BASEBALL: Teams find tough roads through February schedule heading into full spring season

Teams are still battling it out in non-region play, and some are already shooting to the top of their regions while others are figuring out ways to get out of the basement as February came to a close. The baseball season moves from opening days to springtime runs toward titles and playoffs that’ll be here before teams can catch their breath.

Here’s a rundown of how TSW squads are faring heading in the mid-season days of March and region matchups set to start next week:

Bremen

Bremen is back on track after suffering their first loss in February in tournament play in a close one.

A loss to 6-5 loss to Milton to close out the tournament for the Blue Devils came down to a 2-run comeback in the seventh for the Eagles after Bremen took a 3-run lead in the second and then saw their bats stifled through the rest of the game.

But Bremen won’t be kept down this year, with follow-on victories over South Paulding (12-3) on Feb. 24, Alexander (9-2) on Feb. 25 and over rival Bowdon (3-2) this past Friday to cap out the week.

The 8-1 Blue Devils start off region play on Tuesday in a home matchup with Pepperell, followed by a double-header in Lindale on Friday.

They’ll head to Darlington to continue region 6-A DI play on March 10, hosting the second and third games of the series on March.

Cedartown

A 2-3 Cedartown has some work to do as they start out region play to get back above .500 and beyond for the 2026 season.

The Bulldogs open the region on Tuesday hosting Woodland after a week off on the schedule after back-to-back games against rival Rockmart last week.

The Jackets dealt Cedartown it’s third loss before the break in a extra-innings no-hitter for Rockmart’s Trey Luke the day following a 5-4 win over their cross-county rival.

Cedartown opens the region against a 5-3 Wildcats squad on Tuesday at home to open Region 7-4A play on the season. The Bulldogs then head over to Cartersville for games 2 and 3 of the series on March 6.

The Bulldogs follow up the opening region series against Allatoona on March 10 on the road for Game 1, then have a double-header on March 12 hosting the Buccaneers.

East Paulding

The Raiders will need the winds to keep blowing in their direction as they’ve put on an impressive winning streak to get their season moving toward the right direction following an ugly February skid.

East Paulding sits at 5-7 off of a four game winning streak that started with an extra inning battle that broke the 1-7 cycle with a 6-5 victory over Cass. Tournament wins to cap off the month on Friday and Saturday over Dawson County (3-0), Perry (12-2) and Monroe Area (11-4) at LakePoint to round out the month.

But tough times on the mid-season seas could bring the streak to a close.

The Raiders are opening the week on the road against Paulding County on Monday, host Rockmart on Tuesday, then Harrison on Thursday to round out non-region play before kick off 5-5A play on March 9 hosting Alexander.

All three of those teams have each had their own mixed luck so far this season, so it might be a chance for East Paulding to hit their upcoming series with Villa Rica on March 12 and March 16 with a good run and take over the region standings.

Stay tuned, Raider nation. Things could get interesting.

Haralson County

The tides are turning in a good way for the Haralson County Rebels after back-to-back wins over the weekend against White Plains out of Anniston.

The Rebels took a Game 1 win 12-6 over the Wildcats, then finished off the squad in a 15-5 win to close out the double-header.

That put the squad back on track after a three-game skid starting with Pickens on Feb. 20, followed up by an eighth inning loss to North Atlanta 5-3 on Feb. 21 and a trip to Ranburne in a 10-1 loss to the Alabama squad.

Now sitting at an even 4-4 on the season, the Rebels still have a few non-region games on the schedule before 6-A DI play opens next week. They play an away game at Glencoe on Monday, follow that up with a trip to Bowdon on Wednesday, and round out the week at Sonoraville on Friday.

Haralson opens region play on March 10 against Pepperell in Lindale, then finish off the series with the Dragons at home in back-to-back games on March 13.

Hiram

Hiram had a tough final week of February in non-region play, taking their lumps against bigger schools in a win and a loss, but are still above .500 on the season heading into the 7-4A schedule.

They took a win over Pebblebrook 12-9 on the road on Feb. 23, but then fell in a 15-5 road trip to Rome as the Wolves got one back on the Hornets after Hiram took a 11-7 win over Rome.

The 5-3 Hornets open region play against Southeast Whitfield on the road on Tuesday, then host the pair of games to round out the series on Friday.

Following that, Hiram hosts Dalton on March 10 and then travel up to Whitfield County for the remainder of the series on March 14.

North Paulding

Wolfpack fans will be happy with how North Paulding’s season is going on the baseball diamond so far.

They just took a 2-1 series win to open region against the Etowah Eagles on Friday, but it did come at a cost. The Eagles snapped a 6-game winning streak to close out the series in Game 3 with a 7-2 loss.

Despite the loss, they remain at 8-2 overall with victories over State Title defender Rockmart, Creekview, River Ridge, Carrollton, Harrison and East Paulding on the season.

The Wolfpack have Walton ahead in the region with a home matchup to open the series on Tuesday, then head over to Marietta to face the Raiders in Games 2 and 3 of the region games on Friday.

A non-region lineup of games follows on March 9 hosting Fellowship Christian, take a trip to Lovett on March 10, then round out the coming week hosting Holy Innocents on March 12.

Paulding County

A 4-4 Patriots squad will need fortune to smile upon them in upcoming battles on the baseball diamond to get their season straightened out before Region 3-6A play gets underway.

Paulding County finished out the month of February with a 3-1 record overall, dropping their last matchup before a short break in the schedule with a 8-3 loss at Whitfield Academy.

But their upcoming matchups give them a chance to get back on the right side of .500 as they host East Paulding on Monday, travel to Kennesaw Mountain on Wednesday and host North Cobb Christian on Thursday through some additional non-region games.

One of the final non-region games with South Cobb is on the Pats’ home field on March 11, followed by a trip to Osborne on March 13 to open region play and then hosting the return trip for the Cardinals on March 16. A trip to Temple is coming up on March 18 as well.

Rockmart

A 1-5 Jackets squad hopes that upcoming matchups this week will help the state title defender get their season back on track.

Rockmart has a chance after their latest loss to Stony Brook 6-2 on Feb. 24 and had a trip to Darlington on Friday (unfortunately a score wasn’t available immediately at time of writing.)

They have a chance to start bouncing back on Tuesday with a trip over to East Paulding to face the Raiders, then host Mt. Paran Christian on Wednesday before a matchup with Newnan at home on Friday.

Rockmart opens region play against Coahulla Creek up in Dalton on March 10, with the second half of the series at home on March 12. The Raiders (5-7, see above) provide a good chance to break the overall season-opening skid through February, but the 5-1 Eagles and 7-4 Cougars are both primed to be tough non-region competition in the days ahead.

South Paulding

This isn’t where South Paulding hoped to be at this point in the baseball season, but sunshine is back out and hope is on the horizon for some kind of pickup in the coming days.

A 2-6 Spartans squad have only a season-opening 7-4 win over Cedartown on Feb. 9 and a 10-0 win over Jackson are the only pluses on the season so far, but after that Feb. 20 win South Paulding went on a 3-game skid including losses to Druid Hills, Bremen and Baker County.

The Spartans have Hillgrove on the road on Monday, a trip to Walker on Wednesday and round out the week and the current non-region schedule on Saturday hosting Sonoraville before heading to Rome to the Region 5-5A opener on March 9.

They wrap up the series with Rome on March 11 at home before a trip to New Manchester on March 12 and finishing the series on March 16 hosting the Jaguars.