The 2026 Georgia high school softball season officially began on August 1 and culminates this week with the playoffs running from October 28-31 at the South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, Ga.

Line Drive Media contributor Steve Hickey has tracked the prep fastpitch journey in the Peach State for the seven public divisions (1A through 7A) and the one private division.

This is Week 11 of our articles throughout the season to provide highlights and spotlights for journey in Georgia to crown its champions.

• Click HERE for Week 1’s report
• Click HERE for Week 2’s report
• Click HERE for Week 3’s report
• Click HERE for Week 4’s report
• Click HERE for Week 5’s report
• Click HERE for Week 6’s report
• Click HERE for Week 7’s report
• Click HERE for Week 8’s report
• Click HERE for Week 9’s report
• Click HERE for Week 10’s report

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The Playoffs March On

Here is the latest update for all the playoff brackets as linked below. 

There are some great match-ups this week and we make the turn to Columbus. Despite East Forsyth’s Cinderella story, the super seeds continue their march towards South Commons.  

Things will change here. 

These are the links for the results through Columbus: 

• 7 A Playoffs
• 6 A Playoffs
• 5 A Playoffs
• 4 A Playoffs
• 3 A Playoffs
• 2 A Playoffs
• 1 A Playoffs
• Private Playoffs

As we enter Columbus week, it becomes a double elimination format. 

Interestingly enough, the only caveat with this format is that there is no advantage to only winning your first game. 

There is no difference in winning your first game and then losing your second game and losing the first game.  You end up in the same place. 

Attached are the new links for the playoff format in Columbus: 

• 7 A Tournament
• 6 A Tournament
• 5 A Tournament
• 4 A Tournament
• 3 A Tournament
• 2 A Tournament
• 1 A Tournament
• Private Tournament 

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Three (Or More) Things I Learned This Week

We lost a champion of girls’ softball this week as Ernie Yarbrough, former Executive Director of GHSA, softball passed on October 17th. 

Little did I know that I would be one of the last interviews he would grant back in Week 5 when we discussed his storied career and his impact on tens of thousands softball players across the Peach State over the past 25 years.

God bless you Ernie, you have faithfully served, and you will be welcomed home.  On behalf of grateful sport, thank you sir.

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It’s hard to pivot in the wake of such news, but I know Ernie would want the games to go on. 

So, let’s take a look.

There were 64 series played this week in the Super Regionals in order to advance to Columbus.  It took 143 total games to figure it out.  There were 13 upsets in this round, and 49 sweeps. 

The underdogs swept eight times, and there were 15 three-game series.  

Shockingly, we saw three series where the visiting underdog dropped Game 1 and rallied to come back to take the series. 

There were far less run rules in this round, 59 times (41 percent vs first round of 67 percent), fewer sweeps 77 percent vs 90 percent, and fewer favorites survived (80 percent vs. 84 percent). 

We tracked down Head Coach Matt Hornsby of Bowden (1A) who pulled off one of the three underdog series that lost Game 1 and rallied to come back for the win. 

Here’s our interview:

You joined Bowden last year, after a remarkable run at Heard County, winning three consecutive state championships.  Tell us how that adjustment has gone.

It was a change in expectations.  I inherited the schedule as it was set last year, and it did not challenge us to improve.  We simply were not ready to compete, and I have worked with our coaching staff to get us ready for this year.  We are a very young team this year, almost all sophomores, and I believed if we could just turn the corner and find a way to get to Columbus.  That was our goal.  Just find a way.

Tell us about your team this year.

We have to rotate players every time we need something.  It’s trying to find the perfect formula of addition and subtraction to maximize the value to the team. 

If we need to change pitchers, it affects us defensively.  If someone gets banged up and I need to protect her, it moves someone else out of position. 

And that’s great, it helps the players learn and develop, but it also compromises us to win that game on that day.  We have a good outfield, but we need things to give us a favorable bounce if we are going to win in the infield. 

There is so much pressure on the coaches and the players to work with what you got, and just get it done.  Frankly, I love it.  I think the team has fallen in love with it too.

With the new Post Season Ranking system, tell us how you finished the year and got to the second round.

As I mentioned earlier, we took a different path to prepare and play this year.  We scheduled exactly like we used to schedule at Heard County.  We would go play anyone, anytime, and anywhere. 

We played East Coweta early in the season and upset them.  I think that is when we knew we could be something special this year.  However, we had an 8-14 record coming into the final week of the season, and we had several rain-outs we needed to make up. 

Our brackets are hit or miss, and I thought if we could win several of the six games, it would put us into a good bracket.  We spoke it into existence, and the team went 5-1.  Really caught fire there.  So with a 13-15 record, we finished the season and thought we were a perfect darkhorse to punch our way through to Columbus. 

We got the No. 13 seed and had a great three-game series against Charlton County.  We went to our No. 3 pitcher for a different look, and she has really impressed me over the course of this season. 

Getting better, more “spinny” almost each and every day.  She really grew up last week and has five wins this season, and three of them have come in the playoffs.  

Tell us about your three-game series win against No. 4 Schley County.  That was the first series of playoffs that a visiting underdog loses Game 1 and comes all the way back to win in three games.

Schley is about 2 ½ hours away, and we bus over there and ended up making eight errors in Game 1 and losing 4-5.  We went to our third pitcher, and she again delivered the goods for us, and we won Game 2 by a score of 9-2.  Almost run ruled them. 

I told our girls getting off the bus that night how close we were and made sure that they knew that they were the better team. 

No one wants to get back on that bus the next day, which is where most teams probably lose the series, but we piled on that bus, fired it up, and went back up there and handled our business. 

I am really proud of how we dug deep and refused to give in.  Schley is a very talented team, and we were fortunate to have matched up as well as we did.

Thank you, Coach.  Great work there.  Getting a young team to believe in may be the hardest job in all of coaching.  Good luck in Columbus.  We will see you there.

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Other results from across the state:

Class 7A

Five of the super seeds advanced to Columbus, four of them are repeat offenders from last year’s tournament at South Commons: Buford, Richmond Hill, North Paulding, and Brookwood. 

North Paulding joined the ranks of the underdog losing Game 1 and rallying to win in three. 

This Elite 8 group looks different than in past years, especially notable absence of East Coweta. 

There will be some great ball to be played at this classification.

• #1 seed Buford defeated Seckinger 10-2 and 15-0. Despite a couple of losses this season that showed signs of mortality, this Buford club is playing really well at the right time.  You don’t have to be perfect to be a champion.  Buford advances to play #8 Richmond Hill in Columbus.  Richmond Hill won an exciting series over Dacula, 4-5, 3-2, and 4-2.
• #2 Harrison defeated North Forsyth 10-0 and 14-1. Harrison looks the part of a team to challenge Buford, but they will have to wait, as they host #10 Lambert.  Lambert upset Cherokee in 2 excellent 3-2 and 3-2 games.
• #3 Brookwood defeated Grayson, 12-0 and 4-0. They will face #11 Carrollton in Columbus.  Carrollton defeated powerful East Coweta, also a region foe, 10-4 and 4-2.  After years of futility against the Indians, this trip to Columbus must feel very good.  Can they keep their hot hand?
• # 4 Northgate defeated a very good North Gwinnett in a topsy turvy 3 game series, 4-1, 0-18 (yes, you read that right), and 5-4. Northgate will face #12 North Paulding in Columbus first round, North Paulding also had a thrilling 3 games series against #5 Archer, and prevailed 3-12, 9-0, and 10-2.  This was only 1 of 2 series this year in which the lower seed visitor lost the first game and rallied to win in 3 games over the higher seed.

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Class 6A

Seven of the super seeds advanced to Columbus and there are six teams with bona fides from last year’s tournament at South Commons: South Effingham, Houston, Loganville, Creekview, Lassiter, and Veterans. 

North Paulding joined the ranks of the underdog losing Game 1 and rallying to win in three.

• #1 seed South Effingham defeated Coffee, 5-2 and 7-5. They will advance to Columbus and play #8 Houston County, who defeated Jackson County 9-4 and 9-0.
• #2 Lee County defeated #18 Kell in a pitcher’s duel 3-0 and 3-2. Kell’s Lyla Morici surrendered only 2 earned runs over 14 innings but still lost.  It was the lowest ERA in the playoffs for a losing team.  Lee advances to play former state champion #7 seed Pope, who defeated River Ridge 4-3 and 7-5.
• #3 Lassiter defeated Decatur in convincing fashion 14-2 and 14-1. They advance to play Veterans in Columbus, who also rallied from a first game loss and took the 3-game series from #6 Glynn Academy, 0-1, 4-1, and 11-4. 
• #4 seed, and defending champion, Creekview defeated Walnut Grove 11-0 and 15-0. They advance to play #5 Loganville after they defeated Effingham in a thrilling 3 game series, 3-2, 2-3, and 7-6. Perhaps the best all round 3 games series played statewide,
  • Game 1 saw Loganville with a 2-0 lead through most of the game, before Effingham scored one run each in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings to comeback.
  • Game 2 was even more exciting as Effingham claimed a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning and held it until the top of the 7th when Loganville scored three runs and held on to win.
  • Game 3 saw Loganville take an early 3-1 lead and then exchange body blows for the rest of the game. Effingham finally blinked in the bottom of the 7th inning, and Loganville prevailed with a walk-off wild pitch.  Pressure bursts pipes.

*****

Class 5A

Six of the super seeds advanced to Columbus; there are four teams with bona fides from last year’s tournament at South Commons: Harris, Central, Wayne, and Cartersville. 

North Oconee is the one team that made it across all classifications that did not participate in last year’s playoffs.  They have come a long way indeed.

• #1 Harris County defeated St. Pius, 8-0 and 16-3. Harris will play Starr’s Mill in Columbus, after they defeated Cass 2-1 and 5-1.
• #2 Cartersville continues to look the look of a title contender, taking care of business against Blessed Trinity 11-3 and 18-0. The Lady Canes will play Marist in Columbus, as they defeated upstart East Forsyth 7-3, 9-10, and 5-4.  The Broncos gave the War Eagles everything they could handle with a comeback walkoff in game 2 and held a formidable 4-1 advantage going into the bottom of the 7th in game 3.  But, give it to the War Eagles, players made plays, and EG Lamb hit a leadoff homerun to start the 7th, and star Megan Snipes came to the plate and evened the score at 4 with a 2 RBI double.  Pitcher of record, Perry Drake helped her own cause with a walkoff single to send Marist to Columbus for the first time since 2019.
• #3 Wayne County defeated Villa Rica 2-1 and 7-0. Wayne will play North Oconee in Columbus after the Titans defeated Perry 8-6, 3-4, and 9-1.
• # 13 Jefferson upset #4 Cambridge 18-8 and 11-4. That is the most runs scored by an underdog in a 2-game series across all classifications.  Jefferson and their bats will play against #5 Central Carrollton who defeated Jones 14-1 and 11-3. 

*****

Class 4A

Six of the super seeds advanced to Columbus; there are 5 teams that played in last year’s tournament at South Commons: Pickens, Heritage, North Hall, Cherokee Bluff, and West Laurens.  North Hall is the lowest remaining seed at #20, but their resume from last year indicates they know what needs to happen at this point. 

• #1 seed Long County defeated Oconee County in a surprising 3 game series.  They were the only #1 seed across all classifications to have a 3-game series.  Long will play #8 Pickens in Columbus, who defeated Fayette 5-0 and 18-0. 
• #2 West Laurens defeated Adairsville 8-7 and 11-10.   West Laurens advances to Columbus to play Ridgeland in the first round.  Ridgeland defeated Woodlan 12-2 and 9-5.
• #3 Cherokee Bluff defeated Gilmer 3-16, 13-1, and 9-7.  Wow, those are some big swings in momentum.  Cherokee Bluff will advance to Columbus and play #11 Harlem in the first round.  Harlem ended Calhoun’s Cinderella story, winning 3-1 and 11-0.   
• #20 North Hall continued their own Cinderella story, being the lowest seed in the state to advance to Columbus.  They took down Monroe Area 3-1 and 3-2.  In Columbus, North Hall will face defending state champion #5 Heritage, Catoosa who easily dispatched Cairo 8-0 and 10-0.  The Generals appear to be on a business trip. 

*****

Class 3A

Six of the super seeds advanced to Columbus; there are 5 teams with bona fides from last year’s tournament at South Commons: Appling County, Morgan County, Toombs, Sonoraville, and Pike.

• #1 seed Appling County defeated Hart 9-0 and 15-0. The Pirates will advance to play Morgan County in Columbus, who defeated Lamar 6-5 and 7-6. who upset Washington 12-0 and 9-3.
• #2 seed Worth County defeated Jackson in a back and forth 3 game series, winning 8-13, 3-2, and 16-12. Worth advancing to Columbus to play #10 Brantley, who upset Pierce 5-2 and 9-2.
• #3 Rockmart defeated Elbert in 3 games, 6-4, 4-5, and 11-1. Rockmart advances to play Pike County in Columbus, after Pike won against Lumpkin County 9-4 and 16-3.
• Defending Champion and #4 seed Sonoraville defeated Haralson 7-0 and 13-1. The Lady Phoenix will advance to Columbus to play Toombs County after they defeated Stephens County 7-6 and 12-5.

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Class 2A

Five of the super seeds advanced to Columbus; there are only three teams with bona fides from last year’s tournament at South Commons, the least of all the classifications: Banks, Gordon Lee, and Bacon County.  

• #1 Banks County defeated Thomasville 2-1 and 7-3. Banks is absolutely dominating this classification and will be hard to beat in Columbus, but they will start against Metter, who had a hard-fought 3 game series against Dade County, 7-3, 8-13, and 6-4. 
• # 2 Bacon County made its own claim to being the best, by frying Bleckley County 6-0 and 16-0. Bacon will play Vidalia in Columbus after they sweetly sent defending state champion Bremen home 8-1 and 8-4.
• # 14 Jeff Davis upset Cook 6-5 and 10-7. Now, Jeff Davis will play Berrien in Columbus, after Berrien defeated East Laurens 9-1 and 10-1.  
• #4 Gordon Lee continues to quietly punch its way back to Columbus, as Coach Dana Mulls’ team defeated Fannin 14-2 and 10-1. They will play #12 Mount Zion in the first round at South Commons after they upset #5 Armuchee 12-7 and 13-4.

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Class 1A

Six of the super seeds advanced to Columbus; there are five teams with experience from last year’s tournament at South Commons: Wheeler, Lanier, ECI, Trion, and Irwin.

• #1 Wheeler swept LOA 9-0 and 10-2. Wheeler advances to play #8 Telfair in Columbus, after Telfair swept Clinch County 6-3 and 4-1.
• #2 Irwin County swept Wilcox 12-0 and 9-0 and will advance to play Trion in Columbus. Trion advanced by sweeping Taylor 3-0 and 5-4.
• #3 E.C.I defeated Treutlen 11-3 and 13-0. C.I. will advance to Columbus and play Johnson in the first game.  Johnson defeated Georgia Military Academy 8-5, 7-8, and 5-4.
• #13 Bowden upset Schley County, as noted above in historic fashion, 5-6, 9-2, and 14-1. Bowden advances to play Lanier County, who defeated Baconton 8-0 and 16-0.

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Private

All of the Super Seeds proved their mettle by winning through the Super Regionals, all except one were sweeps.

All eight of the super seeds advanced to Columbus, the most across all classifications; there are seven teams with bona fides from last year’s tournament at South Commons with the lone exception being Mount Paran, who historically is no stranger to Columbus.  

• Prince Avenue proved their #1 overall seed and pounded St. Vincents 16-1 and 26-0. Good grief, those girls have families!  They will advance to play #8 Wesleyan, the five-time defending state champion, in South Commons, who handled Whitfield 10-0 and 16-10. 
• #2 seed, Pace Academy avoided a scare against Holy Innocents sweeping the series 3-2 and 14-6. Pace advances to play #7 Mount Vernon, who had to earn the sweep, battling back in the first game after being down, but prevailed 14-7 and 13-3.  This will be Coach Edmonson’s sixth consecutive trip to South Commons.
• #3 seed, North Cobb Christian swept Christian Heritage 8-4 and 16-4. They will advance to play #6 Mount Paran in Columbus, after they handled Westminster 16-6 and 13-3. 
• #4 Hebron Christian swept Greater Atlanta Christian, 12-0 and 10-0 and will play Providence Christian for its first game of the tournament in Columbus. Providence Christian battled St. Francis in the only 3 game series of this classification, winning 7-1, 4-5, and 7-3.

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Steve’s Take 

After an exhausting 11-week sprint, the Road to Columbus is clear, complete, and exciting to imagine. 

For those that know, they know; next week will be its own exhaustive test of spirit. 

Nothing in the regular season prepares you for this.  It is travel ball comes to prep ball.  The 64 teams will crowd the fields and parents, families, college coaches, and intrepid reporters will flood into the gates at South Commons. 

Concessions are getting fired up, grounds crews are preparing and actually working this week as the GIAA plays their tournament there now.  Everything is settled, except for the games on the field. 

We would like to think it’s going to be the hard way for all of the eventual champions, but history does not prove this: only 1 team came out of the losers bracket last year as Eastside took an early loss and came back. 

The other seven classifications were dominated by the eventual champion so let’s pick them:

7A – It is hard to pick against the University of Buford.  Yes, they had their consecutive win streak snapped this season, but no one stays perfect forever.  I expect there were some lessons learned along the way, and they had collected themselves and put to silence the doubters.  Harrison has the hitting yes, to challenge, but do they have the pitching to last four days in Columbus?  Brookwood has made their own noise.  There could be some bracket chaos as 4 historically great teams take battle, but I have to stick with Buford until proven wrong.

6A – Creekview is the defending champion and has played and won against a relentless schedule this season.  Houston is venerable program who seemingly always punches their ticket to South Commons.  However, I have watched Lassiter level up this season, and they may be led by the best player in Columbus, Peyton Ushery, and a dynamic duo of the Batroff twins.  I am going with the Trojans to take this field down.

5A – Harris County has dominated this classification all season long.  Their long-time nemesis, Eastside is no longer hunting them.  Wayne County is a legitimate threat to win; Marist and North Oconee and Jefferson frankly are just happy to be there.  I expect the circus will wear them down.  Cartersville is my pick, if Zoie Shiflett can stay fresh, the Lady Canes may be playing when the civil defense siren blares at noon on Saturday and wins the title.

4A – Perhaps the most even of all the fields, with several blue bloods and highest seeds are all well positioned to win.  Heritage is the defending state champion and may have the best draw to start things off.  Consistent with my 7A pick, if given the choice between those that have been there and done that versus those that have not, I will always choose the former over the ladder.  The Generals will rule this field.

3A – It comes down to the pirates of Appling County that have smashed the competition all season long or the reigning champs of Sonoraville.  Again, the reigning champs aren’t just relying on last year’s resume, they have the best player in the classification with 2029 Marley Hall who can keep pesky base runners down and flip a game with a swing of the bat.  I expect a great finale with these two teams but have to go with the Lady Phoenix.

2A – There are going to be some great matchups in this bracket, but eventually it’s going to come down to two teams here as well.  The Banks County Leopards have been consistently elite all season and played some hard competition.  Gordon Lee is lurking, and I never dismiss a Dana Mulls club from adding to the 12 state titles.  But, Banks is the pick here.  

1A – Lanier County is the reigning state champ, and they love this time of year when the weather turns, and it is Pumpkin Spice Latte time.  However, Wheeler has literally mowed down the state and has a nasty 29-1 record.  Can they handle the pressure of South Commons?  This reporter thinks yes, Lady Dawgs are your champion.

Private – I am going to upset some Wesleyan folks, but the five-time defending champion has no chance.  0-2 and trick or treating back in Atlanta.  For the rest, this is going to get interesting.  Pace, Prince, and Hebron will all have legitimate claims to win this.  But, I have to go with elite pitching, Kate Kennedy is best in this class.  She is a special pitcher and will take Hebron to the promised land. 

I will post daily updates on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Stay safe out there!

— Steve Hickey/Line Drive Contributor