GISA baseball playoffs set to get underway

ALBANY — The Georgia Independent School Association state baseball tournament is set to get underway this weekend and two area teams are looking to make a title run.

Deerfield-Windsor is looking to repeat as state champs for the second straight season, while Terrell Academy is back in the tournament after missing it last season.

The Knights are a No. 1 seed after winning their region and will open the tournament today with a home series against Bethlehem Christian. The first game of the doubleheader starts at 4:00 p.m. If the teams split the first two, a third game will be played Friday at 4:00 p.m.

“We tried to set up our schedule this year with a multiple games a week,” Deerfield coach Jonathan Davis said. “We wanted to play lots of games in short periods of time to try to get up to speed with playing in a series atmosphere and mirror that the best that we could.”

Deerfield finished the season with a record of 17-6 and reeled off nine straight wins late in the season before falling to Valwood and Glenwood in the final two games of the year.

Auburn commit Steven Williams paces a high-scoring offense that scored 10 or more runs 10 times this season.

“Right now, offensively we have been doing a decent job putting together some big innings,” Davis said. “We still have improvements to make on the mound and with the infield defense.”

Terrell Academy went 10-9 this season and 7-6 in region play. They beat Brookwood in a one game playoff to decide the three-seed on Monday and will head north to Sharpsburg for a first-round matchup with Trinity-Christian.

“We just kind of stayed the course,” Terrell Academy coach Ashley Walker said. “I challenged these guys to compete every day and to go out and get better every day and we did.”

The first game of the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday with the second to be played Saturday at 11 a.m. If necessary, a third game would be held following the Game 2.

The Eagles were led offensively by Zeb Waters and Jared Donalson. Waters hit .370 and scored 22 of Terrell’s 86 runs. Donalson led the team with a .388 average and 15 RBIs.

Terrell has just three seniors on their team so youth will be relied upon if they want to make a playoff run.

“We have had some young guys step in to some big spots for us,” Walker said. “We have had some juniors who didn’t get a lot playing time last year step into a role or two and really embrace the challenge.”