Uncertainty regarding today's weather has pushed the start of the GHSA baseball state playoffs to Friday for most area teams in the brackets.
But what's sure is that over the next month, the cream will rise to the top.
GHSA State Playoffs, First Round
(Best-of-three series; doubleheader first day)TodayClass AAAARidgeland (11-9) at Troup County (23-7), 4 p.m.Class AAChattooga (11-10) at Elbert County (19-10), 5 p.m.FridayClass AAAACentral-Carroll (16-14) at Heritage (23-6), 3 p.m.LaGrange (12-19) at Northwest Whitfield (15-14), 4:30 p.m.Class AAARedan (21-7) at Ringgold (26-4), 5 p.m.Calhoun (19-9) at Lovett (18-8), 5 p.m.Class AAOglethorpe County (14-13) at Dade County (18-6), 4 p.m.Class A publicHawkinsville (12-10) at Trion (11-9), 3
While some teams will use their bats to mash their way to the top, most will win with pitching. In the state's best-of-three format, it's not enough to have an ace. State championships are typically won with quality depth, something the northwest Georgia area is blessed with this season.
Nowhere is that more prominent than in Catoosa County, where Heritage, ranked No. 2 in Class AAAA, and Class AAA No. 1 Ringgold are armed and ready for what each team hopes is a lengthy playoff run.
"They've done it for us all year," Heritage coach Eric Beagles said of starters Cole Wilcox, Tripp Church and Johnathan Hickman.
"Of course, Cole has done what he's always done, and Tripp also pitched well for us last year and has backed that up this year. Johnathan is also very seasoned, and they are both ready to go. It's going to take an army to get through the playoffs, and we feel good about what we have."
The Generals (23-6), who open Friday against Central-Carroll (16-14), have a stingy staff that allows few runs, strikes out a ton of batters and walks very few.
Senior right-hander Wilcox, a University of Georgia recruit who is expected to be taken in the first round of June's Major League Baseball draft, enters the playoffs with a 6-1 record, 1.09 ERA and 64 strikeouts while allowing only 21 hits and seven walks in 38 2/3 innings pitched this season. Church (6-0, 0.81) has 56 strikeouts and 10 walks in 43 innings, while Hickman (7-1, 1.17) has 50 strikeouts and eight walks in a team-high 47 2/3 innings.
Ringgold's experienced staff is led by senior right-hander Nathan Camp (8-0, 1.68). Junior left-handers Holden Tucker (4-2, 1.43, 39 innings, 22 hits, 60 strikeouts) and Wyatt Tennant (9-0, 1.91, 47 2/3 innings, 26 hits, 75 strikeouts) give the Tigers an edge against most teams in any three-game series.
"Nathan has been through the fires, so has Holden, and Tennant has had a great year," coach Brent Tucker said. "We're not exactly sure how we will start them, but we feel comfortable with all three. That's the thing about it. We don't have the SEC arms, but we've got a lot of good ones, and when we get into these two-of-three series we just have to play our game."
The Region 6-AAA champion Tigers (26-4) may need all of it with what appears to be one of the toughest first-round matchups in the state as eighth-ranked Redan (21-7) visits Bill Womack Field on Friday.
Joining the area's arms race is Calhoun, a state semifinalist a year ago that also features a trio of aces in senior Brett Potts and juniors Davis Allen and Ben King, each with ERAs under 2. The Yellow Jackets wound up as the No. 3 seed from 6-AAA due to an inconsistent offense.
"We've had some success on the mound, and that's definitely our strong point," said Calhoun coach Chip Henderson, whose Yellow Jackets (19-9) open the playoffs today at familiar postseason foe Lovett (18-8). "Some of the games they've lost, we haven't given them the (run) support and we've had some defensive lapses.
"If you have several arms, you have a good shot to play a while. Most have one good one, and if you are fortunate you have two. To win the whole thing, you have to have three quality arms."
Gordon Lee, No. 4 in Class A public, doesn't have overpowering pitching, but the Trojans have a pair of experienced seniors in Austin Thompson and Mason Pettigrew, talented freshman Jake Poindexter and relative mound newcomer Hunter Hodson. All of them can go deep into games.
"We've got a lot of guys who attack the zone," said coach Mike Dunfee, whose team received a first-round bye and will open its postseason next Thursday.
"They aren't flamethrowers, but they force soft contact and they let the defense make plays. We're also pretty deep and we're rested. The most innings any of our pitchers has is 24, whereas last year we had two guys who had the majority of innings. We wanted to keep them fresh for the postseason, and it's helped other kids step up."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.