Jeff Hart

The center of Region 8-4A will be at Yonah Field Thursday night when Johnson travels to take on Cherokee Bluff in a boys and girls doubleheader.

Purdue has looked like a title contender all season and owns another 1-seed as the NCAAs begin this week. Yet one bad night at the worst possible time hangs over a program that has had multiple March Madness stumbles.

Regions 8-7A, 8-6A, 8-5A, and 8-4A all could see some movement in the standings following key matchups on Tuesday.

No. 3 Cedar Shoals came into Tuesday’s showdown with No. 1 Johnson with a chance to show it was ready to challenge not just for a Region 8-4A title but even a state championship.

Cherokee Bluff took over sole-possession of third place in Region 8-4A with a thrilling 2-1 win in overtime over eighth-ranked Chestatee at the Lynn Cottrell Complex on Tuesday.

Late heroics powered Georgia Tech baseball to a 6-4 victory over Georgia State on Tuesday night, extending its win streak to nine games at GSU Baseball Complex.

Dawson County ran its win streak to four with a 13-8 win over Wesleyan in a big win on the road to open the two teams’ three-game Region 7-3A series.

Georgia’s Corey Collins tied a school record with three home runs Tuesday while Clayton Chadwick set one by hitting two home runs in the same inning to lead the Bulldogs to an 18-6 win over Wofford at Foley Field.

Johnson won its second straight Region 8-4A match with a 10-0 rout of Cedar Shoals on Tuesday at The Dungeon.

It didn’t have the drama of the NCAA Tournament bracket release of two days earlier, but MLB held its own unveiling Tuesday by announcing the starting pitching matchups for all season openers.