By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

LAGRANGE – If the rain holds off, the LaGrange and Troup softball teams will jump into their region schedules today.

LaGrange, which improved to 2-1 with Monday’s 11-0 victory over Hardaway, will be on the road against defending state-champion Central-Carroll for its first Region 5-AAAA game.

Troup, which is 2-0 after beating Callaway and LaGrange on Saturday, will host Chapel Hill today.

A year ago, LaGrange and Troup were unable to secure one of the region’s four spots in the state playoffs.

Two of the teams that did make it to state are Central-Carroll and Chapel Hill.

Central-Carroll, after winning the region championship, went on to capture the state title with a victory over Northside.

While Central-Carroll lost some key players to graduation, it figures to be one of the teams to beat once again in Class AAAA.

Chapel Hill also enjoyed an exceptional season, finishing second in the region before making a deep run in the state tournament.

Today’s games will be the start of a 14-game region schedule for LaGrange and Troup.

At the conclusion of the regular season, a region tournament will be held, and the top four teams will qualify for state.

A year ago, it was Central-Carroll, Chapel Hill, Cartersville and Cedartown making it to state.

Callaway won’t begin its Region 5-AA schedule until Aug. 29 when it hosts Lamar County.

Callaway was supposed to play at Central-Carroll on Wednesday, but that game was rained out.

Callaway, LaGrange and Troup will all participate in the Callaway Classic this weekend at Shuford Fields.

All three teams will play a total of five games on Friday and Saturday.