Whitewater and Landmark baseball teams make second round of playoffs

Whitewater's varsity baseball team is getting a taste of the sweet sixteen, while Landmark continues their quest to return to the Class A title game.

Whitewater (21-5) swept Heritage, Conyers in two games in the first round, 16-9 in the first game and 9-6 in the second, to make the second round of the state baseball playoffs. The Wildcats trailed Heritage 7-1 in the first game when Jeffrey Ashley hit a triple that drove in three runs to start a rally. The two teams were tied at 9-9 when Garrett Knowles hit a grand slam. Knowles then came on to pitch the final innings to close the game. Matt Parker and Justin Toro each had three hits in the win, while Kyle dearing and Drew Wesolowski each had two hits. Wesolowski drove in two runs.

In game two, Wesolowski kicked things off with a two run home run. Heritage later took a 5-3 lead but Whitewater answered with six runs in the sixth to take a 9-5 lead. Joel Van Asch went 3-for-4, while Jordan Watson went 2-for-3 and Parker and Alex Liquori each drove in two runs. Knowles pitched the final innings in relief and earned the win.

The Wildcats will now host Hillgrove (24-4) on Wednesday with games starting at 4 p.m. The Hawks have won seven in a row. They defeated Forysth Central in two games on Friday, 11-0 in game one and 9-3 in game two. Hillgrove has scored more runs than Whitewater (249-229) and allowed less (99-108).

The quartefinals, should Whitewater prevail, would take place May 18 at Whitewater.

McIntosh’s varsity baseball team made the AAAA state playoffs as the fourth seed from region 5-AAAA. Their draw was to face Loganville in the first round and the Red Devils defeated the Chiefs 15-0 and 13-4. McIntosh ended the season with a 14-12 record.

In Class A, Landmark Christian (27-1) easily won their first round playoff series against Commerce. The War Eagles won the first game 15-0 and won the second game 11-2. They will play at Wesleyan (20-7) on Wednesday. Landmark has scored more runs this season (289-248) and allowed less (57-101). Wesleyan knocked the War Eagles out of the state playoffs last year in three games.