By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

There are eight teams left standing in Class AA, and the Callaway Cavaliers are one of them.

Callaway, after sweeping Rabun County on Thursday, has reached the quarterfinals of the state playoffs, and its opponent will be Thomasville.

Thomasville was pushed to a third game before beating Harlem 4-1 on Friday afternoon.

The Cavaliers won the coin flip on Thursday night, so they knew they’d be at home for their quarterfinal matchup, regardless of the outcome of the game between Thomasville and Harlem.

They’ll play a doubleheader on Wednesday beginning at 4:30 p.m.

If needed, a third and deciding game would be played on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

Callaway (24-9), which won the Region 5-AA championship, has won all four of its playoff games so far against Douglass-Atlanta and Rabun County.

The Douglass series was a mismatch, with Callaway winning both games by the same 16-0 score.

Things were much more competitive against Rabun County.

In the first game, Chandler Lott was brilliant on the mound, throwing a complete-game four-hitter in a 3-0 victory.

In the second game, Braelin Mitchell hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to give the Cavaliers the lead, and they held on for a 9-7 victory.

Now, Callaway is two wins away from making it to the semifinals for the second time in the history of the program.

“Everybody’s excited we’re going to the third round,” Lott said. “But the way I look at it, I don’t think we’ve done anything yet. We’ve got a lot more baseball to play. I believe that 100 percent. The way we’ve been focused in practice, focused in warmups, everybody’s buying in. I have a lot of confidence in this team.”

If Callaway beats Thomasville, it would face either Social Circle or Benedictine in the semifinals.

On the other side of the bracket, Heard County will host Berrien in a quarterfinal matchup.

Heard County, which finished second to Callaway in Region 5-AA, has beaten KIPP and Dade County to reach this point.

The winner of the Heard County and Berrien series will play Elbert County or Jeff-Davis in the semifinals.

QUARTERFINALS

WEDNESDAY

Thomasville at Callaway

Social Circle at Benedictine

Berrien at Heard County

Jeff Davis at Elbert County