YHC earns No. 2 seed in PBC Tournament, will host North Georgia in first round

Photo by Scott Terry / YHC Athletics

Young Harris College has qualified for the 2023 Peach Belt Conference Baseball Tournament that will begin play Friday (May 5).

The Mountain Lions (34-14 overall, 21-9 Peach Belt) will be the No. 2 seed and face No. 7 seed University of North Georgia (28-22, 16-14) in their first game of the tournament at 2 p.m. Friday (May 5) at Zell B. Miller Field. The No. 2 seed is the highest-ever PBC Tournament seed. The Mountain Lions are the defending tournament champions and have won two of the last three PBC Tournament, both times as the No. 4 seed.

The PBC will play a new tournament format for 2023. The opening weekend of the event will be played at two sites and hosted by No. 1-seed Georgia Southwestern State University and No. 2 seed Young Harris. The No. 4 (Columbus State University), No. 5 (Georgia College & State University) and No. 8 (Augusta University) seeds will play in Americus, Georgia, with the No. 3 (University of South Carolina-Aiken), No. 6 (Lander University) and No. 7 (North Georgia) seeds playing in the Enchanted Valley. Each site will be a four-team double-elimination bracket with two games Friday (May 5), three Saturday (May 6) and one or two Sunday (May 7). The remaining teams from each site will then meet for a best-of-three championship series May 12-13. This format mirrors the NCAA regional format.

Tickets are $10 per person and must be purchased online in advance at https://peachbeltconference.org/sports/2020/10/14/tickets.aspx. Children ages five and under, and students with a valid ID from a PBC school are admitted free. Below is the schedule for the Young Harris bracket: Friday's games: Game 1 - No. 2 seed Young Harris vs. No. 7 seed North Georgia, 2 p.m. Game 2 - No. 3 seed USC Aiken vs. No. 6 seed Lander, 6 p.m. Saturday's games: Game 3 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 11 a.m. Game 4 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 3 p.m. (loser eliminated) Game 5 - Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7 p.m. (loser eliminated) Sunday's games Game 6 - Winner Game 3 vs Winner Game 5, 1 p.m. Game 7 - (if necessary) - Winner Game 6 vs, Loser Game 6, 45 minutes following Game 6