Whew. Let’s take a deep breath because that was an exhilarating first round. It was Georgia baseball at its finest. We’re onto round two, and the 7A through 2A classes are down to just a final 16 teams in each bracket.

Stay tuned next week when we publish previews for round two of the postseason. Follow us on Twitter at @PBRGeorgia and utilize the #GHSAPlayoffs hashtag to keep up with the live action as it happens.

For now, here’s what you missed from yesterday.

POWER 25 ACTION

Six GA Power 25-ranked teams were forced into game three action on Thursday. Five remain.

CREEKVIEW @ POPE

First things first, let’s start with the top-ranked team remaining: the Pope Greyhounds. On Wednesday, the Greyhounds were caught off-guard in their first game against Creekview. The Grizzlies stormed out to a big lead early and wound up earning an 11-5 win. Game two, Pope looked like the Greyhounds of old and they more or less cruised to a 10-3 win. This set up a critical game three.

The series finale looked a lot like game one. Creekview scored two in the first and added another three in the second to take a quick 5-0 lead. Three Grizzlies doubles, by Calvin Haynes, Grant Anderson, and Griffin Potts scored the first five runs of the game. Meanwhile, Creekview starter Gavin Grubbs was dominating the Greyhounds – Pope had nothing to show for their first four innings at the plate. In the fifth, Pope walked in a run and a wild pitch plated a seventh for the Grizzlies.

The 7-0 lead looked daunting, but the back-to-back state champs are relentless. Pope loaded the bases right away, scored a couple of runs, and pulled within a run of Creekview on Caden Smith’s ultra-clutch grand slam.

After a scoreless sixth, the Greyhounds pitched out of a Grizzlies jam, stranding the bases loaded, fueling their bats to complete the comeback. And that’s exactly what happened.

A hit by pitch and walk started the half-inning, but Creekview quickly retired the next two batters, keeping the Greyhounds tied to first and second base. A walk loaded them up for Will Lantis and, on a 1-2 count, he barreled a ball to right field that allowed both the tying and walk-off runs to score.

They staved off what would have been a tremendous first-round upset and are set to play Dacula next round, a team that also needed a game three to get by Northgate.

HILLGROVE, GRAYSON, AND MILL CREEK

No. 8-ranked Hillgrove and No. 23-ranked Mill Creek both suffered narrow game two losses which forced them to suit back up on Thursday but both programs glided to comfortable wins to advance to the next round.

Despite dropping a game this series, Hillgrove looked dominant against Wheeler. They allowed the Wildcats to score once in the three games combined and coasted to the game three win, 13-0. Their six runs in the top of the first was more than enough offense to lock down the win. Deion Walker doubled twice and drove in a pair and Owen Helgesen recorded a pinch-hit, three-run double, too.

As for Grayson, Bodie Ellertson tossed a complete game shutout, allowing Lambert to tally just two hits and he struck out seven and walked only one. He was surely boosted heading to the mound the first after his offense opened the game with a five-spot. On offense, the Rams got two homers from their star John Anderson and Ellertson actually two RBIs to help his own cause. The 8-0 win has No. 17-ranked Grayson headed into the second round for a match-up with No. 20 Brookwood, in one of the most anticipated series of round two.

Mill Creek had a tough Norcross team standing in their way and PBR Georgia’s own Phil Kerber was witness to their triumphant game three victory. The Blue Devils actually struck first in this one, score a run in each of the first and second, but the Hawks broke out offensively in the bottom of the second, scoring six times. They added eight more the rest of the way to end the game in six innings. Brendan York homered and drove in three runs and Blaze McCauley tallied three RBIs, too. The final here was 14-4 and Mill Creek will play top seed Milton next week.

WESTMINSTER @ JEFFERSON

PBR Georgia Scouting Director Blake Davis made his way back to Jefferson to watch the Dragons battle a talented Westminster squad. This was a tough draw for Jefferson, considering the Division-I-bound talent in the Wildcats’ dugout, but we overlooked this match-up because of how dominant Jefferson has been over the last two-plus years.

Like Pope, Jefferson was hit in the mouth in a game one loss, but bounced right back up for game two. In game three, Westminster jutted out to a 3-0 lead but the Dragons got right back in their and tied it in the bottom of the second on Cole Watkins’ double. Westminster countered right back with another run in the top of the third. It remained that way until the seventh, when Will Hallmark scored another run for the Wildcats.

In the bottom of the seventh, with the season on the line, Jefferson tallied two singles to open the frame, but back-to-back strikeouts stalled their comeback efforts. Mason Cooper’s RBI single looked like it was about to reenergize the Dragons, but Charlie Wickliffe came in to relieve starter Edward Shores and punched out the last batter to cap a wild series upset with a 5-4 game three win.

Jefferson was our top ranked 3A program entering the postseason, and thus the favorite to win the whole thing. But Westminster showed why they should have never been underestimated. There’s some real talent here to make fairytale run a reality.

RIVERWOOD @ EAST PAULDING

The No. 25-ranked Riverwood Raiders were locked in a close battle with a sound No. 3 seed in East Paulding. The two teams split tight games on day one but Riverwood was able to overpower East on Thursday, totaling 12 runs on 15 hits and were able to limit their opponents to just five hits.

Labranus Stinson and Miles Jackson lit the way for Riverwood from the batter’s box. Stinson drove in four runs while Jackson added three RBIs which was plenty. Jake Muse allowed just one earned run in four innings of work and struck out four in that time and Josh Kantz came in to record the final five outs to lock down the 12-2 win.

The Raiders have Southwest DeKalb next in round two, which comfortably swept Clarke Central in the first.

MOVING ON

There were 25 game threes between the 2A and 7A classes played on Thursday, so there’s a lot more to dig into.

North Cobb came into the first round as a No. 4 seed but looked like a team capable of upsetting their No. 1-seeded opponents, Newnan. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be for the Warriors. Newnan really poured it on in game three, earning a 15-2 win, and will meet Lassiter next week.

Pope’s round-two opponent, Dacula, needed extra innings in game three to decide their series with Northgate. It was back-and-forth, but the Falcons walked it off on Colson Crosby’s walk off home run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.

Lee County’s 8-0 win over Stephenson on Thursday ensures them a spot next round against Greenbrier.

Apalachee’s unbelievable comeback in game two on Wednesday was one of the stories of the playoffs, so far. On Thursday, they hung tight with No. 1 seed Alexander, but a three-run sixth pushed the Cougars through on a 3-1 score. Alexander will play Allatoona next.

Union Grove, a No. 4 seed, took game one from Harris County, but the Tigers won the next two games by a combined score of 19-6, including Thursday’s 7-3 victory. With the game tied at three in the fourth, Harris County got a three-run homer from Timmy Brooks. They’ll meet Whitewater next, which shut out Statesboro, 3-0, in their own game three.

On the 4A side, LaGrange’s four-run third inning propelled them to their game three win over Stephens County. The Grangers will play No. 2-ranked Blessed Trinity in round two.

Perry, a No. 4 seed, won a 17-7 game three contest with Burke County to add to the No. 4 seed upsets in the past two days. An unlikely upset has the Panthers squaring off with No. 3 seed Northside next.

Arguably, the new 3A favorite with Jefferson eliminated is Ringgold. The Tigers clobbered Cherokee Bluff in game three, 16-1, behind a two-homer day from Andre Tarver. Hart County is next up.

Speaking of Hart County, their game three win over Lovett earned them an unexpected series win over a traditionally strong program.

North Hall and Rutland both scored game three wins on Thursday, too, over Coahulla Creek and Worth County, respectively.

In the 2A bracket, Elbert County, Vidalia, and Westside-Augusta each won their game three match-ups.

CRAZY COMEBACKS

CAMBRIDGE @ RIVER RIDGE

One of the more even match-ups in the 6A class was Cambridge and River Ridge and it played out that way on the diamond, too. Things looked dire for the Knights early when the Bears opened game three with four runs in the top of the first. Cambridge tacked on three more in the fourth and another in fifth while River Ridge was struggling to muster baserunners, let alone runs. Yet, out of nowhere, the Knights exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Four straight hits helped them halve the lead, with the help of Carson Bell’s two-run double. Kobe Braddock added a two-run double of his own later on in the frame to tie the ballgame at eight and, with two outs, Hayden Duffield singled to center bringing home the ninth run of the inning – and the most important one.

Reeling from an unreal counter, Cambridge struggled against Lane Tengzelius and the closer sealed the near-miraculous 9-8 come-from-behind victory for River Ridge. The Knights are onto Winder-Barrow, so the road won’t get any easier.

REDAN @ MORGAN COUNTY

While Redan entered the postseason on some of its worst form of the spring, they were largely one of the best 3A programs for most of the season. They were locked in a three-game dogfight against Morgan County, a No. 2 seed, that combined for 58 runs and ended with a back-and-forth slugfest that the Raiders pulled out.

Redan started the game with a three-run first but were immediately answered in the bottom of the frame by four Morgan County runs. The Bulldogs extended their lead to two in the second and that’s when the two teams began slugging each other with runs in bunches.

A Raiders five-run fourth temporarily made it an 8-5 Redan lead, until Morgan County scored five of their own in the fifth. Then, in the sixth, Redan rallied once more for five runs, taking a 13-10 lead that they were able to cling to for a final score of 13-11.

Naturally, in a game like this, there were a lot of strong performances. Redan’s Nos. 1 through 4 bats combined for 10 hits and drove in eight of the team’s 13 runs. Dorien Branch, Kameron Guidry, and Kevin Kilpatrick each homered. Guidry led the team with four RBIs and Christian Webb added three doubles and three RBIs, too.

Thankfully for the Raiders, they’ll have some time to relax following an emotionally draining series, because a 23-6 Fannin County team awaits them.

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