later in the inning, Steven Tavares singled in Ryan Reed, and Aiden Mixon stole home. 

The Dragons added two runs in both the third and fourth and one run each in the fifth and sixth innings. 

Jase Peoples drove in three runs on one hit, Tarvares was a perfect 4-for-4 with two RBIs, and Josh Causey was 2-for-3 with an RBI. 

Eston Simpson earned the win on the mound, tossing all six innings and giving up one run on three hits and six strikeouts. 

In Game 2, Law (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) struck again in the first inning, with his second home run of the day, to give the Dragons an early 2-0 lead. The Dragons tacked on five more runs in the top of the second. Ryan Reed got the flurry of runs going when he stole home. Rett Hemphill (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) and Peoples (2-for-2, RBI) singled in runs, Hudson Hodge recorded the RBI on a sac bunt, and Causey grounded out, scoring a run. The Dragons led 7-0. 

Jefferson scored one run in the fourth and three in the fifth to run-rule the Knights. 

Peoples tossed five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out five and walking three. 

The Dragons will travel to No. 1 seed Cartersville on Monday. 

FLOWERY BRANCH 6, 11
JACKSON-ATLANTA 0, 10

The Falcons (15-14, Region 8-5A No. 3 seed) pulled off the sweep of Jackson-Atlanta in nerve-racking fashion on the road Tuesday. 

With Game 2 tied at 10 in the bottom of the seventh, Kyle Adamec singled in the game-winning run to seal the sweep and advance to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs. 

The Falcons fell behind in the first inning, 3-0, but rallied back with a huge second inning. Branch loaded the bases early in the second, scoring its first run when Riley Bourrie was hit by a pitch, sending D Miller home.

Later in the inning, Parker Bourrie singled in a run, and David Ojeda (2-for-4, 5 RBIs) drove in two more runs to give the Falcons a 4-3 advantage. On the next at-bat, Jackson Freeman (2-for-4, 3 RBIs) capped the seven-run second with a three-run home run, pushing the Falcons ahead 7-3.

Jackson scored two in the third, and Branch added three in the fifth, taking a 10-5 lead.

But Jackson scored five runs in the top of the seventh off a solo homer from Seth Geter, a three-run homer from Jack DeFoor, and an RBI single by Tyler Dunn. 

Game 1 wasn't nearly as exciting as Game 2. 

Flowery Branch's Adamec was tough to handle on the mound, allowing just one hit, no runs and 12 strikeouts in the 6-0 win over Jackson. 

The Falcons, leading 2-0 going into the seventh inning, added four insurance runs to seal the victory. With the bases loaded, Riley Bourrie, Parker Bourrie, David Ojeda and Freeman all drew walks to score the four runs.  

The Falcons will travel to No. 1 seed Greater Atlanta Christian on Monday.

DAWSON COUNTY 7, 13,
BREMEN 5, 2

Sawyer Bearden was on fire at the plate on Tuesday, helping the Tigers (18-11, Region 7-3A No. 2 seed) sweep Bremen at home.

He was 5-for-7 with five RBIs and two home runs to pace the Tigers' massive day in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.

The Tigers recorded 21 hits, five of which were home runs, and scored 20 runs against seventh-ranked Bremen.

In Game 1, Chase Adams, Elijah Odom and Joshua Priest all blasted homers, and Bearden was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

The Tigers grabbed the lead early, going up 2-0 off a Bearden single that scored D Edwards and Preston Bannister in the second inning.

Bremen tied the game in the top of the fourth, but the Tigers answered in the bottom off an Adams home run and a Jadyn Mattie single to take the lead for good. They added three more runs in the fifth inning.

Trey Harvey picked up the win, giving up three runs on three hits over five innings, striking out three. 

In Game 2, Bremen had no shot as the Tigers jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the third inning. Bearden continued his hot streak at the plate, smashing two home runs and driving in three runs to pace the Tigers to a 13-2 five-inning win.

Joshua Priest was almost untouchable on the hill, giving up just two hits and two runs while striking out 14 Blue Devils in five innings of work. 

Julian Horner had a solid day at the plate for the Tigers, going 2-for-3 with a solo homer. Carson Sosebee was 2-for-2 with two RBIs, Odom was 2-for-3 with one RBI, and Dylan Edwards was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. 

The Tigers had 10 hits. Dawson scattered 13 runs across five innings: five in the first, one in the second, three each in the third and fourth, and one in the fifth. The Tigers jumped all over the Blue Devils in the first inning, scoring five runs. 

The Tigers will travel to No. 1 seed Franklin County on Monday.