Allatoona, North Cobb Advance in Softball

Expect to see a long line of vehicles heading down Interstate 75 to Columbus next week after both public high schools in Acworth, and , qualified for the Georgia High School Association’s softball Elite Eight.

Allatoona swept a home doubleheader against Carrollton’s Central High on Thursday, 11-3 and 5-1, to reach the eight-team, double-elimination AAA state championships, the Carrollton Times-Georgian reported.

The only real obstacle the Bucs faced in the second round of the state tournament was the weather: Rain pushed the Wednesday games back to Thursday.

Allatoona opens against Locust Grove at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in Columbus. The championship tournament runs through Saturday.

North Cobb had a tougher road to the AAAAA championship tournament, splitting a doubleheader at Coffee County on Wednesday, then winning the decisive Game 3 on Thursday.

The Warriors lost Game 1, 7-4, but won Game 2, 4-0, on a no-hitter. Kelly Barnhill did the job as the Warriors’ dominant starting pitcher.

Coffee managed two hits in Game 3 Thursday and took a 1-0 lead in the third inning, but North Cobb scored three times in the bottom of the sixth for the 3-1 win.

You can view virtual replays of all three games through iScoreSports.

North Cobb will open play in Columbus against Milton at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

Harrison, however, will not be joining Allatoona and North Cobb in Columbus. East Coweta swept the Hoyas out of the second round, winning 5-2 and 4-1 Wednesday in Coweta County, the Newnan Times-Herald reported.

It’s not a loss Harrison should be ashamed of: East Coweta is making its seventh consecutive trip to the Elite Eight.

Still, Harrison is the only one of the four Region 4-AAAAA qualifiers for the GHSA state tournament not to make it to the championship round. Joining North Cobb in Columbus will be the region champ, , and .

Acworth Patch invites the community to be part of our community sports coverage. If you have photos or videos from this week’s softball games or have updates next week from Columbus, share them by clicking on "Add your photos & videos," make comments in the comment box below, or email GaPatchSports@gmail.com.