Panthers host Notre Dame in 1st round of state baseball
Apr. 23—CHULA — The GISA has set its baseball brackets and the Tiftarea Academy Panthers now have an opponent for the first round of state Monday.
Runners-up in the 2021 state tournament, No. 3 Tiftarea will host No. 14 Notre Dame Academy. Game 1 has been announced as being at 5:30 p.m., according to the schedule on MaxPreps. A second game will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday. A third game, if needed, would immediately follow.
The Irish Wolfhounds are 10-8 for the season, which the school's Facebook page is the best in school history. The finished the regular season with three straight wins and by outscoring their opponents 51-8.
Through 17 games, Aaron Wineinger led the team with 20 RBIs and 30 hits. His 20 runs scored was second to Nick Hasnain.
Members of Region 1-AAA, the Irish Wolfhounds finished 4-4 in that division. All four victories were against Holy Spirit Prep and Cristo Rey. Dominion Christian and Creekside Christian, Region 1's other teams, outscored them 71-7 over four games.
Tiftarea enters 15-6, having finished 7-2 in Region 3. All four of Region 3's teams made state, with Valwood going to Southland Academy in the first round and Brookwood School visiting Trinity Christian. If both schools win, Tiftarea and Brookwood would meet in the second round.
The No. 1 seed went to defending state champions Pinewood Christian. John Milledge Academy is No. 2.
Hayden Murphy leads the Panthers' charge. The senior Auburn commit has won 7 games pitching, with an 0.87 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched. Murphy is hitting .485 with 6 homers, 26 runs scored and 24 batted in. Perfect Game lists him as one of Georgia's top prospects for the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft.
Logan Moore and Robert Garner have made most of the other pitching starts for Tiftarea. Moore, who will be playing for ABAC next year, has struck out 45. Garner is right behind him at 41. Jam Presley is main arm out of the bullpen.
Behind Murphy, John Austin Lee is hitting .359, Presley is at.344, Matthew Malone is at .328 and John Jackson mashes at .316.
Matthew Malone (3), Wesley Malone and Moore join Murphy as homering Panthers. Matthew Malone is second in runs scored at 25. Moore has driven in 18.
This will be Notre Dame's first ever trip to Tiftarea. The Irish Wolfhounds were scheduled to make the trip as part of region crossover football contests in 2018, but canceled three days before the homecoming game kickoff. The two did meet in state tournament basketball in 2019, Tiftarea winning.
