By HARVEY SIMPSON

Dispatch Sports Editor

When state baseball playoff action begins Friday, Crisp and Fullington academies and Wilcox High at least have some familiarity with their opponents. The same can’t be said for Crisp County High.

The Wildcats of Crisp Academy will be in Woodbury for a best-of-three GISA series against Flint River, a school that lost to the Lady Wildcats in the opening round of the state basketball tournament in February.

The Trojans of Fullington travel to LaGrange to meet the Warriors who handed the Pinehurst-based school an opening-round state tourney loss in basketball during the 2004-05 campaign.

The Patriots of Wilcox will be in Rochelle against Schley County’s Wildcats, whom they beat 6-5 in their 2008 season opener and defeated 4-3 in their regular season finale.

In contrast, the Cougars of Crisp will be getting their initial look in any sport against the Liberty County Panthers of Hinesville. That best-of-three series will be played here.

A brief report on all four of the match-ups follows:

Crisp Academy at Flint River

Visiting coach Wesley Harrell has a little more knowledge about Region 4-A champion Flint River than his players, having played the Woodbury team last year when he was an assistant at Thomas Jefferson Academy.

“They return all their pitchers one of whom is a really good lefthander and the two others are decent righties,” Harrell said.

“Defensively, they’re a little above average. Offensively, they seldom strike out as they do a good job of putting the bat on the ball and forcing you to make plays in the field.

“Outfielder Ethan Strickland ignites the attack as their lead-off man. If we can keep him and their No. 2 and No. 3 hitters off base, I feel confident in our chances of winning.”

Game 1 of the series is set for 4 p.m. Friday. Game 2 is at 11 a.m. Saturday. If a third game is needed, it will be played 30 minutes after completion of Saturday’s opener.