Braves to host two GHSA championship series
May 12—The destinations have been decided for the 2022 high school state baseball championships, and fans of Class AAAAAA baseball in Cobb County are likely happy. For those who are fans of the Class A Private schools, unfortunately, there may be some travel involved.
The Georgia High School Association announced the Class AAAAAA and Class AAAAAAA series will be played at Truist Park, the home of the Atlanta Braves, in Cumberland, while the Class A Private schools will have to travel to Lawrenceville to play at Coolray Field.
Cobb County is guaranteed to have a team playing in the Class AAAAAA state championship series as Allatoona and Lassiter will meet in a best-of-three series at Buccaneer Field beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday. Either the Bucs or the Trojans will face the winner of the Pope-Buford series at Truist Park.
The Class AAAAAA championship series will begin next Thursday with a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. Game 2 will begin 30 minutes after Game 1 ends. If a Game 3 is necessary, first pitch will be at Noon on Friday.
This is the third year the Braves have hosted at least one GHSA championship series. It will also be the third time a Cobb County team will play for a title in Truist Park. In 2019 Hillgrove played for the Class AAAAAAA title and last year Lassiter played in the Class AAAAAA championship series.
The Class AAAAAAA championship series will pit the winner of the Woodstock-Parkview series against the winner of the Etowah-Mill Creek series. Their championship showdown will begin with a doubleheader on May 20. Game 1 will begin at 5 p.m. with Game 2 30 minutes after the conclusion of the opener. If a Game 3 is needed it will be played on May 21 at 7 p.m.
Despite all four remaining Class A Private schools being located within 18 miles of Truist Park, the winner of the Mount Paran Christian-Wesleyan series will face the winner of the North Cobb Christian-Fellowship Christian series at Coolray Field. They will begin their best-of-three series with a 5 p.m. doubleheader May 24. If a Game 3 is necessary, it will be May 25 at 7 p.m.
Mount Paran defeated Wesleyan last year in the Class A title series at Coolray to win its first baseball state championship.
While all four private school teams are located within 18 miles of Truist Park, the benefit to playing at the home of the Gwinnett Stripers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Braves is keeping the pitching staffs intact. The schedule as it is devised would not allow enough time for the starting pitchers the proper rest required between starts because the Class A semifinals are Monday-Tuesday with a championship series following only three days later.
The Class AAA series will lead off the action at Coolray Field on May 23-24. There will also be two series in Rome at Adventhealth Stadium, home of the Rome Braves, and two at JI Clements Field on the campus of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.
The Class AAAA series will be in Rome on May 20-21, and will be followed by the Class AAAAA series May 21-23.
The Class AA series will be at Georgia Southern on May 23-24, and will be followed by the Class A Private series May 24-25.
