Newnan swept Houston County in the Class 5A championship at Coolray field to capture its first state title since 1991—winning Game 1 3-1 and running away with an 11-1 victory in Game 1. Sophomore ace Hayes Maginnis pitched a complete-game in Newnan’s 3-1 Game 1 victory to put the Cougars one victory away from the program’s first state title since 1991. With the game tied 0-0 heading into the top of the third inning, Maginnis drove home Dax Kilby with a sacrifice fly to give Newnan its first lead. Later in the frame, Brodie Campbell drove home Cole Gilmore with an RBI single to grow the advantage to 2-0. The Bears narrowed the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the third inning and that margin held until the top of the sixth inning when Caden Lamb added an insurance run with a sacrifice bunt that drove home Ben Edge. Leading 3-1, Maginnis closed out the final two innings—limiting the high-powered Houston County lineup to just one earned run and finishing his strong performance with 10 strikeouts and 107 total pitches thrown.
In the top of the first inning in Game 2, Newnan senior Dax Kilby advanced to first base after getting hit by a pitch and Cole Gilmore singled to advance Kilby to second base. Sophomore Hayes McGinnish drew a walk to load the bases and Houston County was able to get out of the inning trailing just 1-0 after Kilby scored on a double play and the Bears struck out the batter—leaving one runner stranded. Newnan’s 1-0 lead held until the top of the third when Caden Lamb singled and Kilby tripled to drive him home and spark another Cougars rally. Gilmore drove home Kilby later in the frame and then Campbell scored after taking a walk and gave Newnan a 4-0 lead. Houston County put one run on the board in the bottom of the third to cut the deficit to 4-1, but Newnan blew the game open with a seven-run burst in the fourth inning to go up 11-1 and closed out the series victory by forcing a mercy rule 10-run lead after five innings. As a result, Newnan’s Jaden Hill earned the complete game victory with his five innings pitched and allowed just four hits with five strikeouts and one earned run.
Class A-3A Private: Calvary Day 9-4, Savannah Christian 1-3
Savannah Christian opened up a 1-0 lead after the top of the first inning at JI Clements Stadium before Calvary Day took command with a six-run bottom of the frame that fueled its nine unanswered runs to take Game 1 9-1. Calvary Day added two insurance runs in the second inning to grow its lead to 8-1 and its final run came in the bottom of the sixth inning when freshman Moses Mehl scored on a fielding error by Houston County. Junior Quinn Johnson earned the victory in Game 1 with 6.1 innings pitched before senior Scottie Budrow came in as relief for the final two outs. Johnson finished with five strikeouts, two walks, five hits and one earned run. Offensively, catcher Waylan Heidik went 1-for-3 at the plate with a team-high 3 RBI in Game 1, while Brody Dawson finished 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a run scored.
Game 2 was tight from start to finish with Calvary Day taking an early 1-0 lead that was erased after Savannah Christian answered in the bottom of the first to go up 2-1. The Cavs evened the score in the third inning, but the Raiders answered to regain a 3-2 advantage. Calvary Day’s Johnson drove home Ryan Wallace in the top of the fifth inning to even the game 3-3 and the championship-clinching run came in the top of the seventh when Heidik scored on Johnson’s sacrifice fly. Cutter Powell went five innings for Calvary Day before Wallace and Will Bauer each pitched a scoreless inning to propel the Cavs to their third-ever state title and first since 2007.
Class A Div. I: Gordon Lee 5-7, Pepperell 2-6
Gordon Lee opened up Monday’s series at AdventHealth Stadium in Rome with a 5-2 victory over Pepperell in Game 1. The Trojans outhit Pepperell 8-4 in the opener. In Game 2, Gordon Lee erased a 2-1 deficit heading into the fourth inning by outscoring the Dragons 6-4 in the final three innings. Maddox Millard pitched five innings in Game 2 and Jackson Scali closed out the last two innings for Gordon Lee. This is Gordon Lee’s fifth all-time state title and the school’s first since 2019.
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