Worth County splits with Thomasville, waits for Monday’s playoff announcement

SYLVESTER – With the regular season complete, the Worth County Rams will now wait until Monday morning to learn their postseason fate. The Georgia High School Association’s online playoff selection show for Class A Division I will stream at 9:15 a.m., and Rams Head Coach Will Smith admits he’ll be sitting “on pins and needles” until the brackets are revealed.

“I just hope we’re in a good spot,” Smith said. “The last time I was able to check we were sitting at number 18 in the power rankings. But some of the private schools will be taken out for their own playoffs. You never know exactly how the power rankings will shake out, so we’ll be watching closely Monday morning.”

The GHSA determines state playoff matchups in Class A using a power ranking system that factors in wins, losses, and strength of schedule. The top 16 will host first-round games and 17-32 will travel for round one.

Worth County wrapped up its regular season Friday by splitting a doubleheader with Thomasville in front of a large Senior Night crowd at Pope Park. The Rams won the opener 7-0, then dropped the second game 7-2.

The Rams now stand at 20-9 overall and await their final power ranking position to see where and against whom they’ll open the playoffs.

In game one, senior right-hander Caden Emerson pitched six and one-third strong innings to earn the win. He gave up just four hits and three walks while striking out seven. Grant Juster came on to record the final two outs.

Worth County jumped out early, scoring three runs with two outs in the bottom of the first. Logan Fox and Hayden Short sparked the inning with back-to-back singles, helping the Rams take control. In the fourth, Short reached on an error, moved to third on a double from Brody Weaver, and scored on a Colby Griffis single. Carson Cervantes followed with a double to the left-field fence to score Griffis. The Rams added one more insurance run in the sixth.

In the second game, Worth County struck first when Drake Jones doubled in the opening frame and scored on a single from Emerson. But the Bulldogs responded with two runs in the second and four more in the fourth to chase starter DJ Easom and reliever Grant Juster from the mound. Jones later drove in the Rams’ only other run with a single to center that scored Avery Kilcrease.

“We had plenty of opportunities with back-to-back hits and got runners on first and second or second and third,” Smith said. “We just didn’t come through with the big hit in game two.”

Now, all that’s left is to wait.