There are five states—Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma and Georgia—that play high school softball in the fall and, as part of a 12-week series covering the prep play in the Peach State, contributor and Georgia softball aficionado Steve Hickey is tracking the Road to Columbus: the pathway to the state championships in Columbus, Ga. 

Here is Week 10 of the series…

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Still the One

On the last day of the Georgia High School Association (“GHSA”) regular season, a large crowd turned out to watch the Buford Wolves and Eastside Eagles battle for the exclusive honor of being the only undefeated softball team left in the Peach State.

Buford pitcher Caroline Stanton was back from her time with the USA Women’s National U-18 team that won the Women’s World Cup and was sensational.

She attacked the Eastside lineup early and forced them into leverage counts, and the Eagles could never mount a threat.

Stanton finished the day with 13 strikeouts against two hits and completed a shutout against the Eagles. Meanwhile, Buford kept turning up the pressure as they tacked on runs in the second, third, and finally the fifth innings to cap off a suffocating 5-0 win.

There was no doubt. 

The mythical national polls recognize Buford as the No. 1 team in the nation for Fall high school softball. East Coweta and Wesleyan check in as well in the top 10. 

And just like that, Buford caps off a perfect regular season, and enters postseason as a prohibitive favorite to capture the 6A state championship.

Across all classifications, there are many contenders and pretenders.  Every program’s team bus is fired up and ready to take the drive to South Commons in Columbus, Georgia.

How many miles to go for your team? 

Playoffs begin this week; there are two rounds to get to the Elite 8 for each classification and qualify for Columbus.

It is a magnificent spectacle, as 64 teams across the eight designations descend to that sleepy southern town on the lower Chattanooga river in late October. 

It is a beautiful setting to crown the champions—and, akin to the Augusta Masters, the roar of fans will roll across the grounds and there is electricity in the air.  

Everyone is closely watching the largest classification of 6A to watch the renewal of hostilities between Buford and East Coweta come back into focus.

Also, can North Gwinnett, North Cobb, or Tift County throw a monkey wrench into the works make a bid for the crown?

Our prediction is for one more final installment of the Civil War against East Coweta in Caroline Stanton’s contest against Jada Savage, the senior pitcher for East Coweta committed to Ole Miss and the 2024-‘25 Georgia Gatorade Softball State Player of the Year.

We haven’t come this far, just to come this far… we are here for it! 

Days of Future Past 

All goals and all roads now lead to South Commons, Columbus.

Newbies and freshman families are trying to figure out the bracketology and many are just now beginning to look for potential hotels in Columbus.

Rookie mistakes, as everything is booked now.

Teams that lose out will drop their existing reservations so—advice to the late-comers—don’t waste your time now: get on a wait list.

Everyone wants to hear that civil defense siren that will blare at noon on Championship Saturday.

Fans will be coming out of the woodwork and entire college coaching staffs will descend on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to see the best of the best that the Peach State has to offer.

Team account Gamechangers will be video free as GHSA and NFHS police media rights that allow AthletesGoLive to be the exclusive streaming service out of Columbus. 

In short, scenes like this will be everywhere. 

GHSA state 1^st and 2^nd round playoffs will be best two of three at that played at the higher seeds home field. Let us look at the eight brackets and see what match ups jump out. 

Private Brackets Here 

No surprise – private schools are held to a higher standard. It’s not a problem specific to Georgia, but the pleas and complaints from the rural schools outside of Atlanta all center around recruiting and scholarships.

These are football problems, but GHSA has made those problems a softball issue now. Already the schools have their enrollment magnified by a 3x multiplier for any student that does not live within a natural school district.  

In addition, if this multiplier does not push the smaller schools up to at least a 4A classification, all private schools in the 1, 2, and 3 A are removed and placed into their own separate but equal Private playoff bracket tournament.

Larger private schools, such as Marist, Paces, St Pius X, and larger city schools, like Buford remain in their natural classifications.  

Now that the regular season is over, it takes a little bit longer for GHSA administration to carve out the power standing rankings for the private schools.

We list the bracket above for the 20 schools that meet the qualifications of the private playoffs so there are several first round buys.

Wesleyan is the No. 1 seed and looks like it has a clean track to Columbus. Hebron Christian won its region against Prince Avenue and holds the second seed.  

Holy Innocents has the third seed, but they do not have the necessary fire power to move deep in the playoffs as their success is primarily based on just a weak schedule in a weaker region.

We know that coaching staff well – good luck Coach Mitch. Will we see you in Columbus? 

Prince Avenue has the fourth seed and always stays a threat to take down a championship in South Commons. Coach Donnie Byrom has the bus cranked up and is looking to make a push at South Commons. 

Mount Paran has the fifth seed and will have to play North Cobb Christian in the Super Regional to advance the Columbus.

Lovett has the 6^th seed and its ability to advance to Columbus is suspect due to a weak schedule and an even weaker region.

Mount Vernon has the seventh seed and looks to return to Columbus for its fifth consecutive trip. It will match up against region foe Saint Francis in the super regional.

And the eighth seed is Kings Ridge, and they will have to advance to Columbus against regional opponent Whitfield Academy with CeCe Springfield, an Auburn 2026 commit. Neither one of these teams have been to Columbus in recent memory. 

Can CeCe finally punch her ticket to Columbus?  

1A Bracket Here 

Defending champion Gordon Lee is the third seed—their first-round opponent is Fannin County and lurking in their bracket is historical titan Heard County.

Albert County is the overall number one seed, Bremen is the two seed, and Bacon County is the 4 seed, Social Circle is the fifth seed, Vidalia is the sixth seed, ACE Charter Academy is the seventh seed, and Lamar County comes up as the eight seed. 

Led by senior Emily Turner, a 2026 Austin Peay commit, watch out for the Social Circle Redskins.

2A Bracket Here 

Abilene County has been rewarded with the overall No. 1 seed. Sonoraville, led by 2027 RHP Lakelin Hall is the two seed, defending 2024 State Champion Morgan County is the 3^rd seed.   

South Atlanta brings up the fourth seed and as previously noted in prior columns, they have a terrific record against no strength of schedule. It will be interesting to see if south Atlanta can survive the rigors of post season play. Are they a contender or a pretender? 

3A Bracket Here 

Jefferson County has the one seed, Lafayette has the two seed, Long County has the three seed, and Harlem has the #4 seed.

There are no private schools in 1, 2, or 3 A as they have been separated into their own bracket.  

“Whew” says many schools. 

4A Bracket Here 

Coming off the loss against Buford, Eastside still retains the  number one seed. Defending 4A State Champion Harris County will have a tough challenger in Cambridge, led by 2027 Brown commit Lily Kimball in their 2^nd round bracket to advance to Columbus. 

Kell also has a full bracket with perennial elite eight qualifier Northside, Columbus waiting to challenge them to go to Columbus. Pace Academy led by Megan and Katie Wrigley, these twins have an inside track to South Commons for the programs first visit to South Georgia.  

5A Bracket Here 

This may be most observers’ favorite classification, as it has a lot of exceptionally talented large schools, but there are no dynasties that are laying waste to the competition.

Decatur has a No. 1 seed with Lassiter, Loganville, and Northgate.

The Northgate (Columbus, Ga.) Vikings consider a berth to the Elite 8 as part of their culture, and they have an unusual home field advantage to be able to practice on their home field, stay in their normal routines, and sleep in their own beds at night. 

Decatur has broken through the regular season to command a No. 1 seed and will have to deal with Jackson County to get to Columbus. 

6A Bracket Here 

All right people, this is where all the fun stuff lives.

There are several Brackets of Death that call for special consideration.

The East Coweta Indians will have a more difficult bracket just to make it to Columbus with the Cherokee Warriors, led by senior RHP Cali Taylor, waiting on them.  

With the No. 1 overall seed, Buford has earned a gettable path to South Commons. Tiff County will have their hands full with a difficult bracket with Collins Hill and/or Brookwood waiting on them.  

North Cobb and Carrollton have earned the fabled “Bracket of Death.”  Carrollton has been a standout performer all season long, led by 2027 MIF Payton Johnson, and has earned the number two seed.   

They will be opposed in the second round by the North Cobb Warriors, the 2026 RHP Auburn commit Leah Byrd, that will be a fantastic bracket to watch. 

North Gwinnett, led by 2026 RHP Victoria Na, a Cornell commit, has a good path to south Commons and will play Richmond Hill to punch their ticket. 

Play starts today – Monday, Oct. 13, 2025—and we will continue to profile matchups and begin our prognostication. 

Open your FanDuel account kids, this is going to be free money. 

— Steve Hickey for Line Drive Softball