The final week of the 2008 high school baseball regular season begins with plenty of state playoff berths up for grabs.

In fact, about the only certainty among Gwinnett County's contenders is that Brookwood has already clinched at least a share of the Region 8-AAAAA and will be the region's No. 1 playoff seed.

While many games will have postseason implications over the next six games, a handful of them will be particularly pivotal in determining what region playoff seeds wind up looking like.

With that in mind, here are a few of the most likely "swing" games, beginning with...

Region 7-AAAAA
Today's North Gwinnett-South Forsyth and Wednesday's South Forsyth-North Forsyth games could unlock (or intensify) what could be a rather messy logjam for the last few playoff seeds in the region.

However, today's game with No. 7 state-ranked Mill Creek traveling to Norcross will determine just where that logjam occurs.

A win by the visiting Hawks (17-6, 12-2) clinches their first region title and could send the Blue Devils (16-8, 10-4) into what could become as much as a four-team quagmire for the region's other three playoff spots.

If Norcross wins, however, it keeps the Blue Devils hopes for at least a piece of the region title alive (though they'd need help with a MIll Creek loss to Peachtree Ridge on Wednesday). It would also give them the inside track to home field in the first round and put more pressure on North, North Forsyth and South Forsyth.

Region 8-AAAAA
The region standings could undergo some volatile changes over the next three games, especially with Grayson, Central Gwinnett and South Gwinnett all tied in the loss column.

Two games tonight could be especially key.
South (10-12-1, 4-5) visits Central (13-9, 4-5) in a game that will likely give life to the winner and make life awfully tough for the loser.

Meanwhile, a few miles away, Grayson (11-13, 5-5) visits Parkview (18-6, 7-3). The Rams will still have a chance at the postseason if they lose. But if they can pull the upset, it could pull the ninth-ranked Panthers back to the pack. A Parkview win will clinch the region's No. 2 seed and home field in the first round.

Region 6-AA
Barring anything really strange, it looks like No. 1 Holy Innocents'
(20-2, 13-0), No. 4 Wesleyan (17-3-1, 12-1), No. 8 GAC (16-4, 11-2) and
Lovett (14-9, 10-3) will be the playoff teams in some order.

Exactly what that order will be should be determined Thursday, when
Wesleyan hosts GAC and Saturday, when the Wolves travel to Holy Innocents'
and the Spartans entertain Lovett.

Region 5-A
No. 9 Providence Christian (17-5-1, 11-2) may have lost out on its best chance at the region title with last Saturday's loss to Landmark Christian. However, the Stars can still claim at least the No. 2 seed and home field in the first round by beating No. 7 Eagle's Landing Christian (17-6, 10-3). An ELCA win could trigger the region's tie-breaking procedures, assuming both teams match each other the rest of the week.

Region 8-A
Hebron Christian (13-8, 8-8) needs plenty of help in the form of two losses from Athens Academy. But if the Lions get that help, their regular season finale at Social Circle (11-11, 8-8) could make things interesting for the fourth and final playoff berth.