The baseball season is closing in on the midway point already. With that, let’s take a look at how teams have done this week with the arrival of some better weather and region play.

BANKS COUNTY

The Leopards are on fire, winning three straight, including a 5-1 win over Stephens County on March 16. Banks County is now 12-2 overall and 6-0 already in region play. This team is legit! They score in bunches (7.3/game). Next up for Banks is Rabun in a critical region series. The Leopards are ranked #10 in Class 2A.

COMMERCE

The Tigers are coming off a tough 8-4 loss to Lakeview on Tuesday that snapped a five-game win streak. Commerce is 10-4 overall and 0-1 now in region play. The boys have scored 8.2 runs/game on average. This team is destined for a deep playoff run.

DAWSON COUNTY

Dawson County have literally alternated wins and losses for the past eight games, with the most recent a Tuesday loss to Fannin, 6-3. The Tigers are 5-5 on the year and 3-4 within the region. There is much work to be done here, but the offense is heating up (7.5 runs/game).

HABERSHAM CENTRAL

The Raiders saw their six-game win streak come to an end with a hard-to-stomach 12-0 loss on Wednesday to Apalachee despite beating them 10-3 a few days prior. Habersham is still in great shape at 13-4 overall and 1-1 in early region play. Each region game is PIVOTAL for the Raiders, who have the past two seasons struggled to be on the right side of the close region games. The offense (7.3 runs/game) is one of the better in the region right now, and so is the pitching (3.6/game allowed).

JEFFERSON

The Dragons continue to show why they’re worthy of the #1-state ranking. 11-0 and 4-0 in region, there is no blemish. 9.4 runs per game against just 1.7 per game allowed (19 total runs against). Jackson County was the most recent victim, as Jefferson clobbered them 14-4 on Tuesday. The same teams meet in a Friday double-header at Jefferson.

LUMPKIN COUNTY

Lumpkin has been up and down early in 2019, going 7-8 altogether and 2-6 in region play. Those regions wins need to start coming for the Indians to be in a good position down the stretch. Some have been hard to take, like the Wednesday 2-0 loss at East Hall. The same teams meet on Friday, this time at Lumpkin, and both teams are looking to take the season series with a win. The offense has tallied just 3.8 runs per contest.

RABUN COUNTY

The Wildcats started off with a seven-game losing streak, but things have changed after going 3-2 in the last five. Rabun is 3-9 overall, but the 3-3 region mark has it in a good position. The offense has been anemic at times (3.3/game), while the pitching/defense has also struggled at times (8.7 runs allowed/game). Still, much of those struggles came early on.

STEPHENS COUNTY

The Indians got back in the win column with a 4-0 shutout of St. Pius, which made for a huge region win. Stephens County snapped a four-game losing streak in the process, losing to Habersham, twice to Jefferson, and once to Banks County. The guys are 8-6-1, but 1-0 to start off region play. The pitching is as good as anticipated (2.8 runs allowed/game), but the offense (68 runs total) needs to heat up with the weather.

TALLULAH FALLS

The TFS Indians are 4-3 and 1-3 in region so far. The offense can score (7.3/game), but the pitching is also susceptible to getting hit pretty good (7 allowed/game). The recent Wednesday 14-1 loss to George Walton is evidence of that.

TOWNS COUNTY

Towns County has dropped four straight to move to 4-7 overall and 0-4 in region play, which isn’t ideal. However, at 6.6 runs/game scored on average, these guys can hit. Problem is, the pitching has allowed almost exactly the same amount. Plenty of time to shore things up.

UNION COUNTY

The Panthers have now won two straight after a March 15 DH sweep of Monticello for a pair of big region wins. Union is looking to Elbert next on Friday, and are 3-8 overall and 2-4 in 8-AA play. Union has allowed more runs (51) than it has scored (46), so it will look to reverse the trend a little bit closer to what we saw against Monticello.

WHITE COUNTY

The Warriors (7-6; 3-1) are looking pretty good right about now. A 3-2 loss against Chestatee is the lone region loss. Those teams are neck and neck, as White County took the first one, 1-0. Blessed Trinity looms next for the next two region games. White County had won four straight before the loss. It has scored 61 against 51 allowed this season.