As spring break, the Masters and all that comes with this time of year begins to wind down, it’s only right to bring focus back to the home stretch of the high school sports calendar.
And that means, taking a look into where spring sports teams stand with just a little more than a month remaining in the school year’s sports calendar.
Several teams are preparing for state playoffs while one is chasing national supremacy. Let’s take a look at the teams that are making noise as postseason time draws near, and let’s begin with baseball.
NATIONALLY RANKED HARLEM ON A TEAR
There’s one team left on the defending Class AAA state champion Harlem Bulldogs’ schedule, and that’s Morgan County — and a good Morgan County squad at that.
A two-game battle of the Bulldogs series will commence Monday with Harlem (26-1, 8-0) hosting Morgan County (21-5, 8-0) with both games slated for a 5:30 p.m. first pitch. According to maxpreps.com’s rankings, Harlem ranked second in Class AAA, 14th in all of Georgia, regardless of classification and seventh nationally.
Interestingly, the national poll has Harlem as Georgia’s highest ranked team immediately ahead of Parkview (No. 12) and North Cobb (No. 17). Harlem was tracking toward an undefeated season before running into an upstart Greenbrier squad that knocked the Bulldogs off at home, 4-1 on Tuesday.
Despite the disappointment to Harlem fans who may have been looking forward to celebrating a perfect undefeated season, it can’t be a complete surprise, as the Wolfpack played Harlem better than just about any other team on Harlem’s schedule.
The Greenbrier win avenged two tough losses during a March 4 double-header when Harlem won 5-3 and 3-2. In that game, Greenbrier jumped out to 3-0 lead in the first inning and then won the pitcher’s duel that ensued thereafter.
Meanwhile, Morgan County will come into Monday’s game riding the momentum of a win streak that extended to 11 games after Friday’s 10-0 domination of Salem.
Aside from it just being great baseball, this series ought to be perfect preparation for both teams to get ready for the rigor of the Class AAA state tournament.
GREENBRIER, EVANS BASEBALL PEAKING?
Speaking of momentum, Greenbrier’s victory at Harlem was, no doubt, refreshing as it busted up a two-game skied that came at the hands of Ware County, and gave the Wolfpack some end-season momentum as it begins its season finale three-game series with Statesboro, starting with a double-header at home on Tuesday with first pitch slated for 4 p.m.
Greenbrier (17-7, 9-3) is sitting at a tie with Ware County for the top spot in the region 1-AAAAA standings. Ware County just bested Greenbrier 2-1 in their three-game series two weeks ago. But the Wolfpack shouldn’t be in danger of losing second place ground. In fact, a Greenbrier sweep of Statesboro coupled with Bradwell Institute finding a way to at least steal one game from Ware County, the Wolfpack could regain lone possession of the region’s top spot.
Staying in Columbia County, the Evans Knights will finish its regular season slate with a three-game series with Glynn Academy (18-7, 10-5). The two teams will meet at Evans (21-5, 13-2) Tuesday at 4 p.m. with a Friday double-header at Glynn Academy with first pitch of each game scheduled for 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively. Evans is alone at the top of Region 2-AAAAAA and will bring a 13-game winning streak into the Tuesday action.
THREE REGION 4-AA TEAMS NOT NAMED WACO WITH A SHOT
It appears everyone is chasing Washington County (23-3, 11-1) in the region, although Putnam County (11-11, 10-1), Thomson (13-10, 11-2) and Westside (11-9, 7-3) all boast solid region records despite struggling overall to reach .500.
WACO will wrap up its regular season with a two-game series against Putnam County, starting Monday Putnam at 5:30 p.m. For Westside and Thomson, they’ll stage a showdown for third place in the region standings with games at Thomson Tuesday and at Westside Friday with a date with Putnam County sandwiched in on Thursday.
