Area softball teams begin annual quest for trip to Columbus

The first playoffs of the 2014-15 high school season got under way this week as area softball teams began their annual quest for a trip to Columbus.<br /> <br /> Regions 8-AA, 8-AAAA, and 8-AAAAA all began their region tournaments on Tuesday. Region 7-AAA will begin tournament play on Thursday, 8-AAA will begin on Saturday, and 8-A will get under way next Tuesday (Oct. 7th).<br /> <br /> The formats for each region tournament vary with 8-A, 7-AAA, and 8-AAA all playing the more traditional double-elimination formats. Regions 8-AA, 8-AAAA, and 8-AAAAA will play best-of-three formats in each round until the finals, which will be a single game for the championship.<br /> <br /> The top four teams in all regions will advance to the state playoffs.<br /> <br /> In 8-AA, Social Circle is the No. 1 seed with Union County second and Rabun County third. The Lady Wildcats opened with a best-of-three series against Greene County on Tuesday but no results were known as of publication.<br /> <br /> Union County will play the winner of that series beginning next Tuesday with the winner advancing to state.<br /> <br /> In 8-AAAAA, Flowery Branch, the No. 7 seed, advanced out of the play-in round with a 16-5 win over Gainesville on Tuesday and played No. 3 seed Heritage, Conyers in a best-of-three series that started Wednesday.<br /> <br /> In Region 8-AAAA, White County opened the tournament Tuesday with a pair of wins, 8-1 and 14-2, over North Hall to advance to the second round. The Warriors will take on Class AAAA No. 1-ranked Buford in a best-of-three series beginning Saturday at Buford. North Oconee, which knocked off Stephens County in a best-of-three series on Wednesday, gets No. 2 Madison County on Saturday.<br /> <br /> Region 7-AAA will begin its tournament on Thursday with Fannin County playing host to West Hall in the play-in game. The loser of that game will be eliminated.<br /> <br /> The double-elimination portion will begin Saturday with No. 4 seed Lumpkin County playing host to East Hall and No. 3 seed Franklin County playing host to the Fannin County-West Hall winner. The tournament will then move to region top-seed Banks County, which will play host to the rest of the tournament on Wednesday, Oct. 8th. Dawson County is the No. 2 seed in 7-AAA.<br /> <br /> Region 8-AAA is still jockeying for tournament seedings but Morgan County currently sits as the top seed and Jackson County as the No. 2 seed heading into Saturday's play-in games, which are a best-of-three format. The double-elimination rounds begin on Tuesday, Oct. 7th with the finals scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 9th with all games being hosted by Morgan County.<br /> <br /> Region 8-A, which features Commerce, an Elite 8 team from 2013, opens its tournament on Tuesday, Oct. 7th in a double-elimination format at East Jackson Park in Nicholson. The finals are scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 11th.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2014/10/280219