Walton, Pope Baseball Play On

The Pope Greyhounds needed to get to the middle innings to punch their ticket to the state baseball semifinals.

The Walton Raiders got a leadoff homerun in the first inning.

Both East Cobb teams won decisive third games Thursday in the Georgia High School Association state tournaments, and will be staying at home as the playoffs continue.

Pope trailed Evans 2-0 before responding in the fifth inning enroute to a 12-2 win. The Greyhounds will play host to Starr's Mill in a Class AAAAA semifinal series that begins with a doubleheader on Monday.

Walton, which downed Tift County 5-2 in Class AAAAAA, will face Roswell Monday at Raider Valley.

The Monday game times for both Pope and Walton have not been announced.

Pope is aiming for the finals for the first time since winning the state title in 2009; Walton last reached the finals in 2008.

The Pope boys soccer team also was bidding to reach the state finals as the Greyhounds played host to McIntosh on Thursday.

But McIntosh, ranked No. 1 in a national high school poll, got three goals in the first half to win 3-0 in the Class AAAAA semifinals.

The Lassiter girls lacrosse team, which earned a trip to the Class AAAAAA finals by beating Walton on Wednesday, will face top-ranked Milton on the road on Saturday.

The starting time for that match will be at 5 p.m.