Baseball Roundup: Houston County wins fifth region championship in six years, Perry and Warner Robins set to fight for the last Region 1-4A playoff spot

One region champion has been crowned in Houston County, but the region season isn’t over for some teams who have their playoff hopes riding on games in the next couple of weeks.

Here’s a roundup of last week’s baseball:

Houston County

Houston County (23-5, 14-1 Region 2-5A) won their fifth region championship in six years with their sweep of Lee County last week.

Game 2 sealed the deal as Tyson Ganas lifted the Bears to victory with his two home runs. Coach Matt Hopkins wasn’t sure if he’d even hit a home run in batting practice, but the unlikely hero was responsible for all five of HoCo’s RBI in the 6-0 opener win.

The Bears also won Game 3 9-0 to preserve their perfect defense in region doubleheaders at home, meaning they didn’t allow any runs in those four games.

They still have two more regular season games before the state playoffs start on April 23; The first is a home game against Luella on Tuesday, April 15 at 6 p.m.

Northside

The Eagles (7-18, 0-15 Region 2-5A) ended their region slate with a series loss to Thomas County Central, who outscored Northside 32-3 throughout the series. That includes Friday’s 14-0 and 11-0 finals.

The Eagles won’t be participating in this year’s state playoffs, extending the drought to three years now.

Northside did win a thriller last week in an 11-10 final over Howard that went eight innings. Freshman Jehibar Vivas came to the rescue in their last home game with a walk-off single; He also pitched 2.1 innings and threw 4 strikeouts.

Though they’ve played their last home game, the Eagles still have one last regular season game at Hawkinsville on Wednesday, April 16 at 5:30 p.m.

Perry

Perry (7-13, 4-8 Region 1-4A) is holding on to playoff hopes after a series sweep against sixth place New Hampstead last week.

But they aren’t safe by a long shot, with fifth place Warner Robins up this week looking to break a six-game losing streak.

The series that determines which Houston County team will make the playoffs starts on Monday, April 14 at 6 p.m. on the Demon Diamond.

Veterans

The Warhawks (10-14, 5-10 Region 2-5A) couldn’t get one on Coffee, but their spot in the playoffs is secured regardless because of their series win against Thomas County Central early in the season.

They led through the top of the fifth during Tuesday’s 7-5 Game 1 loss, but Veterans’ bats dried up and Coffee scored five runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take the opener.

The Trojans similarly poured it on in the last two innings of Game 2, scoring seven runs in the last two innings to take it 13-6. They did it again in Game 3, scoring four runs in the last two to seal their sweep of the Warhawks despite eight errors.

Veterans still has three regular season games left, starting on Monday, April 14 at home against Mary Persons at 6 p.m.

Warner Robins

Warner Robins (9-10, 4-8 Region 1-4A) has fallen out of their playoff spot as they took their sixth straight loss last week in a sweep at the hands of No. 2 Wayne County.

The Demons still have a chance to make the postseason for the first time since 2014 with county rival Perry on deck. The series starts on Monday, April 14 at home at 6 p.m.

Westfield

The Hornets (8-11, GIAA 3-5 District 5-3A) are on their longest losing streak of the season at three after being swept in last week’s doubleheader against Brookstone.

The Cougars are the current district leaders and the lone undefeated team. Game 1 was rescheduled to May 2 at Brookstone at 3:30 p.m.

Westfield will start the week with a trip to Southland Academy on Monday, April 14 at 4 p.m.