TRION, Ga. - The heavy lifting has been done in the Trion High School baseball season, and now a team that's knocked on the door of elite Class A teams is as ready as it can be to bust it open.
Tuesday night's 10-0 win over Christian Heritage ended the Bulldogs' Region 6 slate at 13-4, firmly setting them up for a rare first-round home playoff series. Trion (17-4 overall) will await the final GHSA power rankings, which will seed teams for the private and public school tournaments.
The Bulldogs' resume includes two wins over teams ranked No. 1 in Class A and no losses against public school teams.
"We're battle-tested and we're prepared to go toe to toe with any Class A public school in this state," coach Jason Lanham said after watching his team out-hit the Lions nine to one in the five-inning game. "I'm proud of the boys coming out and taking care of business today, and now we can turn the page.
"I'm very proud of this group. They've gone to the playoffs four straight years, been to three Sweet 16 rounds, the Elite Eight and to a Final Four. I think they are ready to take that next step."
Backed by a run in the first inning and seven in the second, right-handed pitcher Drew Williams cruised to the complete-game win. He allowed only a fifth-inning single and walked two batters, and he had two hits of his own and drove in two runs.
"Drew pitched really well for us, and he's heating up at the plate," Lanham said. "Once he found his location today, he was spot on. With him and Evan Walker we feel we have a nice one-two pitching punch."
The Bulldogs sent 12 batters to the plate in the second inning, getting a two-run single from Walker, a run-scoring double from Williams and RBI hits also from Griffin Floyd and Jackson Bowers. The big inning also included two walks, a hit batter and a Christian Heritage error.
The first four batters in the Trion lineup - Gabe Howell, Walker, Malik Martin and Williams - reached base a combined 12 times. Leadoff hitter Howell, sporting a near-.700 batting average, was walked and hit twice and scored three runs.
Trion, ranked fourth in the latest power rankings, will host a best-of-three series beginning April 29, the start of what the team hopes will be a long postseason run.
"It means a lot to play a first-round series here," Williams said. "They said the last time was in the (19)70s, so we expect a big crowd supporting us. We have a great resume going into the playoffs, and I believe if we give teams our best punch we'll win a lot of games."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22.