MOULTRIE – As expected, the Colquitt County baseball team will travel to Gwinnett County on Thursday to begin its three-game Class 7A state tournament-opening series against Brookwood with a 4 p.m. doubleheader.

If the teams split, a deciding game would be played at 6 p.m. Friday.

Fans who cannot make the trip to Snellville can listen to the games on radio station WMTM at either 105.1-FM, 93.9-FM or at 1300-AM.

The Packers, who will take a 14-15 overall record into their season-opener against the Broncos, will be decided underdogs.

Colquitt is the No. 3 team from Region 1 and will have to battle the Region 2 runner-up Broncos who are 22-8 overall and ranked No. 5 in Class 7A by MaxPreps.

The Packers have lost four of their last five games, but are 4-4 under interim coach Chance Pitts, who took over on March 28 after the resignation of former head coach Brandon Brock.

Also in the first round, Region 1 champion and defending Class 7A state champion Lowndes (25-5) will play host to 14-16 Newton, the No 4 team from Region 4.

Lowndes is ranked No. 2 in Class 7A.

Region 1 runner-up Richmond Hill, 16-11, will play host to 17-12 Grayson.

Camden County, No. 4 team in Region 1, has the unenviable task of going to Lilburn to take on 25-5 Parkview, the top-ranked team in Class 7A.

Colquitt won playoff series over Harrison and Alpharetta before being eliminated by Parkview in the quarterfinals two years ago, but were swept in the first round by East Coweta last April.

If the Packers are to duplicate its 2022 first-round win, they will do it with a lineup that likely will have just two seniors.

Cam Cook and Mason Moore have been solid in their final seasons as Packers and big games by them could boost Colquitt’s chances of a first-round upset.

Moore was expected to be one of the Packers top pitchers and a mainstay in right field, but an elbow injury has limited his participation to serving as the team’s designated hitter.

The left-handed hitter is batting .284. He has four doubles and leads the Packers with four triples and two home runs.

Cook is the team’s leading hitter with a .376 average and of his team-leading 35 hits, a remarkable 14 have been doubles.

If Cook is not on the mound, he will start in left field with Brady DeRosso likely in center and either freshman Bowen DeRosso or senior Cayden Parker in right.

The infield has consistently featured Jaxon Chambers at third base, Adam Beverly at shortstop, freshman first-team All-Region 1-7A selection Bryce Roberts at second base and Jake Walker at first base.

Beverly is hitting .278 and is the team leader in runs batted in with 21.

Junior Hayden Hembree has handled most of the catching duties this season.

The Packers will try to scratch across some runs against a Brookwood pitching staff led by senior right-hander Jackson Barberi, who is 8-0 with a 0.55 ERA.

Left-hander Charlie Foster is 6-2 with a 1.29 ERA.

For the Packers, sophomore Logan Plymel leads the pitching staff with a 4-3 record and a 1.71 ERA.

Other Packers who have started games are Cook (2-1, 3.76), Bowen DeRosso (1-2, 3.06), Cook Tompkins (1-1, 6.08), Gabe Eubanks (2-4, 5.92) and Cole Holder (1-2, 4.96).

There aren’t many holes in the Brookwood lineup, which sports a .303 team batting average.

The Broncos are led by Max Rogozinski who is hitting .372; Boomer Rogozinski, .368; John Beverley, .358; and VJ Heath, .355.

Brookwood has hit 43 doubles this season and Heath leads the team with seven two-baggers. He also is the team-leader with 24 runs batted in.

The Colquitt County-Brookwood winner will advance to play the winner of the series between Region 3 champion Hillgrove and Westlake.