Dawson County will advance to the second round of the state playoffs with a journey to the Northwest corner of the state to face Ringgold.

It will be a tough series for head coach Jimmy Pruett's Lady Tiger softball team.

Ringgold finished last season with a third place finish in Class AAA and a 26-14 record.

Coach Rachel Hodge's team lost to West Laurens, 5-4, in the semi-final game in Columbus.

The Ringgold Lady Tigers advanced to face Dawson County by eliminating North Oconee in the first round. Hodges' team was beaten in the first game, 3-2, but rebounded to win the series by a 5-0 score in each of the next two games.

Ringgold is the No. 1 seed from region 5-AAA. The team has a conference record of 13-1 and is 26-6 overall.

The team is led by seniors Lacey Loy, Ericka Bynum and Brittany Portwood.

The power of Bynum and junior Devin Brown are factors that Dawson County must be aware of.

Brown and Bynum have both connected on homeruns in each of the last two weeks.

Portwood is the pitcher for Ringgold. She has 10 shutouts this season.

"Ringgold will be a tough match-up for us," Pruett said. "If we hit like we did against Woodward we should be OK."

The best of three series will begin at 4 p.m. tomorrow at Ringgold with a doubleheader. If the two games are split then Dawson County will have to travel back for a game on Thursday.