CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. - Power ratings and seedings often get torn apart in the GHSA Class A public school baseball playoffs, but not this year.
Top-seeded Schley County (28-5) and No. 2 seed Gordon Lee (30-4) will face off in a doubleheader Monday at 5 p.m. at Historic Grayson Stadium in Savannah to start a best-of-three championship series. Game three, if needed, would be Wednesday at 4 p.m.
It will be the second time in three years the programs have met for the title. Schley County swept Gordon Lee in 2017 at Rome's State Mutual Stadium, something that still resonates with the Trojans, who bounced back last season to sweep Telfair County in the title series.
"That's a good program. Chuck does a great job, and he uses whatever he's got," Gordon Lee coach Mike Dunfee said of longtime Schley County coach Chuck Cheek. "I looked the other day, and they have four or five guys still playing from that (2017) team and we've got seven or eight left.
"Now, they were young, but they all remember. They took it to us that day, and we didn't play very well."
The Wildcats have had the more difficult road to this championship round, at least as far as drama goes. Each of their series in the past two rounds has gone to a third game. In last week's semifinals, they beat Irwin County 6-3 and 10-1 after losing the opener 6-0.
Gordon Lee - which, like Schley County and the other top-eight seeds, had a first-round bye - has swept its six playoff games, outscoring its opposition 58-10.
While both teams' bats have been strong - Gordon Lee has scored 301 runs this year, Schley County 260 - it's on the mound where the strengths lie.
The Wildcats have three pitchers, led by sophomore ace Dylan Taylor, who is also the team's No. 3 hitter. Ashton Goodin is the No. 2 starter and played in the 2017 title series, while Lorne Barineau is a sidearming right-hander who has won the team's clinching games the past two series.
"Barineau is their motor," Dunfee said. "He's their third baseman also and he plays baseball like a linebacker. Just a high-energy guy they feed off of. Offensively, they're scrappy and they play a bunch of small ball, but they are also swinging it well in the playoffs."
Gordon Lee has two of the most dominant starters in the playoffs in any classification in junior Jake Wright (13-0 with an ERA under 1.00) and sophomore Jake Poindexter, a University of Georgia recruit who missed the first part of the season but is 7-0 with an ERA under 2.00.
"I knew Jake and Jake would give us a shot all year," Dunfee said of his aces. "They feed off each other. It's almost like whatever you do, I'm going to go out there and top you. Not in a bad way, but they compete in games, workouts, practice, you name it."
Dunfee's pitching staff was deep last year, and that hasn't changed with veterans Hunter Hodson and Logan Streetman and youngsters such as freshman Brody Cobb available.
"We've got a bunch of kids who can go an inning here and there and get us where we need to go," Dunfee said. "Coach (Thomas) Gray has done a great job with them, and it's been fun to watch them grow."
The Gordon Lee lineup doesn't have the power it had in 2017, but led by catcher Chris Potter, shortstop J.D. Day and Hodson, the Trojans have hit well over .300.
"We were worried at the beginning of the year if we could hit enough," Dunfee said. "But they guys have come on strong and are really hitting it in the playoffs.
"Hey, we know we have to keep doing that against Schley because they are too well-coached to not be in every game."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.