VALDOSTA — The GHSA Class 6A baseball playoffs are beginning to shape up.

Region 1’s qualifying teams are now known: Lowndes, Colquitt County, Richmond Hill and Tift County. Odds are even in the Vikings’ favor of winning the region championship yet again. But much is on the horizon next week, the last scheduled in conference play.

Lowndes takes on Valdosta, Colquitt plays Richmond Hill and Tift has Camden County.

At 10-2, the Vikings lead the region. Colquitt and Richmond Hill are both 8-4 and Tift is 7-5. With three games to go, Valdosta (3-9) and Camden (0-12) cannot catch up and will spent the state playoffs as spectators. Valdosta can still play spoiler, however.

Though the Wildcats are out, Lowndes has not completely cinched the conference crown. Both Colquitt and Richmond Hill still have a glimmer of hope, but it would take a Valdosta sweep for that happen as Lowndes won both regular-season series over the other two.

Assuming Lowndes does get a win in the VHS series — which will have a single home game Tuesday at Valdosta and the doubleheader at Lowndes — the race for the second seed gets interesting. Colquitt, Tift and Richmond Hill all have chances, but specific things need to happen.

Colquitt can be the No. 2 team with a sweep over the Bryan County Wildcats. As few as two wins, however, can mean trouble for the Packers. If Tift wins all three over Camden and Colquitt wins two from Richmond Hill, Tift slips into the No. 2 spot. If Colquitt wins just two and Camden upsets the Blue Devils in any game, Colquitt would have the home games in the first round of state.

The math on that works out to Tift’s advantage because the Blue Devils won two of the three in the series with the Packers.

Richmond Hill can win two or three games in the Colquitt series and be the second seed. They won two of three from the Devils earlier in the season.

Though Lowndes handled Richmond Hill relatively easily to open the region schedule, the Wildcats have menaced everybody else — and have caused every opposing coach to age significantly.

The Vikings allowed a combined six runs over three games to Richmond Hill, but overall the Wildcats have scored eight or more in five region games, they have given up eight or more in five. In their last series with Camden, RH’s scores were 16-10 (in nine innings), 12-1 and 20-10.

This week has been a respite from the region wars, with all Region 1 schools playing a mix of opponents from Georgia and Florida, many of them versus Florida’s best.

Meanwhile, Region 1’s teams are keeping an eye on Region 5, whose teams they would be facing in the first round of state.

Lowndes won the last two championships of the now-defunct Class 7A in 2023 and 2024. Etowah, Region 5’s top team, won the 6A championship last year.

Etowah is 20-1 for the year, which includes a 9-3 victory over the Vikes in February. Like Lowndes, they are on the cusp of clinching the region championship. Etowah (14-1) has three games to go, all next week. If they win two over second-place Cherokee (9-3), they clinch, regardless of what the Warriors do in their last series against North Paulding.

No other team can catch Etowah, including the one team to beat them this year in North Paulding. The remainder of Region 5’s qualifying teams are likely Cherokee, Walton and North Paulding, though Marietta is barely hanging in.

Walton has 11 wins currently to Cherokee’s nine and won their series. The Raiders have Marietta (4-9) remaining and are favored to win that series be No. 2. North Paulding (8-5) is finishing a series with next-to-last North Cobb before taking on Cherokee April 15-17.

Should Lowndes win region, odds favor them opening state against the loser of the North Paulding-Cherokee series.