GHSA PLAYOFF OUTLOOK: Soccer, baseball, tennis first round; Slowpitch championships this week

The Georgia High School Association’s spring sports state tournaments launch this week with opening-round action for 12 Laurens County teams in soccer, baseball and tennis playoffs, and the championship stage of the slowpitch softball postseason for a couple more that were among the eight to advance to Woodstock for a shot to win it all.

Here’s a look at the draw, matchups and game details for each of the above, by sport. For complete brackets, visit ghsa.net.

Slowpitch softball…

East and West Laurens both advanced from last Wednesday’s GHSA sectional tournament at Southern Pines to earn a spot among the eight in contention for a state crown Wednesday and Thursday at Woodstock’s Twin Creeks Park.

The Raiders will rematch with Jefferson (which they defeated along the way to a 2025 finish as state runner-up at the event) as the Falcons (who recorded a win out of their three games to advance to last year’s second day of competition) battle Cherokee in their opening games Wednesday at 9 a.m.

Win or lose, both will play their next games immediately at 11 a.m., with loser’s bracket matchups rounding out the afternoon session. Remaining unbeatens will rejoin the action in the semifinals Wednesday morning, with the championship round scheduled for just after lunch.

Baseball…

Dublin (19-9, 14-4 region) earned the right to host its first-round game thanks to a third-place finish in the 2-High A standings. The Irish are seeded 15th, and will welcome No. 18 Jasper County (18-11, 10-5 region 4-High A) to Bush Perry Field on Friday for an opening doubleheader at 5 p.m. A third game, if necessary, would be played Saturday at 12 p.m.

East Laurens, which wrapped up its first winning season since 2017 with a 16-13 overall record (11-7 for fifth in the region), rode its strong GHSA Post Season Ranking to a second-straight playoff bid. The Falcons are the 25th seed, and originally were slated to visit ACE Charter for a region rematch when the brackets were initially set on Sunday. A subsequent revision now has them traveling to face eighth seed Fitzgerald (20-10, 12-6 region 1-High A). The teams’ two early games will also begin at 5 p.m. Friday. A game time for the “if” game Saturday was due to be worked out later on.

Both programs made a first-round exit against top seeds in last year’s tournament, but Dublin swept Screven County in the last playoff set it had at home back in 2024.

A bumpy finish to the regular season had region 4 champion West Laurens (despite its 14-0 region finish) positioned 15th in the final AAA PSRs, but by virtue of their league title, the Raiders (18-9 overall) were awarded the No. 5 overall seed, and with it a home-field guarantee for the first and second rounds. They will be looking to advance for the first time since 2024.

Visiting Dexter this weekend will be at-large qualifier Gilmer, which is making its third-consecutive state playoff appearance. The Ellijay-based Bobcats (13-17, 6-12 region 7-AAA) are one of five teams from their league to advance, and coincidentally, one of four to wind up in the same quadrant of the bracket.

Two more in No. 22 Northwest Whitfield and No. 11 Heritage (of Ringgold) will play each other in the adjoining series, and it’s remotely possible that any of the three above (with No. 19 Adairsville a candidate to reach the quarterfinals, and No. 2 Calhoun likely to await whoever might reach the semis) could play nothing but region opponents along a potential run to the state finals.

Soccer…

A 3-2 overtime loss at Aquinas Thursday night spoiled a perfect finish, and shot at the top overall seed in the bracket, for the West Laurens boys. But the Raiders (18-1, 13-1 region) still captured the 4-AAA title, and No. 3 in the draw to ensure themselves a road to at least the semifinals that would run through The SHU.

But a deep AAA classification will mean no gimmes at any point along the way, including in Wednesday’s first-rounder (a 7 p.m. kickoff) which will bring a region rival in No. 30 Howard back to The SHU for a second time (after being forced into an at-large bid by its fifth-place finish in the league). The Huskies (10-7, 7-7 region) hung with the Raiders both times they played, though West took the upper hand both times, 2-1 at home and 3-1 in Macon.

The Lady Raiders, finishing fourth in 4-AAA to qualify automatically with a record of 11-8 (9-5 region), were seeded 21st and sent on the road to battle No. 12 Bainbridge (11-5, 8-2 region 1-AAA). Their match, Tuesday night, is set for 5:30 p.m.

Both East Laurens soccer teams are headed on the road for first-round matchups, the Lady Falcons with the bracket’s No. 26 seed and a record of 8-10 (5-3 region) that had them as the third-best finisher in 2-High A. They’ll take on a Bremen squad with a high seed, but a record just above .500 (the Blue Devils are 9-8 overall, and were 4-1 in region 6-High A), on its home field Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The Eastside boys will have a comparatively shorter ride on their hands as they make a short hop over to Eastman for a rematch with region rival Dodge County. The Falcons (9-8, 4-3 region 2-High A) finished fourth in the standings behind the Indians (11-5, 7-1 region), who were runner-up by a game to champion ACE Charter and took the teams’ lone regular-season meeting by a final of 4-1 March 20 in East Dublin. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium will be Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

Dublin girls (3-12, 4-6 region 2-High A) and boys teams (3-10, 1-6 region) did not advance to the postseason.

Tennis…

As usual, West Laurens’ region champion tennis teams will host in the early rounds of the state tournament. Both are set to make their playoff debut Wednesday.

The Lady Raiders, who carry assurance of home court through the quarters as the No. 4 team in the draw, will lead off the set of back-to-back matches against No. 29 West Hall at 3:30 p.m.

The Westside boys, starting from an identical spot at No. 4, will take the courts against Albany’s Dougherty High School following the conclusion of the above at 5.

The East Laurens girls tennis squad (seeded 29th) will be Laurens County’s only representative in the High A state playoffs, and is due to visit Rome’s Armuchee High for its first-round match beginning at 4 p.m. Tuesday. The winner will face Vidalia, a 3-0 winner over Fitzgerald Monday afternoon, in the second round.

Dublin and East Laurens boys both secured a playoff spot with their top-four finishes at last week’s region tournament. The Irish will be No. 23 in the draw, and travel to Fannin County Thursday for their first-round match at 2 p.m. The Falcons are No. 19, and will make a short trip to Swainsboro on Wednesday, when the action will start at 4 p.m.