The Georgia High School Association's decision to suspend play in the Class A public school baseball state playoffs could cost the affected member schools thousands of dollars.
The decision was made after a court ruling Wednesday in south Georgia placed a legal injunction on the GHSA on behalf of the Charlton County school system. The issue began when Charlton County turned itself into the GHSA for a pithcer exceeding the pitch-count limit over a two-day span, including a March 10 win over Lanier County.
Gordon Lee's Hunter Hodson (17) is congratulated by McCain Barbee (8), Austin Thompson (6) and his teammates after hitting a solo home run against Heritage at Gordon Lee High School's Claud Hendrix Field on Monday, April 9, 2018 in Chickamauga, Ga.Charlton County, after consulting the GHSA, was issued just a warning. However, the win helped Charlton win the Region 2 championship by a game over Irwin County. Irwin County school officials decided to press the GHSA on the matter, and a forfeit was issued against Charlton for the Lanier County game.
The ruling made Irwin County the region champion and led to a No. 2 overall seed in the state bracket, while Charlton County fell to a No. 5 seed. The big difference in the seeding is that Irwin County would be home through the semifinal round while Charlton County would likely travel after the second round.
As a result, Trion's second-round series at Irwin County and Gordon Lee's home series against Clinch County - both originally scheduled to start today - are on hold. The GHSA is appealing the ruling today in Atlanta and has informed the schools involved that its hope is to play by Friday. However, pending further litigation, the next round could be moved to early next week.
"I've never been through anything like this," said Gordon Lee coach Mike Dunfee, whose team is the state's No. 4 overall seed. "All because of baseball? This is crazy. I personally believe they will try to start Friday if they rule in the GHSA's favor, but it depends on how far Charlton wants to go. If Charlton wins, do they re-seed and start over?
"It's a mess."
Trion traveled to Irwin County on Wednesday, a five-hour trip, and Bulldogs coach Jason Lanham did not learn about the halt in play until his team was well into its journey to Ocilla. Now players and coaches are stuck as the cost of the trip rises.
"We're kind of caught in the middle," Lanham said. "We are on a charter bus paid for by our school system, as well as the hotel rooms. There is a lot of money involved here. It's not like we are 30 minutes from where we are playing. We're five hours away.
"This is something that shouldn't happen with high school baseball. We have a governing body and we should respect their authority, and when we don't there is no reason to have them. It's a very difficult situation for our kids and parents. We're not the only ones affected, but we have traveled the farthest."
Lanham was told by Trion City Schools to stay overnight and hopefully only have to extend the team's stay one day. The big issue will come if the GHSA wins its appeal and Charlton County takes it to the state's supreme court.
"We've got our fingers crossed that we will hear something tomorrow," Lanham said. "Rumors are out there, like if Charlton wins they could re-start the tournament over. That's just crazy. If we don't get an answer tomorrow and get to play by Friday, we will likely come home and have to make that trip again.
"There are a lot of travel expenses involved, and the GHSA is going to make these small schools endure them, literally thousands of dollars. I never saw a day when baseball was played out in a courtroom and not on the field."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.