By Wayne Grandy



Two of Region 1-AAAAA’s four representatives to the Class AAAAA baseball playoffs survived the first round and will play second-round series this week.

Region champion Lowndes had little trouble with Newton in the first-round, winning two straight, 12-0 and 7-1.

The Vikings, now 15-12, will be back at Noel George Field on Wednesday to play host to Chapel Hill, which eliminated Camden County in the first round.

It took three games, but region runner-up Northside won the first state playoff series in school history in the first round, ousting Union Grove.

Jordan Couillard’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth of the third game will enable the Eagles to play host a second-round series against Creekside, beginning on Wednesday.

Northside, which will take a 17-11 record into the series against Creekside, played the final game against Union Grove without head coach Kevin Kinsler, who was serving a suspension after being ejected from the second game of the series.

Neither No. 3 Valdosta nor No. 4 Tift County survived the first round.

The Wildcats fell at Greenbrier 12-0 and 9-6.

Tift County was shut out twice by Luella 7-0 and 18-0.

Of this and that:

Tony Kirkland’s South Effingham team won its first-round series, defeating Jones County 8-6, 7-3.

The Mustangs, the No. 2 team from Region 2-AAAA, will travel to play Ola High in the second round. Ola is the Region 4-AAAA champion.

Kirkland is a former Colquitt County High assistant, now in his sixth season at South Effingham.

Another former Packer assistant coach was not as fortunate in the first round.

Lee County, under Coach Rob Williams, was eliminated by Glynn Academy in Leesburg 4-2 and 1-0.

The Trojans are the Region 1-AAAA champions.

Despite his team’s early exit, Williams continues to have an outstanding career at Lee County and was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club’s Hall of Fame this year.

Since taking over at Lee County in 1989, Williams has posted a 463-157 record.

Former Packer Andrew Wallace has been named to the All-Georgia Junior College Athletic Association second team as an outfielder.

The left-handed hitting Wallace, who also pitched for the Bears, batted .352 in the regular season and was even better against GJCAA opponents, hitting .460.

Wallace, who is a sophomore, won the award as the conference’s best defensive player as a freshman.

The Bears advanced to the GJCAA Final Four before being eliminated by Young Harris.

This is the final year Truett-McConnell will be a member of the GJCAA. The school will move to four-year NAIA status next year.

The Valdosta State baseball team has earned its first appearance in the NCAA Region Tournament since the 2002 season.

The Blazers, who finished the regular season with a 41-19 record, will enter the NCAA South Regional as the No. 7 seed and will face No. 2 seed Barry, the Sunshine State Conference winner, on Thursday at Mulerider Field on the campus of Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Ark.

Former Packers Thomas Tripp and Chad Smith are members of the Blazers baseball team.

Tripp, a senior right-handed pitcher, is 2-0 with a 4.68 ERA.