The baseball postseason is here: Trio of local teams to compete in high school playoffs this week

Published 8:00 am Tuesday, April 23, 2024

The Georgia High School Association state baseball playoffs begin this week, and a trio of teams from Whitfield County has reached the postseason.

Christian Heritage, Northwest Whitfield and Dalton all send their squads into the state playoffs, in which each round consists of a three-game series.

Christian Heritage hosts Taylor County in first round of Class A DII

Christian Heritage (9-13) finished second in its three-team Region 7-A DII to earn a home playoff series in the first round of the Class A DII playoffs.

The Lions will welcome Taylor County (18-12) for a first round series starting today. Games one and two of the series will be played in a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m., with a game three, if necessary, to be held Wednesday at 1 p.m.

Christian Heritage was swept by eventual Region 7-A DII champion Bowdon this year, but took second place over a Mount Zion team that finished with a winning record (14-9-1). The Lions started the season 1-8, but have gone 8-5 since then.

Waiting for Christian Heritage in the first round is Taylor County, which finished third in a Region 6-A DII that included 23-3 Schley County.

With a win in the first round, the Lions would face either Wilkinson County or Lake Oconee Academy in the second.

Northwest travels to Atlanta’s Westminster for first round series

Despite starting the season 15-2 and finishing well above .500 at 18-9, Northwest Whitfield is the fourth-seeded team in a tough Region 7-4A and will travel to begin the Class 4A playoffs.

The Bruins will open the playoffs at Atlanta’s Westminster Christian, the Region 6-4A champion that is 18-4 on the season and didn’t drop a game in a 12-0 region schedule.

Northwest plays the first two games of the potential three-game series on Thursday in a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m., with the third game set for Friday at 5:30 p.m., if it’s needed.

Northwest finished a stellar 10-2 outside of its region, but went 8-7 against the tough teams within it.

The winner of the opening-round series will advance to play either North Oconee or Stockbridge.

Late push nets Dalton fourth seed, trip to Greater Atlanta Christian for playoffs

Coming into its final regular season series on the year against Calhoun, Dalton was 1-8 in Region 7-5A play and needed a sweep just to have a chance at the state playoffs.

A sweep was needed, and a sweep was what Dalton got.

The three-game series win tied Dalton with Calhoun in the Region 7-5A standings at 4-8, but gave them the fourth seed for the region due to the head-to-head tiebreaker.

After the late run to secure a playoff spot, Dalton (9-17) will travel to play Region 6-5A champion Greater Atlanta Christian (25-3) in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.

The series will start with a doubleheader at GAC today at 4 p.m., with a third game slotted for Wednesday at 5 p.m. if it becomes necessary.

Greater Atlanta Christian lost just once on its way to a region title, going 17-1 against its region made up of strong Atlanta-area programs.

The winner of the series gets either Flowery Branch or Maynard Jackson in the second round.