Emily Johnson showed Liberty County why she’s one of the top players in Region 3AA Tuesday evening when she had three hits, one a home run, and drove in three runs to lead improving Bryan County to a 5-4 win.

The non-region win over the Panthers kicked off a busy week for the Redskins as it was the first of three games in three days. Bryan County (5-3, 2-2) was at Tattnall County on Wednesday and will play region rival Screven County (7-3, 4-1) at home on Thursday.

Johnson got the Redskins off on the right foot when she homered in the first inning, her second of the season.

Bryan County pushed across what proved to be the winning run in the fifth inning as it matched Liberty County tit-for-tat. The Panthers scored twice in the third for a 2-1 lead but the Redskins countered with one in their half of the inning. Both teams then scored twice in the fifth.

Junior Lila Hannah picked up the win as she limited Liberty County to three hits while striking out 10. None of Liberty County’s runs were earned.

“We hit the ball really well and executed the little things on offense against a good Liberty County pitcher,” Coach Jessica Schroeder-Cooper said. “I was really glad to see the team respond that way after a long weekend. Not having the girls in school on Monday makes for a different routine.”

Johnson is Bryan County’s only senior and her perfect night at the plate enabled her to hike her batting average to a robust .550 (11-20). She also has a team high 11 RBI in teaming with Hannah and junior catcher Peyton Scott to give Bryan County three hard outs in the lineup.

Bryan County had eight hits on the night and Cooper said she was encouraged by what she saw at the plate as the Redskins battle to finish no worse than third in the region race behind Metter (8-4, 5-0) and the Gamecocks.

More importantly the win over the Panthers kept the Redskins in contention for a state playoff berth. Going into the week Bryan County was 35th in the GHSA power rankings but seven of the teams ahead of them are private schools so essentially the Redskins are 28th. The top 32 advance to post-season play.

“We are hoping this is the start of a good offensive stretch for us,” Cooper said of her young team. “The girls are getting better each week, making better in game decisions and becoming more comfortable with one another.”

Brown is a sports correspondent with the Bryan County News.