Stephenson’s Rohn Blackston rounds third on the way to score in the Jaguars first game win over Hiram. (Photo by Mark Brock)
A pair of DeKalb County baseball teams moved on to the second round of the state playoffs as Stephenson and Columbia won their respective best-of-three series over the weekend.
Stephenson needed just two games
to win its series with wins of 7-0 and 17-12 over Hiram to advance in the Class 5A state playoffs.
The Jaguars (19-2) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first game as Bakari Gayle’s leadoff home run in the bottom of the first spurred a 4 run inning.
Terrell McCall had a two-out double in the bottom of the fourth and Rohn Blackston followed with a double of his own to drive in the first of two runs in the inning. Tekwaan Whyte followed with a RBI single to score Blackston for a 6-0 Jaguar lead.
Blackston tripled in the bottom of the sixth and Whyte hit a sacrifice fly to round out the scoring in the 7-0 win.
Stephenson would win a slugfest in the nightcap by a score of 17-12 to knock Hiram (14-13) out of the playoffs with a two-game sweep. The Jaguars move into the second round for the second time in school history and the second consecutive year.
Union Grove (20-4), the Region 4, No. 2 seed, travels to Stephenson on Wednesday, May 6 for a doubleheader after sweeping its series with Ware County by scores of 7-4 and 11-0. The first game is tentatively set for a 4:00 pm start.
In other Class 5A playoff action Dunwoody (14-10) fell in three games to Alexander after winning the opener 11-8 on Friday. Alexander came back to win Game 2 that night 2-1 and finished the series with a 10-7 victory on Saturday to eliminate the Wildcats.
The Southwest DeKalb Panthers (10-10) first playoff visit since 2005 was short-lived with a 2-0 series loss at East Paulding on Friday night. East Paulding pulled out a pair of four-run victories 11-7 and 8-4 to advance.
Class 4A Playoffs
Columbia catcher Ronald McGhee had two solo homers and threw out a runner trying to steal third in Columbia’s 11-6 opening game win against Woodward Academy. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The Columbia Eagles needed three games to win their best-of-three Class 4A series with Woodward Academy and advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1975.
The Eagles split the first two games on Friday winning 11-6 in the opener before falling 6-5 in nine innings in the nightcap.
Columbia (20-7) trailed Woodward (11-14-2) 4-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth of the series opener as Cade Sutherland had a two-out, two-run single in the top of the fourth.
The Eagles answered with three consecutive two-out singles in the bottom of the fourth after Patrick Wright reached after a strikeout and Jalen Atterbury walked. Khaalis King started the run scoring singles, Trent Nash followed to tie the game and Keeshaun Clark drove in the go-ahead run as the Eagles took the lead for good at 5-4.
Ronald McGhee hit the first of two lead off solo homers in the fifth and Jalen Atterbury added a two-run homer as the Eagles extended the lead to 10-4.
Woodward put up two runs in the sixth to pull within 10-6, but Patrick Wright entered in relief of starter Justin Washington to shut the door on the War Eagles.
McGhee added his second solo homer of the game in the sixth for the 11-6 final.
Woodward would rally in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 win in extra innings to extend the series to Saturday. Columbia had rallied from a 4-3 deficit for a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth, but could not hold the lead.
The Eagles would control the deciding game on Saturday on the way to a 6-3 victory to advance to face Region 4 No. 1 seed Locust Grove, a 3-2, 4-1 winner over Burke County. Columbia will travel to Locust Grove (23-4) for a 4:30 pm start to the second round doubleheader on Wednesday.
The Chamblee Bulldogs who won 10 of their last 14 games to reach the state playoffs for the first time since 2012 had their post season come to a close against highly ranked Whitewater in two straight losses. Whitewater (23-4) won the opener 15-2, but the never say quit Bulldogs (11-17) pushed Whitewater to the end in a 2-1 loss in the second game.
Class 6A Playoffs
The Tucker Tigers and Lakeside Vikings had their seasons come to an end in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs over the weekend.
The Tigers (17-9) staved off elimination by rallying for a 4-3 victory in the second game of their series after losing a 6-0 decision to Valdosta (13-13) in the opener on Friday at Tucker.
Valdosta looked close to ending the series in two games after jumping out to a 3-0 lead early in the second game. The Tigers continued to fight back and pulled out a 4-3 win to force the third game on Saturday at Tucker.
Valdosta would pull out a close 4-2 victory on Saturday to continue its Class 6A playoffs.
The Lakeside Vikings (20-8) had their season come to an end on Friday with two losses to Lowndes County (15-12). Lowndes won the opener 14-5 after exploding for 8 runs in one inning to take an 8-2 lead on the way to the win. Lakeside took an early 2-0 lead in the second game before Lowndes rallied again to finish the series with an 8-2 victory.
Class 3A Playoffs
The Cedar Grove Saints (10-12-1) dropped two consecutive games to Westside-Augusta (19-2) in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs.
Westside took wins of 13-1 and 16-2 to advance to the second round.
DEKALB CO. STATE BASEBALL PLAYOFFS RESULTS
AAAAAA: Best-of-Three Series
Valdosta (13-13) defeats Tucker (17-9) 2-1
Game 1: Valdosta 6, Tucker 0
Game 2: Tucker 4, Valdosta 3
Game 3: Valdosta 4, Tucker 2
Lowndes Co. (15-12) defeats Lakeside (20-8) 2-0
Game 1: Lowndes 14, Lakeside 5
Game 2: Lowndes 8, Lakeside 2
AAAAA: Best-of-Three Series
Stephenson (19-2) defeats Hiram (14-13) 2-0
Game 1: Stephenson 7, Hiram 0
Game 2: Stephenson 17, Hiram 12
Alexander (17-9) defeats Dunwoody (14-10) 2-1
Game 1: Dunwoody 11, Alexander 8,
Game 2: Alexander 2, Dunwoody 1
Game 3: Alexander 10, Dunwoody 7
East Paulding (21-6) defeats SW DeKalb (10-10) 2-0
Game 1: East Paulding 11, SW DeKalb 7
Game 2: East Paulding 8, SW DeKalb 4
AAAA: Best-of-Three Series
Columbia (20-7) defeats Woodward (11-14-2) 2-1
Game 1: Columbia 11, Woodward 6
Game 2: Woodward 6, Columbia 5
Game 3: Columbia 6, Woodward 3
Whitewater (23-4) defeats Chamblee (11-17) 2-0
Game 1: Whitewater 15, Chamblee 2
Game 2: Whitewater 2, Chamblee 1
AAA: Best-of-Three Series
Westside-Augusta (19-2) defeats Cedar Grove (10-12-1) 2-0
Game 1: Westside 13, Cedar Grove 1
Game 2: Westside 16, Cedar Grove 2
DEKALB CO. STATE BASEBALL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
Wednesday, May 6
AAAAA: Best-of-Three Series
Union Grove (20-4) at Stephenson (19-2), DH, 4:00 PM
AAAA: Best-of-Three Series
Columbia (20-7) at Locust Grove (23-4), DH, 4:30/7:15 pm
Thursday, May 7
AAAAA: Best-of-Three Series
Union Grove (20-4) at Stephenson (19-2), if necessary, TBA
AAAA: Best-of-Three Series
Columbia (20-7) at Locust Grove (23-4), if necessary, 5:30 pm