A 14-0 loss to Metter on Tuesday notwithstanding, Bryan County’s softball team is keeping its playoff hopes alive with a late-season surge.

With an 11-8 record on the season going into a Wednesday game at Southeast Bulloch (9-12), the Redskins had won six of their last eight games and atoned for an earlier 14-6 loss at Tattnall County with a 7-3 win over the Warriors (7-13) on Monday night.

The game with Metter concluded Region 3AA play for Bryan County, which wound up with a third-place finish in region play behind Metter and Screven County. The win clinched the region championship and the automatic playoff berth which goes with it for the Tigers.

Unlike in previous seasons, when the top four teams in region play qualified for the post-season playoff, berths are now determined by the Post-Season Rankings (PSR) system. Only the region champion is assured of one of the 32 playoff spots.

As Bryan County heads into the final week of regular season play, it has a white-knuckle grip on advancing to the post-season. After facing SEB, the Redskins don’t play again until next Tuesday when they go to Statesboro. They then conclude regular season play the next two days when they meet SEB and Islands, both at home.

After that, they’ll await their fate.

As of this week, they were in the public school playoff field although they rank 36th overall in the PSR ratings. However, there are eight private schools ahead of them, which puts them in 28th-place among public school teams.

Rankings are updated by the GHSA each Monday and are based on a formula consisting of a team’s record, its opponents' record, and the records of its opponents' opponents. In other words, a coach and team have no control over two-thirds of the system.

It’s been an up-and-down season for Bryan County, which has only one senior on its roster. That lone senior, Emily Johnson, however, may be the best player in the region.

Johnson, along with juniors Peyton Scott and Lila Hannah, make up the backbone of Coach Jessica Schroeder-Cooper’s team, and they showed why in the win over Tattnall County.

The win over the Warriors was crucial, Cooper said, as it showed a marked improvement for her team, which appears to be playing with a much higher level of confidence.

“That was a big win for us,” Cooper said. “We’re heading into a rough two-week stretch to prepare for the playoffs.

“We are really starting to put some pieces together, and our young girls are stepping up,” Cooper said. “They’re finding out the ball players they are and buying into the culture. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Johnson has been hitting at better than a .500 clip all season in the leadoff spot, but Scott is another big presence in the lineup, as is Hannah.

The Redskins catcher had a big night against the Warriors on Monday as she was 4-for-4 at the plate with a triple, a pair of doubles and a single to drive in four runs. She now has 19 RBI on the season, according to Cooper.

Tattnall chose to pitch around Johnson, who walked her first three times up, but the sweet-swinging center fielder made the Warriors pay in the sixth when she slammed a solo homer to left. She scored four runs on the night.

“Emily’s bat is getting hot,” Cooper said. “She’s been seeing the ball well all year, racking up doubles and singles. We are finally starting to see her power (three homers). She also leads the team in stolen bases and is a threat in every part of the game.”

Except for one short outing by Johnson, the pitching has been handled by Hannah, and Cooper said she’s showing improvement with each outing.

“She’s getting better each week,” Cooper said. “She’s really starting to work on her pitches and fill up the zone the way she wants to.”