The 2025 GHSA State Playoffs kicked off last week. 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 do a quick recap of the elite 8 to see how each team punched their final four bid. 

6A

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The bracket starts with the back-to-back 7A state champions making their way into the final four once again with a 2-0 series win over Brookwood, 6-4, 4-2. The powerful bat for Coleman Lewis came alive in the series, pacing the Vikings with 2 HR, 2B, 3 RBI while Cason Fletcher added 5 hits, 5 RBI as well. Brinson Rountree and Garrett Moon continue to pitch well while Easton Blanton is showing big confidence in big moments so far. Lowndes will have home field advantage in what’s set to be a heavyweight final-four bout.

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The Etowah/Parkview brought some real excitement in the Elite Eight round as two of the highest profile programs in the state. The defending 6A champion Eagles came prepared and showed a great all-around effort in the two-game sweep, 6-0, 15-1. A backside bomb from Cam Boulanger early in game one would set the tone for Etowah and they wouldn’t look back. Matthew Sharman pitched a complete game gem, striking out 10 while allowing just an infield single and the offense performances from Deion Cole (HR, 2B, 4 RBI) and Trevor Condon (HR, 2B, 5 R) kept the foot on the gas throughout. Defending state champions now matchup for a shot back in the championship series, and that only feels right.

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Behind two strong pitching performances from Hyland Brown (6.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 K) and Josh Segal (6.0 IP, 5 K), Walton would pick up an impressive road sweep over Harrison with wins of 8-3 and 4-0. Timely hitting from the whole lineup was key in this series for the Raiders with 7 starters adding hits in game one and the heavy barrel of Todd Haley producing two doubles in game two.

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We fully expected this matchup to be highly-competitive and both teams answered the call in the back-and-forth three game series. North Gwinnett would ride an impressive come-from-behind win in game one to a big series win. Sophomore Austin Neese proved huge in the series, hitting two game-tying HR as well as adding another 2B. Nathan Shaffer has been vital to the Bulldogs run so far in the playoffs with massive hits in big moments and would add a walk-off HR in game one as well as another blast in game three to help close things out. The insane senior depth for North Gwinnett has shown up in the biggest moments and will be the x-factor in what should be a great series with Walton.

5A

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This side of the bracket was pretty wide open when the playoffs started. We thought there were numerous teams that had a shot to get to this point. Effingham County and River Ridge were squared off in the elite 8. We knew this was going to be a good match up with the potential to get to a game 3. River Ridge dropped a close one in game 1 5-4, but would bounce back thanks to KJ Hart on the mound. He pitched a complete game shutout, striking out 14. The offense did just enough to edge out Effingham County thanks to a RBI single by Eason Runion. The Knights turned to Connor Johnson once again in game 3, and he delivered. He tossed 7 innings of 2 hit ball for the shutout victory. The offense was led by Josh Malucci and Austin Karwoski with 2 hits a piece, as well as Eason Runion with a 2 RBI single.

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In this site of the bracket we see one of our “sleeper picks” in Habersham Central making a run as the 4 seed. Maverick Chitwood has put together one of the strongest playoff performances so far hitting over .500 and stepping up on the mound when needed. This elite 8 match up was no different. Ethan Wheeler and Hayes Maginnis squared off in game 1 on the mound in a pitching duel, Newnan would edge them out 2-1. Chitwood got the ball in game 2 and took a line drive off the ribs early in the game. He would stay in and go 6 innings for the win 4-2. He also went 7 for 8 at the plate in the DH. They forced a game 3 that we were lucky enough to be in attendance for. Cole Gilmore got the ball with his final season on the line. He competed for 6 innings and would go on to get the win, but not without Habersham Central showing their usual fight. Mason Witt and Callum Spivey came through to make it 2-2 in the 6th. Cole Gilmore would go on to hit a leadoff double in the bottom half followed by a Hayes Maginnis single, and then a massive swing by Brodie Campbell to put them up 4-2. Caden Truitt also had a big solo home run earlier in the game.

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Here we have one of the most anticipated match ups in the entire state. Houston County and Pope have been battling each other for championships the last few years. These were 2 teams that know how to win games. Isaiah Galason once again let the way with big hit after big hit, but now without senior Logan Elble setting the tone with a home run. Will Allen tossed a gem in game 1 and the Bears pulled out the 6-4 victory. The credit will go to Max Willhide and Tyson Ganas in game 2 on the mound. Holding Pope to 2 runs is a tall task and they were able to do that for the 4-2 to win to get back to the final four.

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On this side of the bracket we see another one of our “sleeper picks” in the Creekview Grizzlies. This was their first elite 8 in school history and took on Loganville. Luke Nitkowski gave them all they could handle on the much going toe to toe with Jordan Johnson. Johnson stepped up to edge out Nitkowski and the offense came through in the 7th to walk it off. We saw another low scoring game in game 2. Jake Boland got the ball and delivered to send Loganville back to their 9th straight final four appearance.

4A

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Wayne County advances past Kell in a tight 2-game series (3-2, 5-4) where both matchups resulted in one-run victories. Rowan Blanton  would be clutch in game one with the walk-off, extra innings RBI 1B and used a huge 5-run third inning in game two to pace the wins. Wayne County is an experienced, well coached group that will take on Cartersville. 

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Cartersville takes down St. Pius X who finished the regular season 29-2. In a hard fought three game series, Cartersville would come out on top 5-1 in GM3. Avery Shiflet stepped up with his high school career on the line and helped punch their ticket to the final four.

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The series between Marist and Blessed Trinity lived up to every bit of the hype. With the two splitting the DH as Marist would win GM1 (8-7) and Blessed Trinity would come out on top in GM2 (7-6). GM3 would deliver more of the same as the two were knotted up through 7-innings as they would head into extras tied. Terrance Bowen would put an end to the thriller as he would deliver a knock back up-the-middle to walk it off. Carson Zagryn produced a ridiculous stat line as well in the must-win game (4-for-5, HR, 2B, 5 RBI, 2 R).

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Allatoona earns their 3rd straight series sweep with (5-1, 5-3) victories over North Oconee to advance to the Final Four. It didn't come without an extra innings marathon in game 2 that was a full team effort. Cooper Underwood pitched his usual gem in game 1. The North Oconee offense battled in game 2 with home runs by Patrick Hassan and Luke Burnett.

UPCOMING EVENTS