Starr’s Mill, Northgate and Landmark make baseball semifinals

For Northgate, it was a chance to get back to a place they had been before, while for Starr’s Mill it was a chance to go where no other baseball team in school history had been. As for Landmark, they just wanted some revenge.

On Monday, while many will honor those who fought for our country at parades and ceremonies, followed by cookouts, the athletes on these three teams will be playing to advance to the state championship in baseball.

Northgate took on South Effingham and won 7-1 and 6-1. How good are the Vikings (24-3). They have given up 11 runs total in six state playoff games and have scored 46. Catlan Kendrick and Paul Rojas earned the wins on the mound for Northgate. Drew Tolbert homered in the first game as Northgate scattered 14 hits.

The Vikings will play at Marist (28-4) on Monday with the first game scheduled for 3 p.m. The War Eagles have won seven in a row, outscoring opponents 58-38 in their run in the state playoffs.

The winner of this series will host the winner of Starr’s Mill and Loganville.

Starr’s Mill played at the home of the Wayne County Yellow Jackets on Tuesday and won 9-6 in eight innings in the first game and 6-1 in the second game. The Panthers led 6-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth in the first game and Wayne County cut the lead to 6-5 in the fifth and tied it in the sixth. Danny Beadling hit a two run double in the eighth and Starr’s Mill added one more run for the win. Beadling struck out nine batters through four and two-thirds of an inning, while Ken Jackson finished the game. Beadling and Kevin Koziol both homered in the win and Jackson drove in two with a two run double in the fifth. In game two, Drew Johnson pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts. Myles Jaye and Jesse Baker both had two RBIs.

The Panthers (23-7) have won six games in a row, all state playoff games, and have outscored the opposition 41-17 in that span. They will play at Loganville on Monday with the first game scheduled to start at 2 p.m. The Loganville Red Devils (25-5) lost four of their first nine games and have been on a tear ever since, going 20-1. In their six sate playoff games, Loganville has won half of them by double digits and has outscored their opponents 50-11.

Last year, the Pacelli Vikings beat Landmark Christian School in three games in the Class A final at Landmark’s home field. With almost the entire squad back this year, the War Eagles still felt that sting and wanted to issue a little payback. They did. Landmark (22-8-1) came out blazing on Tuesday, shocking Pacelli with a 15-3 win in the first game and edging out the Vikings with a 4-3 win in the second. Landmark had 14 hits in the first game and rallied in the bottom of the seventh to win the second. Jonathan Roberts had two home runs on the day, a grand slam in game one and a two run shot in game two. Tanner Bryant drove in the winning run in the second game that sent Landmark to the state semifinals.

The War Eagles have given their fans a lot of drama in this playoff run, winning two games by one run and going three games with Providence Christian in the second round.

They will be in Savannah on Memorial Day taking on Calvary Day with the first game scheduled for a noon start. The Cavaliers (23-6) have won seven straight, including six straight in the state playoffs. Calvary Day can put up some runs and keep opponents bats quiet. The Cavaliers have scored in double digits in 15 of their games and allowed one run or less in 11 wins.

The winner of this series is waiting to see what the other semifinal match will be. Wesleyan is waiting for the winner of Brookstone and Darlington.

The news wasn’t all good for area teams. East Coweta was defeated by Brookwood in two games, 6-4 and 8-7 and Newnan lost to South Forsyth, 5-3 and 4-2.