With one day left in the GHSA fastpitch softball regular season, all of the playoff teams have been decided in the six regions involving area schools, though a couple of positions could change.
— In Region 6-AAA, Gordon Lee (20-5-1, 11-3) is the No. 1 playoff seed after getting the edge on a tiebreaker with LaFayette (21-5, 11-3), which lost to third-place Bremen (21-6, 10-4) on Tuesday, creating the tie for first. Gordon Lee and LaFayette split their meetings, with Gordon Lee getting the top seed by allowing one fewer run in the two games. Ringgold (10-14, 8-6) secured the final playoff spot by winning its last three region games, including an impressive victory over Bremen.
— In 7-AAAA, the top four will be, in order, Central-Carroll, Heritage, Northwest Whitfield and Sonoraville, unless Central (20-5-1, 11-3) loses to Cedartown (5-20 overall) on Thursday. Heritage (19-6, 13-2) kept its title hopes alive with Wednesday’s 13-2 drubbing of Northwest — completing a sweep of the Lady Bruins — but loses the likely tiebreak situation as Central won two of the three head-to-head matchups.
— In 7-AAAAA, Calhoun (22-8, 13-2) is the No. 2 seed to Cartersville (16-9-1, 13-2) after the latter won two of three head-to-head games this season.
— No area teams will make the postseason from 7-AA, while Christian Heritage will earn a spot from 7-A (Div. I) because the region has only three programs.
— In 7-A (Div. I), the top four teams are playing each other, and though the four playoff teams are set, the order is not.
Pepperell (17-2, 10-1) is in the driver’s seat and will clinch the top spot with either a win Thursday against third-place Trion (14-8, 8-3) or a Dade County (14-10-1, 9-2) loss at Chattooga (13-7, 7-4). Pepperell and Dade split two regular-season games, as did Dade and Trion and Trion and Chattooga.
Volleyball teams make title pushes
Eight area volleyball teams remain in the TSSAA state championship hunt as the postseason has reached the sectional round in the public school divisions while the private schools are in the state quarterfinals.
The teams left standing: Class A’s Arts and Sciences (30-3) and Sale Creek (38-5), which won its eighth straight region title; Class AA’s East Hamilton (33-8) and Signal Mountain (17-6); Class AAA’s Cleveland (44-5); Division II-A’s Boyd Buchanan (29-2) and Silverdale Baptist (14-14); and DII-AA’s Baylor (32-6).
Lady Seahawks are still unbeaten
The Silverdale Baptist girls’ soccer team continued its undefeated season with Tuesday’s 6-1 win over Concord Christian in the DII-A East Region semifinals. Abigail Witten had a hat trick, while Addie Chapman had a pair of goals and three assists for the Lady Seahawks (15-0-1), who will host Boyd Buchanan (9-5-4) at 7 p.m. Thursday to decide the region championship.
Brooks takes over Baylor swim team
Former Virginia Tech assistant Payton Brooks has been named the 10th head coach in the history of Baylor School’s swimming and diving program, which has won a total of 79 state championships in boys’, girls’ and combined swimming and diving. Brooks takes over for Dan Flack, who had led the program since 2005 and was responsible for 15 swimmers qualifying for Olympic trials during his tenure.
Brooks swam and played football for West Virginia University. In Baylor’s release announcing the move, he said he’s “humbled and honored to be part of such a prestigious institution with rich traditions of excellence both in the classroom and in the pool. Together, we will continue to build upon that success, but most importantly we will be dedicated to the development of strong character and values for our athletes.”
Red Raiders will visit Emerald Isle
Baylor’s football team will travel to Ireland to compete in a regular-season game on Aug. 25, 2023. The game in Dublin will be showcased along with the Navy-Notre Dame college football game the following day, which will headline the Global Ireland Football Tournament. Baylor’s opponent has yet to be named, but the games will be played at Aviva Stadium, the site of a Big Ten matchup between Nebraska and Northwestern as part of the opening weekend of college football this year.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon. Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.