It’s a fact: the two best teams in Region 3AA are Metter and Screven County. Those two are going to wind up duking it out for the region championship, and the automatic state playoffs berth that goes with it.

Bryan County’s focus for the remainder of the season is to be the best of the rest. The Redskins took a step toward reaching that goal Tuesday night when they posted a somewhat lackadaisical 19-6 win over St. Vincent’s Academy at AmBucs Field.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Bryan County (6-6, 3-3) and kept it in the running for one of the 32 state playoff berths which are now determined by the post-season ranking (PSR) system.

The PSR rankings were posted by the GHSA on Tuesday, and Bryan County finds itself 40th with nine private schools ahead of it. Since the private schools have their own tournament, the Redskins are in effect ranked 31st, just inside the cutline.

The win over the Saints puts Bryan County in position to start a stretch run against teams which it has either already beaten or should beat.

The Redskins face struggling Savannah Christian (2-8) at home on Friday, followed by home games with Calvary Day and Statesboro next Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, before a rematch with the Raiders on Thursday at SCPS.

The unusual Friday game with the Raiders is due to an earlier meeting rained out while Bryan County already owns a mercy-rule win over Calvary. Statesboro (10-3) will be a different story but a sweep of the Raiders and a win over the Cavaliers would brighten the playoff picture.

“We know and look at that schedule, and there are games that are must-win games,” Coach Jessica Schroeder-Cooper said. “We have to win the games we have to win.”

The game against SVA fell into that category, and the Redskins wasted no time taking control. They smacked the Saints square in the nose right off the bat as they scored eight runs in the first inning on only two hits, one a bases-loaded triple by hot-hitting Emily Johnson.

Bryan County sent 13 hitters to the plate. Winning pitcher Lila Hannah followed Johnson’s big blow with a two-out single. The other runs were scored when Peyton Scott and Julia Koskela were hit by pitches with the bases loaded and Cale Good and Addy Blair drew bases-loaded walks.

From that point on, the Redskins put it on cruise control much to Cooper’s chagrin, scoring single runs in the second and fifth innings before pounding the Saints for nine in the sixth to end the game an inning early.

Coaches normally don’t complain too much about run wins but Cooper didn’t hesitate.

“Yes, I am complaining,” Cooper said. “Then (after the game) we scored eight runs in the first and then took our foot off the game. We can’t do that, especially against the better teams. That’s something we’ve talked about all year.”

Johnson had a big night as she had a run-scoring single in the second and led off the fifth with an inside-the-park home run to dead center for a 10-3 Bryan County lead. Johnson had five RBI with an RBI single in the sixth. She also reached on a walk and was hit by a pitch while scoring four runs.

Freshman Julia Koskela delivered the big hit of the sixth when she unloaded with a bases-loaded triple. She also singled in the inning and finished with four RBI while scoring three times. Freshman Cale Good had an unusual game in that she reached base five times, scoring three runs without an official at bat. She walked three times and was hit by a pitch twice.

Sophomore catcher Tekla Thompson was a bright spot for the Saints. She was 3-for-3 with an RBI. Thompson tripled in the first to drive in a run, had an RBI single in the third and doubled and scored in a three-run fifth.

The game was approximately 20 minutes late starting when the pitching rubber had to be moved back about five feet and outside the circle as the result of it being installed for a recreation league game distance. Then, after SVA pitcher Kathryn Ryan misfired on several early pitches, a tape measure was brought out, and the pitching rubber had to be moved forward a few minutes.

“It wasn’t anything St. Vincent’s did,” Cooper said. “The (Chatham) county sets up the field. It all worked out.”