Deerfield-Windsor prepares for Frederica Academy in GIAA semifinals

ALBANY — The stakes get bigger now.

After surviving the grind of region play and sweeping familiar rival Tiftarea in the Elite Eight, the Deerfield-Windsor Knights are just one series away from playing for a state championship.

Standing in the way is the defending champion.

Deerfield-Windsor (17-6) will host Frederica Academy (21-7) this weekend in the Final Four of the GIAA Class AAA state baseball playoffs at Addison Field. Friday’s doubleheader begins at 4 p.m., with an “if” game scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m.

The matchup pairs the tournament’s No. 2 seed against the No. 3 seed from St. Simons Island, and even Deerfield-Windsor coach Kyle Keen admits there is still plenty to learn about the visitors.

“I don’t know a lot about them yet, except that they are a really good baseball team,” Keen said Monday morning. “I’m trying to find information on them now.”

What Keen already knows is this time of year usually comes down to experienced players making big plays in big moments — and Deerfield-Windsor has leaned on its veterans all season.

Senior Lane Sceals provided a major spark during last week’s sweep of Tiftarea, driving in seven runs on five hits in the two-game series. After appearing in only two regular-season games because of an illness, Sceals looked more like himself at the plate against the Panthers, giving Deerfield-Windsor another experienced bat at exactly the right time of year.

The Knights have also counted heavily on seniors David Hutchins, Gabe Daniels, Boyd Pollock, Drake Wiggins and Grier Morey throughout the season, while juniors Collins Clark, Gage Tomlinson and West Rushton have played important roles during the playoff run.

Now, with a trip to the state championship series on the line, Deerfield-Windsor suddenly looks deeper and more dangerous offensively than it did just a few weeks ago.

The Knights looked confident during last week’s series against Tiftarea, scoring 18 runs in two games against a team they knew well. They may need that same offensive production again this weekend.

Frederica arrives in Albany battle-tested after surviving a dramatic three-game quarterfinal series against John Milledge. After losing the opener, Frederica rallied to win Game 2 in extra innings before escaping with a 9-8 victory in Game 3 to keep its title defense alive.

The two teams never met during the regular season, though they do share one common opponent. Frederica blanked Terrell Academy 15-0 during the Eagles’ spring break trip to St. Simons earlier this season. Deerfield-Windsor defeated Terrell Academy three times.

Now both Knights teams are one series away from playing for a state title.

The winner of the Deerfield-Windsor-Frederica series will advance to next week’s Class AAA championship series at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro against the winner of the Valwood-Pinewood Christian semifinal.