A tough first round for northeast Georgia-area baseball teams came to an end Saturday with four more teams falling in Game 3 action.
Three teams, however, North Hall in Class AAA, Stephens County in Class AAAA, and Buford in Class AAAAA managed to survive their Game 3s to advance to next week's second round.
Commerce (Class A), Dawson County (Class AAA), West Hall (Class AAAA), and Gainesville (Class AAAAAA) all saw their seasons come to a heartbreaking end.
North Hall had the most dramatic finish holding off Pace Academy 6-5 after the Knights had scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh and had the winning run on base when Corban Meeler struck out the final batter to end the game. Buford saw its offense exploded for a season-high in runs in an 18-8 win over North Springs. Stephens County held off Northwest Whitfield 10-9 to advance.
Those three teams will join Flowery Branch in Class AAAAA and Banks County and Rabun County in Class AA as the only teams out of the 15 area teams that qualified for the playoffs to advance.
STATE BASEBALL PLAYOFF RESULTS
First round series
Class AAAAAA
Dalton 2, Gainesville 1
Game 1: Dalton 10, Gainesville 3
Game 2: Gainesville 9, Dalton 2
Game 3: Dalton 10, Gainesville 1
Class AAAAA
Flowery Branch 2, Riverwood 0
Game 1: Flowery Branch 4, Riverwood 0
Game 2: Flowery Branch 5, Riverwood 3
Buford 2, North Springs 1
Game 1: North Springs 4, Buford 1
Game 2: Buford 12, North Springs 4
Game 3: Buford 18, North Springs 8
Class AAAA
Troup 2 West Hall 1
Game 1: Troup 1, West Hall 0
Game 2: West Hall 4, Troup 3
Game 3: Troup 6, West Hall 1
Stephens County 2, Northwest Whitfield 1
Game 1: Stephens County 5, Northwest Whitfield 2
Game 2: Northwest Whitfield 8, Stephens County 6
Game 3: Stephens County 10, Northwest Whitfield 9
LaGrange 2, Chestatee 0
Game 1: LaGrange 10, Chestatee 0
Game 2: LaGrange 10, Chestatee 0
Heritage, Catoosa 2, Jefferson 0
Game 1: Heritage 11, Jefferson 1
Game 2: Heritage 18, Jefferson 1
Class AAA
Lovett 2, Dawson County 1
Game 1: Lovett 11, Dawson County 2
Game 2: Dawson County 7, Lovett 2
Game 3: Lovett 14, Dawson County 0
North Hall 2, Pace Academy 1
Game 1: Pace Academy 7, North Hall 3
Game 2: North Hall 4, Pace Academy 1
Game 3: North Hall 6, Pace Academy 5
Redan 2, Fannin County 0
Game 1: Redan 3, Fannin County 0
Game 2: Redan 16, Fannin County 2
Ringgold 2, Jackson County 0
Game 1: Ringgold 7, Jackson County 3
Game 2: Ringgold 5, Jackson County 0
Class AA
Banks County 2, Hapeville Charter 0
Game 1: Banks County 18, Hapeville 0
Game 2: Banks County 16, Hapeville 1
Rabun County 2, South Atlanta 0
Game 1: Rabun County 8, South Atlanta 2
Game 2: Rabun County 13, South Atlanta 3
Class A
Johnson County 2, Commerce 1
Game 1: Commerce 6, Johnson County 5
Game 2: Johnson County 7, Commerce 2
Game 3: Johnson County 5, Commerce 3
Bowdon 2, Towns County 0
Game 1: Bowdon 5, Towns County 4
Game 2: Bowdon 17, Towns County 1
STATE BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
Second round series (May 4-5)
Class AAAAA
Flowery Branch at Locust Grove
Buford at Wayne County
Class AAAA
Stephens County at Luella
Class AAA
North Hall at Southeast Bulloch
Class AA
Toombs County at Banks County
Rabun County at Bacon County
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/4/530369/playoff-baseball-disappointing-first-round-for-area-teams-concludes