Houston County, Veterans rivalry caps final week of region play for GHSA softball teams

Most Houston County softball teams ended their region schedule last week, although there are some makeup games to get through and the GIAA is still going.

Catch up with last week’s softball:

Houston County

Houston County (17-9, 13-5 Region 2-6A) won a tense region rivalry against Veterans last week with a doubleheader sweep, highlighted by first-inning bombs from Ann Marie DeFore and Olivia Buffone in Game 3.

The Lady Bears never led Game 1 at the ‘Hawks’ Nest on Tuesday in a 4-1 final, but they held Veterans to one run in the doubleheader with 2-0 and 4-1 wins.

HoCo is locked in second place after the series victory; they have no more region games and therefore can’t advance on Lee County’s 2.5 game lead in the standings, even if the Lady Trojans lose both remaining region games to Veterans.

They also hold the tiebreaker over the Lady Warhawks, and can’t fall to third place or worse. Their regular season schedule will finish out against Jones County, Mary Persons and West Laurens.

Northside

Northside’s (11-19, 0-18 Region 2-6A) season is (unofficially) over after their packed five-game week last week.

The Lady Eagles picked up an 11-5 win against Baldwin on Monday with big performances at the plate by Anai’jah McClendon (3-for-4), Brynli Burch (2-for-4) and Abigail Watson (2-for-3) and an 11-strikeout effort from Madi Burch in the circle.

Northside was outscored 71-7 in three games against Tift County and one makeup game against Thomas County Central to finish their regular season schedule.

As of Oct. 4, the Lady Eagles are 46th in the GHSA’s Post Season Rankings, and the playoff spots end at 32. So while “technically” still possible, there is no realistic way for them to jump into the postseason picture.

Perry

Perry (20-8, 10-2 Region 2-5A) has completely shaken off their late-season woes, and they’re looking to finish strong in the final week of the regular season.

Since a frustrating home loss to Thomas County Central on Sept. 21, the Lady Panthers are 5-1 and second place in the region. They’re half a game behind Ola in first place.

Last week Perry took down the fourth-ranked team in 6A, Lee County, thanks to Emma Hampton’s grand slam in the fourth inning to put the Lady Panthers ahead 6-0. The Lady Trojans scored two runs late, but couldn’t complete the comeback.

For the last two games, Perry outscored Eagle’s Landing and Warner Robins 33-1 to round out their region schedule.

This week they face Lowndes, Harris County and Manchester on the road.

Veterans

Veterans (15-10, 11-5 Region 2-6A) played three tense, tight games against rival Houston County last week, but ultimately fell in the series.

The Lady Warhawks made several outstanding defensive plays, and recovered well from a few errors, in addition to finding just enough offense to win Game 1 at home, 4-1.

Things reversed on the road in the doubleheader; Kalleigh Stokes’ seventh-inning solo home run was their only run scored in the final two games, as HoCo became the one to find just enough offense.

In the final week of the regular season Veterans has West Laurens, ACE and Schley County on the non-region schedule in addition to a makeup region doubleheader against Lee County.

Warner Robins

The Demonettes’ (6-22, 2-10 Region 2-5A) regular season, and likely their 2026 season, closed last week.

Their final three region games were 16-1, 18-1 and 14-0 losses to Jones County (twice) and Perry respectively. Warner Robins did draw eight hit-by-pitches and six walks against Rutland in a 17-2 beatdown for their final victory.

Much like Northside, it’s not technically decided until everyone’s season is officially over, but the Demonettes are 43rd in the Post Season Rankings, nine spots out of the postseason picture.

Westfield

Westfield (14-7, 7-0 GIAA District 3-3A) is rolling with eight straight victories as they enter the final week of the regular season.

The Lady Hornets’ last loss was Sept. 9 against Southwest Georgia Academy, and before that they’d won three games in a row.

Last week they thumped Stratford Academy and Deerfield-Windsor 9-1 and 19-0 respectively, and remained undefeated in district play with a comeback 11-9 win against Terrell Academy.

Westfield scored five runs in the sixth inning as they put the ball in play in every at-bat during the side.

With two more contests against Pinewood Academy and Tiftarea Academy this week, the Lady Hornets are ranked first in the GIAA 3A MaxPreps rankings, which are used to seed the playoff tournament.