SCHEDULE BOXGHSA Baseball PlayoffsFirst round Friday (best of three)Class AAARiverwood (20-4) vs. Ringgold (21-2) at Heritage, 3 (DH)Heritage (17-8) at Woodward Academy (22-3), 2 (DH)Class AATemple (14-11) at Calhoun (19-5), 4:30 (DH)Dade County (20-7) at Heard County (16-10), 3 (DH)
There is a common theme for the Ringgold and Dade County baseball teams as they begin play in the GHSA playoffs Friday, and it runs much deeper than wins and losses and potential state championships.
Both areas were heavily damaged by last week’s tornado outbreak, something that remains in the players’ minds as they prepare for postseason play.
“It was good to get away from all of it for a day,” Dade County senior pitcher and outfielder Travis Core said of the Wolverines’ two-games-to-one Region 7-AA tournament triumph over Model last Saturday at Shorter University. “We just wanted to go out and win for our city. We lost the first game but came back to win the last two. It was a tough day, but we definitely bonded together even more than we already were.”
The same can be said of Ringgold, even though the Tigers haven’t played since their field was destroyed. Intense practices have shown an already-tight group of veteran players becoming even closer.