The 2025 GHSA State Playoffs kick off on Wednesday. Playoff baseball in Georgia is some of the best baseball in the entire country and we are lucky enough to get to cover it. We have covered the state of Georgia from as south as Lowndes to as north as Gordon Lee and everything in between. Our staff has watched over 200 baseball games this year and can’t wait to cover playoff baseball.

To kick off the season we highlighted over 80 teams in our “Team Preview” articles if you want to check out any of those before the playoffs they can be found HERE.

If you missed anything from the season we have you covered with our weekly scout blogs with hundreds of players mentioned with notes and video that can be found HERE.

We also highlight players weekly in our Diamond Notes articles that can be found HERE. Top players in our Diamond Notes piece are announced at Player Of the Week, and they can be found HERE.

Here we are going to breakdown the 5A GHSA State Playoff Preview. Coverage for the 5A division begins on April 23rd with double headers at the higher seeds field. All match ups in the 5A division can be found HERE

Top seeds: Pope, Houston County, Dunwoody, Effingham County, South Paulding, Newnan, John’s Creek, Loganville (Defending 5A State Champion)

5A Playoffs

Similar to 6A we see some big players in the same quad of the bracket. Everyone is now 0-0 and anything can happen in the playoffs, but our eyes can’t help but drift towards Houston County vs Pope in the 3rd round. The left side of the bracket is honestly up for grabs, highlighted by a #1 seed Newnan that finished the year on a 19 game winning streak. Here are some match ups we are keeping a close eye on.

Creekview vs Johns Creek
Glynn Academy vs South Paulding
Brunswick vs Villa Rica
Lassiter vs Roswell
Coffee vs Winder-Barrow
Veterans vs Loganville

Here’s an outlook on a few of our favorite Final Four Sleepers.

Coffee County Outlook

The Coffee Boyz come into the 5A playoffs with a new head coach Scott Grove, who brought his winning ways from central florida into south georgia and while facing one of the more difficult schedules you’ll find in the class including even having to face 97-102 from the left side on spring break. A pair of Mercer commits in senior RHP/1B Michael Strickland and junior SS/RHP Ben Fussell will lead this Trojans club in many ways including being 1-2 on the bump and providing a large portion of the offense as well. Senior OF Brax Carson has really blossomed this spring and now the Lagrange College commit is providing huge power in-game as well as an above-average glove in CF that provides majors stability for this defense. Even more power at both corner infield positions in senior 3B Connor Stewart and junior 1B Carter McMillan, while allowing freshman 2B Jimmy Timothy to thrive in the 2 hole with his advanced plate discipline that’s only grown throughout the year. Look for sophomores Taeven Harden, Gavin McElroy and Eli Vickers to play big roles down the stretch as well, while providing key depth at the right time. This is a battle tested group that has a chance to get hot at the right time or grind it out against anyone with a roster full of “gamer” types, either way Coffee is an easy team to give an arrow up heading into the playoffs.

Uncommitted Upperclass To Watch
Carter McMillan, 1B, 2026

Creekview Grizzlies Outlook (17-13, 11-10)

The Grizzlies snag the #4 seed and face off against Johns Creek in round one. They lost 2 one run games and one 2 run game to Lassiter to open region and then get swept by Pope the week after, but won every region series the rest of the year after that. Pitching wins playoff games and that is going to be what could propel the Grizzlies in this year's playoffs. They have 2 arms in Luke Nitkowski (Georgia Tech) and PJ Fitzpatrick (Wofford) that could potentially beat anyone in the bracket. Follow that up with Neil Stam (Lander), Garrett Ray (Uncommitted) and Clay Herring (Uncommitted) and they have the talent on the mound to make a run. If they can limit their errors and produce some runs they could see themselves in the 3rd round. They will need senior Jackson Stanley (Young Harris) to lead the line up with fellow senior Brodie Carter (Gordon State). If they could get some of their middle pieces like Alex Penrod, Austin Penrod, Hudson Stanley and Chris Theroux to get going this could really help this team score some runs. Guys like Jackson Shirley will need to get on base and help flip the order back to the top in order to create some more offense for the Grizzlies.

Uncommitted Upperclassmen to Watch
Jackson Shirley
Chris Theroux
Austin Penrod
Alex Penrod
Clay Herring
Garrett Ray

Lassiter Trojans Outlook

The Trojans are a much better ballclub than the 14 losses would indicate and have some big wins to claim including over Parkview and West Forsyth early on. It starts with the pitching for Lassiter and of course that would begin with former future gamer and Super 60 participant RHP Darrell McDowell. The 6-foot-4 Tennessee commit anchors a strong rotation that also includes senior LHP William Whitlock (Brewton-Parker) and junior LHP Caden Lenzi, who’s made some big strides this spring and can be a difference maker type arm down the stretch. Veteran leadership throughout the lineup for the Trojans and it starts with a trio of seniors in 2B Sean Wilson, OF Preston Dean (Berry College) and OF Quinn Hughes, who provide good batted ball profiles and security for the likes of sophomore 3B Kyle Montgomery and Lenzi to thrive at the plate. Uncommitted junior SS Connor Lee is the defensive leader for this team, providing an above-average glove at a premium position and has begun to carve out a real role at the plate while providing value hitting throughout the lineup. Sophomore C Chase Campbell is a sneaky piece as he has grown is his role as the year went on, and the former junior future gamer might be ready to break out at the right time. The road won't be easy, but with starting pitching to compete in any 3-game series, Lassiter could be ready for their run.

Uncommitted Upperclass To Watch
Quinn Hughes, OF, 2025
Caden Lenzi, LHP/1B, 2026
Sean Wilson, 2B, 2025
Connor Lee, SS, 2026
Will Michaels, 3B, 2025

UPCOMING EVENTS