Softball Roundup: Playoff matchups set and first round knocking on the door for Houston County teams

The regular season is over and done for softball in both the GHSA and GIAA, and five Houston County programs will take part in the postseason this year.

Houston County

Houston County (17-11, Region 2-5A Champion) won their fourth straight region championship and will be the only school in the county to host two playoff series assuming they make it to the second round.

The Lady Bears took on some quality programs to end the season and will host Riverwood out of Sandy Springs in the first round. The Lady Raiders were fourth in a stacked Region 6-5A with teams like Lassiter and Creekview at the top. Riverwood finished the regular season with a 12-10 record.

HoCo will host the Lady Raiders on Monday, Oct. 13 in a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.

Northside

Northside is not taking part in this year’s postseason.

Perry

Perry (8-12, Region 1-4A Runner-up) finished second in the region to Wayne County, but will still host at least one playoff game when Madison County comes to town on Monday, Oct. 13 at 4 p.m.

The Lady Red Raiders finished with a 13-16 regular season record and third place in Region 8-4A, which is topped by teams like Eastside (Covington) and North Oconee.

The Lady Panthers won four games in a row in late September heading into October, and won their final game of the regular season in walk-off fashion in an 11-10 final against Taylor County.

Veterans

Though Veterans (23-5, Region 2-5A Runner-up) couldn’t claim a region championship in one of their best regular seasons in program history, they will host their first playoff matchup at minimum in the hunt for a state championship.

When region play ended the Lady Warhawks didn’t finish testing themselves, taking on teams like Northside-Columbus, Mary Persons and West Laurens to end the regular season.

River Ridge, the third place team in Region 6-5A will come to Kathleen on Monday, Oct. 13 for a doubleheader. An if game will be played on Tuesday.

Warner Robins

Warner Robins (10-17, 4th Place Region 1-4A) made the playoffs for the second straight year, but will travel in the first round because of their fourth place finish.

The Demonettes will travel up to Covington to take on Eastside, who finished as the Region 8-4A champion and with a 24-1 regular season.

The doubleheader will be on Monday, Oct. 13. An if game will be on Tuesday.

Westfield

Westfield (15-7, 3rd Place GIAA District 5-4A/3A) finished third in their district but are ranked first in the MaxPreps GIAA 3A rankings, which is how the GIAA seeds their brackets.

The playoffs will take place in a tournament at the South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus from Thursday, Oct. 16 to Saturday, Oct. 18. The brackets have not been filled out at the time of writing, but the Lady Hornets’ first game should be on Thursday at 12 p.m.