The road can be a cruel place for high school baseball teams this time of season, but the two northwest Georgia programs hitting the road today for semifinal playoff series are quite comfortable away from home.
Calhoun (31-0) visits The Lovett School today at 2 p.m. for a doubleheader in one Class AA semifinal, while Ringgold (26-9) travels to Oconee County for a 4 p.m. start in Class AAA. Each area program will have to overcome talented teams and hostile crowds, but neither one minds it one bit.
“This will be the best group of games we’ll have to play all year,” Calhoun first baseman Jordan Poole said. “We hadn’t had to play on the road until the last round (a sweep of Toombs County), but It kind of gets us pumped up to go on the road and beat somebody at their place.”
While the Yellow Jackets are entering their second road trip of the postseason, this will be Ringgold’s third, but the success in rounds one and two at higher seeds Creekview and St. Pius X has the Tigers’ confidence at an all-time high entering the series against the Region 8 champions.
“Coach (Brent) Tucker says he likes it when we’re on the road, that it gives us time to think about what we need to do,” Ringgold catcher Caleb Jones said. “For some reason, we seem to play harder on the road, and so far we’ve played well.”