Bryan County, Schley County battle for berth in state softball Final Four
When Bryan County played at Schley County on Tuesday in an Elite Eight best-of-three series, it was a matchup between two of the hottest teams remaining in the GHSA Class A Public state softball playoffs
The first game was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. with the second game to follow 30 minutes later. The if game, if needed, would be at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
The Redskins (28-4), seeking their third Final Four berth in the last nine years, have eased through the first two rounds as they have outscored Atkinson County and Wheeler County 40-2 in four games. Bryan County was in the Final Four in 2011 and 2015.
Schley County (16-10) has won 10 of its last 12 games and, like Bryan County, entered the playoffs as a No. 1 seed. The Wildcats won the coin toss, which is necessary when both teams are a No. 1 seed, sending Coach Jason Roundtree’s team on a 180-mile jaunt to Ellaville.
The Redskins have been on a tear at the plate in the playoffs, especially sophomore shortstop/pitcher Kenzie Mobley, who has gone 8 for 14 with four home runs and 12 RBI in the four playoff games.
However, it hasn’t been just the Mobley show as sophomore pitcher Hayden Joyner has given up only one run in 18 innings while allowing only seven hits and striking out 27 in pushing her record to 16-1. As a freshman last year, she was 13-3.
Other Redskins playoffs bats have been torrid, too, with sophomore Maegan Beck at .636 and sophomore Bekah Johnson and junior McKensie Bailey at .500. Sophomore Xandria Dean and freshman Skylar Lee are hitting .364 each in the four games.
As a team, the Redskins banged out 40 hits in 110 at-bats (.400) and have also gotten a home run from senior catcher Daxne Carrera, who is at .357 in the leadoff spot.
Bryan County lost its final regular-season game to Screven County 9-0, and Roundtree looked at it with mixed emotions.
Roundtree doesn’t like losing, but he thinks that game, along with an earlier 9-8 loss at Metter, could be beneficial in that they served as a wake-up call to his young team.
The losses, Roundtree said, reminded him of last year when the Redskins were one inning away from making the state playoffs only to see Toombs County score five runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 7-6 win in the deciding game of a best-of-three series in the Region 3-AA tournament.
“When we lost at Metter, I thought about that Toombs game,” Roundtree said. “That’ll stick with me for a long time.”
The Screven game could be somewhat expected as the Redskins were coming off a 5-4 win over Portal that clinched their first region championship since 2011.
“We didn’t have anything to play for, really, and it showed,” Roundtree said. “We came out flat.
“I hope we learned a lesson at Metter and against Screven. I don’t want to see us learn another lesson like that this season.”
Should the Redskins get past Schley County, they will advance to the Final Four, which will be played Friday and Saturday in Columbus.
