When the Cartersville High softball team takes the field at Dellinger Park this Wednesday, they will start the playoffs with the strongest 1-2 pitching combo in school history. The duo is senior Zoie Shiflett and junior Presley Crabbe.

Bartow County athletes continued to make their mark at the collegiate and professional levels this past week, highlighted by Trevor Lawrence’s two-touchdown passing performance in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ win over Philadelphia.

Well before the first rain bands of Isaias passed through Cedartown’s Bulldog Stadium Friday night, Cartersville’s Purple Hurricanes had already made their presence felt, outgaining the hosts 315 yards in the first half and building a 45-0 lead en route to a 52-8 win.

The Cartersville boys’ cross country team finished second, and the Lady Canes finished fourth on Saturday in the Varsity Division at the Pickens & Grinnin’ Invitational at Roper Park in Jasper.

Cartersville Country Club senior golfer Chad Branton finished tied for second individually and was on the 2026 Team Georgia North 1 squad that won the team title this past Thursday and Friday at the Golfweek International Senior Invitational.

Adairsville’s defense delivered a dominant performance Friday night, limiting Heritage-Catoosa to minus-25 rushing yards, including quarterback sacks, as the Tigers earned a 24-6 Region 7-4A victory over the Generals at Jeff Sims Field in Ringgold.

Three local high school softball teams qualified for their respective 2026 state playoffs, with Cartersville preparing to host a best-of-three series in the Class 5A first round starting Wednesday. Cass will start the Class 5A state playoffs on the road, and Adairsville will do the same in Class 4A.

Cartersville softball outdueled Cass on Thursday to finish the season unbeaten in region play. Woodland dropped its season finale.

Presley Crabbe tossed a complete-game shutout and Zoie Shiflett smacked a two-run homer Oct. 7 in Cartersville's 3-0 win over Kell.

Cartersville volleyball split two matches in Atlanta on Tuesday night, defeating Midtown (25-10, 25-15), but falling to host Westminster in a best-of-five contest (20-25, 25-22, 23-25, 19-25). Adairsville volleyball defeated Ridgeland 25-16, 27-25 on Tuesday evening in a Region 7-4A match and now awaits the final GHSA Postseason Rankings to see if they qualify for the Class 4A state playoffs.