GHSA Playoff Preview: 6A

Finally, and officially, playoff baseball in Georgia is here. After last week’s slate of games decided which teams are seeded where, we finally know which teams are inside the 32-team tournament, and which are on the sidelines. After breaking down the 7A playoff scene earlier today, it’s time to turn to the 6A class, where two heavyweight programs sit inside the GA Power 25 top-five, Pope and Winder-Barrow.

GROUP 1

Teams:
+ No. 1 seeds: Pope (GA Power 25 No. 4), Stephenson
+ No. 2 seeds: Dacula, Greenbrier
+ No. 3 seeds: Northgate, Brunswick
+ No. 4 seeds: Creekview, Lee County

Pope, the back-to-back champs of the 6A class, are at it again. The Greyhounds are entering the postseason on a seven-game win streak and successfully endured a tough stretch (for them) back in early March where they lost three of four games. They’ve lost just once since and it was in extras against a solid Alpharetta team, and they won regional games against Centennial and Cambridge to close out the regular season with their fourth consecutive regional title.

The Greyhounds will meet Creekview on Wednesday. The Canton-area Grizzlies went 15-10 this spring, inside one of class 6A’s most competitive regions, Region 6. A fourth-place finish their is more than respectable, so they won’t roll over for the powerhouse program from Marietta. Their three-game slide into the postseason is a little worrisome, however.

Stephenson (19-5), from the Atlanta-area Region 4, won both of its last two games against Mundy’s Hill to swoop in and claim their region’s title on the final day of the regular season. The Jaguars are preparing for South Georgia’s Lee County. The Trojans are 15-15 this spring, though they have just two wins in April thus far and have lost four straight.

Dacula will play Northgate to open their postseason play. The Falcons went 13-15 overall this spring, the fourth-best overall mark in Region 8, but their 8-7 record in regional action helped earn them a No. 2 seed. The Vikings are 20-8 this spring, 13-3 in their own region, but that was only good enough for a No. 3 seed. Still, Northgate was an unfavorable match-up for any No. 2 seed on the table, so their meeting with Dacula is slated to be one of 6A’s most fierce.

Lastly, Greenbrier and Brunswick will square off. The Wolfpack spent a decent amount of time on the GA Power 25 this season but when they were shut out in three consecutive games against Heritage, it booted them from the rankings and effectively handed them Region 3’s No. 2 seed in the process. Still, they can pitch, and that should make them a handful in the playoffs, especially for Brunswick. The Pirates went 12-16-1 this regular season and they swept Glynn Academy to close the campaign to secure the No. 3 seed.

GROUP 2

Teams:
+ No. 1 seeds: Harrison (No. 22), Houston County (No. 24)
+ No. 2 seeds: South Paulding, Richmond Hill
+ No. 3 seeds: Habersham Central, Grovetown
+ No. 4 seeds: Dunwoody, Mt. Zion

Two GA Power 25 ranked squads headline this group: Harrison and Houston County. The Hoyas only just debuted on the rankings for the first time this spring on Monday. They had teetered On The Bubble for most of this season, but winning six straight to lock down a Region 6 championship vaulted them onto the board, finally. They have a date with Dunwoody on Wednesday, a Wildcats team that had more success in its own Region 7 than it did outside of it. Dunwoody was able to score regional wins over the likes of Pope, Alpharetta, Centennial, and North Atlanta, which helped them sneak into the postseason. They’re used to playing with the big dogs, so they won’t be intimidated by Harrison’s prowess.

Back to HoCo, the Bears are riding a six-game win streak into the postseason. When they swept Valdosta in two games to end March, it really helped propel them onto the GA Power 25 and created the gap they needed to win Region 1.

The Bears are going to be battling Mt. Zion, the Jonesboro-area program that went 13-8 this season overall. The Bulldogs’ 9-7 record in Region 4 was good enough for a No. 4 seed.

South Paulding is one of the more talented No. 2 seeds in the 6A class. The Spartans went 24-5 this spring with a 14-2 mark in Region 5, but Alexander’s 15-1 record just edged them out. South Paulding split their series with Alexander this season and the lone loss in that series has been their only defeat since mid-March – they’ve gone 13-1 over that stretch. And they don’t have it easy with an opening round opponent of Habersham Central. The Raiders have one of the class’ best pitchers to lean on and went 19-10 this spring.

The other No. 2 seed belongs to Richmond Hill, the program just south of Savannah. The Wildcats went 23-6 this spring and are yet another team heading into the playoffs with a hot hand, winners of six straight. They’ll take on Grovetown on Wednesday, an Augusta-area team that went 13-8 overall this spring that needed its seven consecutive wins (and counting) to climb into the playoff picture.

GROUP 3

Teams:
+ No. 1 seeds: Heritage-Conyers (No. 13), Alexander
+ No. 2 seeds: Allatoona, Tucker
+ No. 3 seeds: Alpharetta, Coffee
+ No. 4 seeds: Apalachee, Glynn Academy

This is going to be a really fun and competitive group of eight to watch, and it could play out a number of ways. While Heritage is the favorite to march to the semifinals, they might have their hands full. The Patriots made it all the way up to No. 13 on the GA Power 25 this season and are winners of eight straight. They’ve been dominant ever since early March and they launched themselves onto the map when they swept then-ranked Greenbrier in three games by a combined score of 9-0. They went on to earn two more shutout victories in a row and have allowed just five runs in April.

They’ll be playing Glynn Academy on Wednesday. The Terrors are 11-16 overall this spring and have just one win this month, and that came back on April 3. Glynn looked formidable at various points in the first half of the season, so they’ll look to recapture that form in the first round.

Alexander, the Douglasville-area program, represents this group’s other regional champ. The Cougars are one of 6A’s most under-the-radar powerhouses, as evidenced by a 15-1 record in a jam-packed Region 5, 24-4 overall. They’ve won 10 straight games but have only played two games against teams that were ranked on the GA Power 25 this spring, and lost both (Alpharetta and Cartersville).

They’ll be playing Apalachee, an upstart squad excited to be participating in its first-ever playoffs in program history. A 6-9 record in Region 8 was just enough to sneak into the postseason, though they’re 11-5 outside of regional play.

Allatoona (19-10) and Alpharetta (17-10) are two programs that started the spring on the GA Power 25, though neither has been on the rankings since Week 5. By record alone, you can tell the two are pretty even on paper and both have played challenging schedules. The Buccaneers own wins over Houston County, Pace Academy, and North Cobb while the Raiders have defeated Peachtree Ridge, Alexander, Pope (twice), and Collins Hill.

The final series is between DeKalb County’s Tucker and South Georgia’s Coffee. Tucker went 13-6-1 this spring and their 11-3-1 finish in Region 4 was good for a No. 2 seed. The Trojans from Douglas finished April’s regular season 5-4, which helped push them past Lee County for the No. 3 seed.

GROUP 4

Teams:
+ No. 1 seeds: Winder-Barrow (No. 5), Effingham County
+ No. 2 seeds: Cambridge, Valdosta
+ No. 3 seeds: River Ridge, M.L. King
+ No. 4 seeds: Creekside, Lakeside

This is going to be another balanced battle – outside of outright favorite, Winder-Barrow. The Bulldoggs are the No. 5-ranked team on the GA Power 25 and are very possibly the team entering the postseason on the best form of any other team in the state. They’ve won 16 consecutive games, went 15-0 in Region 8, and are 24-3 overall this spring. The ‘Doggs haven’t lost since visiting Hoover, Ala., back in first week of March where they suffered narrow defeats to Alabama’s Bob Jones High and Blessed Trinity. Their lone loss outside of that tournament came back on Feb. 27 when they visited Peachtree Ridge. Their frankly playing like the most imposing force in the state and could very well be the favorite in the 6A bracket – even over the back-to-back champs.

With that, Creekside, Winder’s first-round opponent, has a monumental chore ahead. But the Seminoles are headed into Wednesday on good form themselves, riding a six-game win streak that helped propel them into the playoffs.

After Winder-Barrow, the level of competition begins to even out, but the Effingham County Rebels are the next best bet to emerge from this group of eight. They put together a strong 24-5 spring from the Northwest suburbs of Savannah. They tied Richmond Hill on region record, but they took two of three from the Wildcats in the regular season, which granted them the Region 2 title. Something to keep in the back of your mind: the Rebels suffered a 14-0 defeat to the ‘Doggs back on March 3.

They’ll be preparing for Lakeside, however, in their first-round test. The Panthers from Evans finished the regular season with a 9-12 record, but took two of three from Greenbrier that allowed them to safely secure the No. 4 seed.

Repping south South Georgia is the Valdosta Wildcats. They spent a large chunk of the spring on the GA Power 25, but ousted from the rankings after suffering a two-game sweep at the hands of Houston County. Still, Valdosta is among the toughest seeds in the 6A class not participating in this tournament as a No. 1 seed. They have wins over Lownes, Colquitt County, Coffee (twice), and swept Lee County to close the season to finish the spring on a high note.

The Wildcats will be playing a team that calls Lithonia home, almost 240 miles north of Valdosta: the M.L. King Lions. The Lions went 16-4-1 this season and have been playing some really good ball lately, really since the start of March. They’ve lost just once this month and really know how to score, tallying 10-plus runs in a game 13 times this season.

The last series to cover in the 6A class is bound to be among the most competitive: Cambridge and River Ridge. The Cambridge Bears went 15-12 in the regular season but were strong performers inside Region 7, where they tied powerhouse Pope on record (12-4) but lost the final game of the season to the Greyhounds with the regional title on the line. As for the Knights, they began the spring as the No. 8-ranked team on the GA Power 25, but quickly slipped all the way off the rankings after losing their first six games of the spring – granted, against some quality competition. River Ridge did, however, go 16-6 the rest of the way to claim a No. 3 seed. They scuffled against teams over .500 this year, so it’ll be interesting to see if they recaptured the buzz they entered the season with.

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