MOULTRIE, Ga. — No. 4 seed Colquitt County went on the road to dispatch Region 4 champion Hillgrove last Friday with a doubleheader sweep in the first round of the Class AAAAAAA.

Although the Packers face Etowah, the No. 3 team from Region 5 in a second-round series that begins with a 5 p.m. doubleheader today in Woodstock, they may face an even bigger challenge.

Despite finishing behind Pope and Walton in Region 5, the Eagles are 20-7 and are playing excellent baseball right now.

After dropping three straight games on March 11, 14 and 17, Etowah has won 15 of its last 16 games, including 12 in a row.

The last two came in a doubleheader sweep of defending state and national champion Parkview last Friday.

“We know they have some outstanding pitching and several quality players on their roster,” said Packers coach Tony Kirkland, whose team will take an 18-10 record into the game.

“We just need to be the gritty team we are.”

Kirkland clearly has great affection for this team.

The Packers were 7-17 a year ago and with a roster that includes just four seniors — Beau Dalton, Kodi Bishop, Trey Clark and Austin Craven — many expected this to be a transition season for the Packers.

“Although we had a small number of seniors — although they all have been very important to us —  we have shown a lot of improvement and could be making a run in the playoffs,” Kirkland said.

“And if you look at it, we very easily could have been 23-5 this year.”

Kirkland said he does not expect to change anything as the Packers make their second-straight long road trip to the Atlanta area.

That means Colquitt County will send out Dalton to start today’s first game.

Dalton was outstanding in his start against Hillgrove, getting the win in Colquitt’s 4-1 Game 1 victory last Friday that raised his record to 5-2 and lowered his ERA to 1.93.

Sophomore Cory Newsome will get the start in Game 2 after pitching six shutout innings to get the win in the 1-0 clincher over Hillgrove. He is now 6-1 with a 1.16 ERA.

Craven (0-0, 3.55 ERA) closed out both victories, but Kirkland said the Packers could have to dig more deeply into their bullpen today, and if the teams split, in Thursday’s 4 p.m. deciding game. Waiting in the wings are Clark, 2-2 with a 3.27 ERA; Austin Singletary, 1-1, 3.00; Buck Blalock, 1-0, 1.56; Ethan Phillips, 0-1, 2.50: Dylan Collins, 2-1, 5.73; and Bishop, 0-0, 0.00.

Blalock, expected to be a key component of the pitching staff, has made just three appearances on the mound after suffering a hamstring injury and missing several games.

The top of batting order has solidified since Blalock returned to play third base and bat second, Kirkland said.

Leadoff batter Jay Saunders, with a .395 batting average, and Blalock, hitting .288 in the No. 2 hole, have been helping set the table for Austin Singletary and Logan Wheeler.

Second baseman Singletary, with a team-leading 25 runs batted in, has been batting third. He is hitting .308.

Wheeler, the first baseman, is hitting .269 and has driven in 21 runs from the cleanup spot.

The Packers will have sophomore Gavin Patel at shortstop, Hayden Bledsoe in left field, Cole Collins in center field at Kodi Bishop in right field.

If Colquitt County can get by Etowah, it could run up against a team coached by a former Packer.

Reggie Stancil, a member of Colquitt County’s 1997 state championship team, has led his first Norcross  team to the second round after eliminating Northview in three games.

Norcross will play East Coweta, ranked No. 3 in Georgia, at home in a three-game series beginning today.

Also in the second round, Valdosta will travel to Pope and South Cobb with go to North Forsyth, with the winners meeting in the third round; Harrison will travel to Brookwood and Collins Hill will go to East Coweta, with those winners facing off next Tuesday; Walton will travel to Lee County and Lakeside-DeKalb will go to Lambert, with those winners also advancing.