The high school baseball postseason begins today in Georgia, and very little has changed since the GHSA instituted best-of-three series to determine its playoff winners. Coaches across the state know that strong pitching — or, more specifically, strong pitching depth — usually is the main factor in winning.
In light of that, two northwest Georgia teams are sitting pretty for possible long runs. In Class AAA, Ringgold is only a No. 3 seed out of Region 6 but has one of the most impressive pitching staffs in the state, while in AA, undefeated Calhoun has as many as five pitchers coach Chip Henderson doesn’t mind using at any time.
“We’ve been fortunate this year,” Henderson said about a staff that has allowed just over two runs per game. “We knew what we had in a couple of guys, but we’ve had some others who have come on strong and really helped us out.”
Senior right-hander Carter Harrison will be the Game 1 starter as the state third-ranked Yellow Jackets (25-0) open today at 4 p.m. against Westminster (16-7). He’s 8-0 with a 1.50 ERA and is coming off perhaps his best game of the season, a two-hit shutout of Adairsville. He’s joined in the Jackets’ formidable rotation by junior Landon Curtis and sophomore Austin Norrell, each with a sub-2 ERA.
Of course, it hasn’t hurt the pitchers that the Calhoun team is batting over. 400 and has averaged 13 runs per game.