By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The road to state begins today.

The baseball teams from Callaway, LaGrange and Troup have had varying degrees of success through the first month of the season, but the slate will be wiped clean today with the start of region play.

LaGrange and Troup will both be at home today as they begin their Region 5-AAAA schedules.

LaGrange will open against Cedartown, while Troup will begin defense of its region championship against Chapel Hill.

Callaway, which won the Region 5-AA title with an unbeaten record a year ago, will open its region schedule with a road game against Temple.

The top four finishers in each region will earn a spot in the state playoffs, and the top two teams will be at home for a first-round series.

Troup, which has won back-to-back region titles, brings an 8-4 record into the region portion of its schedule.

The Tigers opened with seven wins in their first eight games, but they dropped three of four in the Perfect Game High School Showdown in Emerson which featured some of the best teams in the Southeast.

A year ago, Troup won a second consecutive region championship by going 10-2 against its region opponents.

Troup will look to get its quest for a third straight region title started with a win over Chapel Hill today.

Troup will be on the road against Cedartown on Thursday before finishing the week with a home game against the rival LaGrange Grangers.

LaGrange finished second to Troup in Region 5-AAAA last season, and it went on to win three state-playoff series before falling to Marist in the semifinals.

It has been a struggle for a new-look LaGrange team this season, which fell to 2-12 with Saturday’s 4-3 loss to McIntosh.

LaGrange will in essence be starting over, though, as it opens its region schedule against Cedartown before heading to Troup on Friday.

Callaway rolled to a 12-0 Region 5-AA record last season, and it will look for a repeat of that success this year.

Callaway will play each of its region opponents three times, beginning with three games against Temple this week.

Temple will host a single game today, and they’ll play a doubleheader at Callaway on Friday.

Callaway has a non-region game at Manchester on Wednesday.

THIS WEEK’S GAMES 

TODAY

Callaway at Temple, 5 p.m.

Cedartown at LaGrange, 5:30 p.m.

Chapel Hill at Troup, 5:55 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

Callaway at Manchester, 4:15 p.m.

THURSDAY 

Troup at Cedartown, 5:30 p.m.

FRIDAY

Troup at LaGrange, 5:55 p.m.

Temple at Callaway, 4:30 p.m. (doubleheader)