Today, we’re set to see the best Georgia prep baseball has to offer. The GHSA quarterfinals are upon us and we’ve prepared for you a brief snapshot of each series, from class 5A to 7A.

There’s a lot to get to, so without further ado…

CLASS 7A

Newnan @ Grayson

Seven of the eight teams remaining on the 7A bracket are ranked on the GA Power 25, the only outsider being Newnan. Since the Cougars’ three-game slide at the end of March and beginning of April, Newnan has lost just once and that came back in their first-round series against a tough North Cobb squad. They’re led by 2019s RHP Jake Martin (Georgia Southern commit) and LHP Jaxon O’Neal (Gordon State JC). Both pitched sterling complete games efforts last series against Lassiter in the team’s sweep. They’ll be relied on heavily again this week against Grayson.

The Rams battled Brookwood in a fierce second-round series, in which they came back to win after dropping game one. Trailing 4-1 in game two, Grayson grabbed the lead in the seventh and never looked back. Kevin Ortiz’s two-run single earned them the win in the second game and Jeremiah Smith’s three-hit, five-RBI performance in game three sealed it. His three-run home run in the third put the Rams back in the lead for good. We always knew they had the arms to get it done in the postseason, but the bats look like they can support the bridge to the title game. First, they’ll host Newnan.

Mill Creek @ Hillgrove

The winner of the Newnan-Grayson series will play the winner of the Mill Creek-Hillgrove series in the semifinals. The two Hawks squads met on March 9 where Hillgrove got the better of Mill Creek back in Powder Springs. Four Mill Creek errors and a big day at the plate from Deion Walker propelled Hillgrove to the win then and these two are headed back to Powder Springs today, only with much more on the line.

Hillgrove lost its first game last round to ranked Woodstock, 14-2, and things looked a little dire. But the Hawks answered with a 13-9 win in game two, one in which Walker and Reid Brown both tallied four RBIs each. In game three, things were much tighter. These two needed 11 innings to decide things. Fred Wilson pitched 7.1 stellar innings of relief and Walker reached base another three times. Lead-off man Ethan Wright singled in the top of the 11th to score the go-ahead run, making it a 4-3 game. With the bases loaded and two away, reliever Brennan Richardson entered the game and forced a ground out to end the game and the series. Hillgrove is turning into a team of destiny – and they have the personnel to accomplish big things.

As for Mill Creek, the other Hawks had a huge series with juggernaut Milton and they, too, lost game one. Milton scored a run in the fifth, sixth, and seventh to come back and walk it off, but Mill Creek didn’t let it faze them. Zach Green pitched a one-run complete game in game two to push his team to a game three, with the help of three Brendan York RBIs. In the decider, Kyle Sterwerf held Milton to just one hit while Mill Creek scored a run in all five of their turns at the plate. They cruised to an 11-0 win to get to this point.

Walton @ Parkview

Walton’s the No. 8-ranked team in the state, while Parkview is the top team on our GA Power 25. The Raiders, however, are coming off a convincing series win against the team that was ranked just under them on the board: North Paulding. The relative ease in which the Raiders have dispelled their first two opponents of the playoffs has this series marked as, arguably, Wednesday’s main event.

Walton needed 10 innings in game one to halt the Wolfpack, and it was fueled by a four-run sixth to tie the game up. Jared Jones lit the way to the comeback with four RBIs, including the two-out, walk-off single that drove in his team’s sixth run to win it. Game two was much different. The Walton staff limited North Paulding offensively while their own bats racked up 13 hits and 11 runs. Pierce Gallo has been held relatively quiet, too, so if he can get going against Parkview, then the sky’s the limit here.

As for the reigning 7A champs, the Parkview Panthers looked dominant in their 13-0 win in game two to sweep North Forsyth last round, but they’ve been tested these playoffs. It’s never easy, no matter who you are or who you’re playing, but Parkview’s offense has been a lot less imposing in the postseason beyond the four-hole. Instead, they’ve been usual suspects like Jonathan French and Stephen Hrustich in the middle of the order while starters Miles Garrett and Xander Stephens stagnate opposing bats. It’s worked so far, but the test is about to get a lot tougher.

Etowah @ North Gwinnett

We say it every round, but Etowah has been the most battle-tested team in the state and it’s prepared them precisely for this moment, a series with the No. 3 team in the state: North Gwinnett. The heart-attack Eagles were back after dropping game one last round to Kennesaw Mountain. Tied 1-1 in the seventh frame of game two, things looked desperate when the Mustangs scored four runs. But Etowah loaded the bases, chipped away, and with two outs, got a two-run, game-tying double from Conor Bowen to keep their season alive. Three quiet innings later, Kennesaw Mountain took the lead again in the 11th. Etowah refused to let it end there and were boosted by an error and a walk-off infield single to airlift them to a game three.

In that game three, trailing 4-0 in the third inning, Bowen pulled two back and Nick Block’s triple tied it up. They added another in the inning, two more in the next, and kept things relatively quiet the rest of the way to lock down the series win. They’re onto the quarters as a No. 4 seed.

North Gwinnett, like Parkview, has not yet lost this postseason. They were challenged with a series against Forsyth Central last round, too. Their offense needed one look through the order to start back up in game one – and they exploded their second time through. Game two was much closer and was a back-and-forth tug-of-war, but they took the lead in the fifth and shut it down from there. They’ve lost just twice since early March, but Etowah seems like they have the intangible recipe to will themselves to win this exact type of series.

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