The 2024 GHSA Baseball State Championships will crown eight state champions, featuring eight thrilling series spread across three premiere ball parks. Coolray Field will host the Class 5A, 6A and 7A state finals, Rome’s AdventHealth Stadium will crown the Class 3A and Class 4A state champs and Georgia Southern University’s JI Clements Stadium will host the Class A Division I, Class A Division II and Class 2A finals.
Two-time defending state champion Loganville and No. 1 ranked Cartersville will take the field Thursday, May 16 to play the first championship series and the only Thursday double-header. Cartersville will have a shot at the team’s seventh state championship but first since 2013 after moving past Ware County 11-2 in the first game and 10-0 in the second game of the semifinals. The Hurricanes won titles in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009 and 2013. Loganville had a shot at the program’s eighth state championship and sixth in the past seven seasons after a sweep of Kell. Loganville opened with a 5-2 victory in the first game and closed the Longhorns out with an 8-2 victory in Game 2.
BACK AGAIN
Friday’s slate will see three defending state champions take the field. In Class 7A, reigning state champion Lowndes will open its double-header with Grayson at Coolray Field. In Rome, Class 3A Harlem will face Calvary Day with an opportunity to bring back-to-back titles back to Augusta and Prince Avenue Christian will take on Tallulah Falls after winning its first-ever state title in Class A Division I last year.
Starr’s Mill and Cherokee Bluff will meet in the Class 4A finals and make it the second-straight year that the championships have staged a Region 4 versus Region 8 battle. Last year, Region 8’s North Oconee topped Region 4’s LaGrange in three games for its second-straight title. Starr’s Mill was defeated by North Oconee 15-5, 14-1 in last year’s semifinals, but avenged that loss this year in the same round with a dominant 12-8, 13-1 sweep. The Panthers have swept in each round of the playoffs. Cherokee Bluff was taken to a third game in the semifinals and closed out a 5-1 win over Holy Innocents’ to reach its first-ever finals.
BRAGGING RIGHTS
Lowndes won its third all-time state title and first since 2000 with last year’s 3-2, 5-2 sweep over Parkview and have returned to the finals with an opportunity to win consecutively for the first time. Challenging the Vikings starting Friday will be the No. 3 seeded Grayson Rams—who were defeated by Lowndes in last year’s second round. After falling to No. 1 seed Parkview and No. 2 seed Brookwood in region play, Grayson battled past Walton in the quarterfinals and then took down Brookwood in three games (3-2, 0-4, 4-3) to avenge that loss and move one series away from its first-ever state title.
Similar to Lowndes versus Grayson in Class 7A, Class A Division II’s Saturday night double header will have Charlton County—a defending state champion from South Georgia in search for its fourth all-time state title—taking on a Lanier County team looking to win a first-ever championship. Class 6A will also begin its series on Saturday. In Class 6A, Pope and Etowah were both defeated by Houston County in last year’s playoffs. Pope fell in the finals and Etowah lost to the Bears in the semifinals. Pope avenged that loss last weekend by sweeping Houston County 7-4, 1-0 and Etowah swept Blessed Trinity at home 2-1, 4-0 to reach the finals. Class 2A will play the final series of the season and will start on Monday with a 5 p.m. double-header, with North Cobb Christian returning to the championship stage after capturing its first-ever state title last year with a three-game win (4-2, 0-6, 11-1) over Region 6 rival Mt. Paran. The Eagles will face off against Appling County, which last won a state title back in 2012.
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