A matchup worthy of the state championship series will instead determine one of the spots in the Class AAA baseball semifinals.
The Franklin County Lions will travel four-and-a-half hours to Blackshear Tuesday to face the Pierce County Bears in the state quarterfinals. The first game will be Tuesday at 5 p.m., with the second game to follow. A third game, if needed, will be Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Both teams are region champions, with Pierce County winning Region 1AAA and the Lions 8AAA.
Pierce is ranked No. 1 in AAA by MaxPreps and No. 2 by Georgia Dugout Preview Magazine.
The Lions are No. 3 in MaxPreps’ rankings and No. 4 in Georgia Dugout Preview.
Franklin comes into the game after sweeping Morgan County 10-0 and 5-1 in a doubleheader Wednesday in the second round of the playoffs.
Pierce eked out a second round win over Cherokee Bluff.
Cherokee Bluff won the first game of the series 14-4 and held a lead after six innings of game two, but Pierce came back to win the second game 3-2 and finished off Cherokee Bluff with a 9-5 win in the third game.
Pitching will be key in the series.
Pierce is allowing opponents just over three runs per game, while Franklin is holding its opponents to a little over two runs per game.
This will be the first away playoff series for the Lions in the past two years. Franklin played at home last season until it reached the state championship series.
Pierce County earned the right to host the series thanks to a coin-toss since both teams were No. 1 seeds from their respective regions.
The winner of the series will advance to the state semifinals to face either Redan or Burke County.