Bryan County was coming off a great week in which it went 3-0 including a two-game sweep of Claxton. Then came last week when it took a step backwards, going 0-3 including two Region 3A-DII losses to Portal.
Getting swept by Portal, 9-8 and 4-2, put a damper on the Redskins’ drive to the state playoffs. They are now in fourth-place in the region race, one game ahead of the Panthers in the loss column heading into the final third of the season.
Coach Kyle Farmer, with series remaining with region powers Metter and Screven County, fully understood what the second game loss to Portal meant as to his team’s bid for a fifth straight trip to the playoffs.
“Every week is big from here on out,” Farmer said. “We’re going to have to win some games we’re not supposed to win and now have to keep from being swept by some pretty good teams.
“We’re going to have to keep working and fighting.”
Bryan County attempted to regain some of that lost momentum this week as it won at Jenkins County, 11-0, on Monday night and came back Tuesday to beat McIntosh County, 16-3.
Those were games the Redskins were supposed to win and fortunately they took care of business. Bryan County plays at McIntosh (2-17, 0-9) on Thursday before turning its attention to next week when it faces off against Metter.
The Redskins (10-8, 6-3) play Perry, Ohio, on Monday before hosting Metter (9-6, 6-2) on Tuesday. They will be at Metter on Friday and the following week square off against Screven (10-6, 7-2) to conclude their region schedule.
Portal, meanwhile, is hanging tough as the Panthers (6-11, 5-4) will be at Claxton (3-6, 6-7) on Friday and face Jenkins County (3-15, 1-8) next week before concluding region play against first-place ECI (12-5, 7-1).
All this leads to scoreboard watching with the Redskins, depending how they finish, looking at the possibility of finishing anywhere from second to fifth. A fifth-place finish would not only end Bryan County’s playoff run but would mark the first time ever for Farmer missing the playoffs as either a player (Calvary Day) or coach (Benedictine).
Bryan County had beaten Jenkins County, 8-2, earlier as it scored late to break open a tight game. On Monday the Redskins got the mercy run rule win by scoring eight runs in the fifth inning with Eli Koskela’s bases-loaded home run salting it away.
The game with McIntosh got off to an ominous start when the Bucs got a run in the first against starter and winner Braylen Deloach who also allowed two runs in the second before settling down.
Bryan County, however, responded with six runs in its half of the inning, tacked on single runs in the second and third innings before putting up eight in the fourth inning to get its second straight mercy run win.
The Redskins had nine hits but also had 15 batters reach base without the benefit of a hit. Buccaneers pitchers walked six and hit nine batters.
“I know McIntosh is down,” said Farmer of the Bucs, who are normally one of the more competitive teams in the region. “We got a lot of help from them but I liked that we hit the ball, too.
“We dropped those two games to Portal and that’s baseball,” Farmer said. “Sometimes it’s not your day and not your week. I thought we responded well (beating Jenkins and MCA). There’s still a lot of baseball to play.
“We’ve talked all year about how we’re gritty and this is the time we need to show how gritty we are. I think we’re getting hot at the right time.”
Jordan Fabian drove in three runs against the Bucs as did Gunner McClelland. Koskela had two RBI and scored three times while driving in two runs as he has become an RBI machine for the Redskins. Keller Groover also had two RBI. Groover and Deloach had two hits each.
Koskela, incidentally, did not have an official at-bat. He walked twice, was hit by a pitch and had a sacrifice fly. It was that kind of day for Bryan County and MCA.
