The state playoffs drought for Bryan County’s softball is over: the Redskins are playoff-bound for the first time in three years following Monday’s 13-1 win over Claxton.

The game ended in the bottom of the fourth inning due to the mercy rule thanks to a three-run home run by senior shortstop Liz Harvey. With sophomore pitcher Lila Hannah turning in a dominating performance the issue was not in doubt when Harvey delivered the exclamation point.

It was Harvey’s 10th homer of the year tying her with fellow senior third baseman Camryn Parker for the team lead and gives her 35 RBI for the year per the current stats posted on Maxpreps.

The win enabled the Redskins (14-12, 7-7) to tie Portal for fourth-place in Region 3A-DII and they got the playoff berth after beating the Panthers twice during the season including a 7-0 win at Portal last week.

Bryan County has now won five of its last six games—it plays Bulloch Academy which it beat 17-2 earlier in its final regular season game Wednesday—and will now move on to play at Johnson County in a doubleheader next Monday. The if game would be played Tuesday.

Johnson County (11-12, 7-1) is a No. 1 seed as a result of finishing first in Region 1A-DII. No team in that region has a winning record.

Coach Jessica Schroeder-Cooper likes the way her team is playing.

“We’ve had the best practices we’ve had all year and that’s exactly what you like to see from your team this time of year,” Cooper said of the past two weeks. “We’re playing like a playoff team, practicing like a playoff team, having at bats like a playoff team and right now we’re there (playoffs).

“We’re in the show now and we’re going to give it all we’ve got.”

After a scoreless first inning the Redskins got a two-run, two-out single from Harvey in the second to score Eris Deal and Peyton Scott who had singled to start the inning. Hannah drew a walk to load the bases and after Emma Into struck out Harvey lashed a single to left.

That served as a prelude to an eight-run third inning as Bryan County sent 12 batters to the plate. The Redskins had six hits and took advantage of three Tigers errors and a hit batter. Parker had a two-run double, Emily Johnson had a run-producing triple while Deal, Scott and McKinely Walker also had an RBI. Parker now has 31 RBI.

Harvey’s blast over the centerfield fence to end the game followed two-out singles by Hannah and Into.

While she was getting outstanding run support Hannah simply dominated the Tigers who had beaten Bryan County, 9-8, two weeks ago.

She threw first pitch strikes to the first 12 hitters she faced and went as deep as 2-2 on only one batter, that being Tigers shortstop Hailey Rachel who she started 1-0 in the fourth. She then proceeded to strike her out.

“Lila is throwing the ball,” Cooper said with heavy emphasis on the word throwing. “She has really been working on some spins and her movement pitches. She’s really working hard on her pitching.

“I spoke with her pitching coach Mary Morris a few weeks ago and her work with Mary has changed Lila, especially her mental approach to batters,” Cooper said. “She’s not getting behind on batters, she’s working ahead.

“If you had asked me three weeks ago, that was our problem. She was 3-2, 2-2 every single batter. The last two to three starts she’s dominated every count.”