Baseball playoffs: Buford, Bluff swing for Final 4 berths

By Jeff Hart Sports Reporter

Posted 8:07AM on Monday 6th May 2024 ( 7 months ago )

Only two northeast Georgia area teams are left standing as the 2024 Georgia High School Association baseball playoffs continue on Monday.

Buford in Class 7A and Cherokee Bluff in Class 4A will open quarterfinal series at home on Monday. The Wolves are looking to get back to the semifinals for the first time since 2022 (Class 6A) while the Bears are looking for their first-ever Final Four appearance in program history.

Game 3s, if necessary, will be on Tuesday.

Neither team made it out of the second round in 2023, but both pounded out impressive sweeps in the second round last week. Buford rolled past West Forsyth, 16-9 and 9-0, at Gerald McQuaig Field while the Bears routed Cedartown, 13-9 and 13-0, at Bluff Ballpark.

In the quarterfinals on Monday, Buford will take on Brookwood in Class 7A and Cherokee Bluff will take on Wayne County in a pair of battles between ranked teams.

The Wolves (23-8) are the Region 8-7A champion and ranked seventh in the final regular season Coaches Box poll and comes into their showdown with No. 4 Brookwood (26-9) riding a five-game win streak. The Broncos, the No. 2 seed out of Region 4-7A, needed a third game victory (6-1) to get past unranked Hillgrove in the Sweet 16.

Buford last made the semifinals in 2022 in Class 6A. It is one of two quarterfinal battles between ranked teams in Class 7A on Monday.

Meanwhile, Wayne County (28-6) is ranked second and Bluff (28-4) is ranked fifth in Class 4A. It is one of two quarterfinal battles between ranked teams in Class 4A on Monday.

The Bears made the quarterfinals in 2021 (3A) but were knocked out by Appling County. They are red-hot, having won 12 straight behind a powerful offense that is averaging 10.3 runs/game during that stretch (124 runs).

Wayne County, the Region 3-4A champion, has won four straight, all in the playoffs, after beating eighth-ranked LaGrange, 4-3 and 8-0, in the second round. The Yellow Jackets are averaging 10 runs/game in the playoffs but the key in this series will be pitching. Wayne County has allowed just three total runs in the postseason (0.75 runs/game) while Bluff has yielded 11 runs (2.75 runs/game).

In quarterfinal action on Saturday, Dawson County was knocked out of the Class 3A playoffs by Calvary Day, 11-3 and 7-2, in Savannah.

3rd ROUND BASEBALL SCHEDULE, Monday, May 6
(Best-of-3 series at higher seed; all DH)

CLASS 7A
Brookwood (Region 4, Seed 2) at Buford (R8, S1), 4 p.m.

CLASS 4A
Wayne County (R3, S1) at Cherokee Bluff (R8, S1) (DH), 5 p.m.

3rd ROUND BASEBALL SCHEDULE, Tuesday, May 7
(Game 3s, if necessary)

CLASS 7A
Brookwood (Region 4, Seed 2) at Buford (R8, S1), 6 p.m.

CLASS 4A
Wayne County (R3, S1) at Cherokee Bluff (R8, S1) (DH), 4 p.m.

3rd ROUND BASEBALL SCOREBOARD, Saturday, May 4
(Best-of-3 series)

CLASS 3A
Calvary Day 7-11, Dawson County 3-3 (Calvary Day wins series 2-0)

Jacob Vokal will be a key player for Cherokee Bluff in the Bears' Class 4A quarterfinal showdown with Wayne County on Monday at Bluff Ballpark. (Photo/Seth Chapman, FILE)

Nate Taylor will help lead Buford against Brookwood in the Class 7A quarterfinals on Monday at Gerald McQuaig Field. (Photo/Seth Chapman, FILE)

http://accesswdun.com/article/2024/5/1241106/baseball-playoffs-buford-bluff-swing-for-final-4-berths