TIFTON — The Georgia Independent School Association state baseball playoffs are down to four teams.

Tiftarea Academy is one of these teams. They travel to Frederica Academy for a best-of-three showdown today while Trinity Christian of Dublin travels to Trinity Christian of Sharpsburg on the other side of the bracket.

At stake is a berth in the state Class AAA finals. So far in the playoffs, first-year head coach Chance Benson’s Panthers have swept Edmund Burke Academy and Gatewood.

Game one of the series takes place tonight at 5:30 p.m. The second game is Saturday at 1 p.m., with game three to follow the same day, if needed. The teams may be avoiding rain. Rain is forecast today and Saturday on the island.

A weekend at St. Simons Island would be a vacation to most individuals this time of year, but Benson has no fears about his team.

“These guys are focused,” he said.

Frederica, which has won 20 games, swept two from defending state champions John Milledge Academy last week in the quarterfinals, but needed three games against Valwood in the opening round. Even in the sweep, the Knights had nervous moments. John Milledge had the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning, but a strikeout ended the game at 9-8.

“They found a way to get it done,” said Benson, who attended the Saturday game in the series.

Benson’s look at the Knights provided perhaps one unexpected bit of scouting — “They love to bunt,” he said. Benson said he saw two squeeze plays.

Six Frederica players drove in runs, according to the team’s GameChanger account. Chandler Kicklighter had the big bat of the series, knocking in while notching three hits. Harry Veal drove in two, as did Eric McCall. Nic Dixon, who had three hits, was an All-State player in 2017.

Trey Thompson won the first contest and after Frederica ran into trouble in the seventh, earned the save in the second game. McCall started the second contest. Benson said three players on Frederica’s roster were capable of starting on the mound.

The Panthers will likely rely on Brandon Prudhomme and Dawson Patterson to start. Patterson, who had been limited because of injury during the second half of the season, had two strong outings against Gatewood and picked up the win in the final game. McRay Lentz had valuable mound time in both contests and Cain Cooper is a valued option to pitch as well.

The Gatewood series saw Grant Hall crack his first ever high school home run. Hall’s three-run shot was a walk-off hit in the 8-5 opening win. An Andrew College signee, Hall is hitting .424 for the season. Nate Fortson and Hunter Hartsfield each drove in three runs over the two games.

Tiftarea and Frederica have not played one another this season, but have three opponents in common: Valwood, Edmund Burke Academy and Fernandina Beach (Fla.).

The Knights faced Valwood four times this year, winning a regular season game and going three games in the first round of the state tournament. Frederica won two of three from Edmund Burke and fell in their only game against Fernandina. In contrast, Tiftarea swept Edmund Burke in two games and split with Valwood. The Panthers dropped to Fernandina as well.

The series winner will face one of the Trinity Christian teams in the finals, set for next Friday and Saturday at Mercer University in Macon.