There is a call to arms in the state of Georgia this week as the GHSA baseball playoffs get underway.
Three northwest Georgia teams are well equipped to answer that call with talented and deep pitching staffs — a must for any deep run in the best-of-three series format that begins for area teams Monday.
Leading the way is one of the state’s hottest teams. Ringgold (24-5) finished the regular season with 16 consecutive wins, including a perfect slate in Region 6-AAA. Coach Drew Walker’s Tigers, who host Douglass of Atlanta in the series-opening doubleheader Monday at 4:30, have a formidable staff led by a pair of aces.
Senior right-hander Ross Norman has used his 6-foot-7 frame and lively arm to fashion one of the top seasons in the pitching-rich history at Ringgold. In 10 starts he has allowed three earned runs (0.47 ERA) and 16 hits while striking out 110 in 57 innings.
Among Norman’s conquests were wins over playoff teams Gordon Lee, Adairsville, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe and Bremen. He went six innings in a no-decision against powerful Baylor, allowing two hits and no earned runs with nine strikeouts, and had an early-season four-inning, no-hit, eight-strikeout outing against Class AAAAA No. 1 Cartersville.