Perry crushes Warner Robins’ playoff hopes, secures postseason birth

PERRY — With a 7-5 victory on Monday night, Perry got what might be considered a “twofer.”

Not only did the defeat of Warner Robins (8-15, 2-11 Region 1-4A) secure the Panthers’ (11-14, 6-7 Region) postseason birth, but it also eliminated the Demons from playoff contention.

Warner Robins needed a series sweep to make their first playoff appearance since 2014, and though they threatened in all seven innings they again fell short.. It’s more a side effect than it was a goal for Panthers head coach Denny Bryant, who was just happy that his team found a way to win.

“I was proud of the guys for just finding a way to win. We didn’t play very clean baseball but we did enough to get the win,” Bryant said. “Give Warner Robins credit, now, they wouldn’t go away. They fought to the last inning.”

“There’s been times like this in the past that we’d let things snowball a little bit and they get out of control,” he continued. “We knew we had to win once and we wanted to win tonight so that pressure of just getting into the playoffs wouldn’t linger until Thursday.”

Early it looked like Perry might run away with it. They benefitted from five straight walks in the first as they took a 3-0 lead and went up 4-1 in the second before a double play ended the inning.

Starter Walker Bland also pitched a good first two, earning five strikeouts (not including a dropped third strike in the first) against nine batters.

But with the Demons’ postseason hopes on the line they didn’t just roll over.

Bland walked his first two batters in the third inning and an error behind the plate scored two runs to pull Warner Robins within one. Drew White, who was without a question the Demons’ best player on Monday, knocked the equalizer into left field with one out in the fourth inning.

But Tyson Peters’ triple and Reid Ginn’s single all but dashed those hopes in the fifth inning as the Panthers took a 7-4 lead.

Bland didn’t finish the game, but he stuck through until the fifth inning before sophomore Tripp Walker finished the game out.

The senior ended his senior night start with 4.2 innings pitched, nine strikeouts and three earned runs.

“I think Walker Bland did a great job for us on the mound. That’s his third start. His first start was against Benedictine, which that’s the game that we beat them,” Bryant said. “He stepped in in a big way being a senior with some of the injuries we’ve had to our [pitching] staff.”

It’s been a roller coaster of a season for Perry. University of Georgia commit Connor Langdon has only pitched four games this season and his last start was March 20.

Bryant said they’ve missed their top three arms for significant stretches of the season, but they’ve had some players step up to be battle tested in a tough region schedule.

“We’ve definitely been tested,” Bryant said. “[We] had some chances to win some of those games early in region play but didn’t make enough plays. It’s good to get some wins [late in the region schedule…I’m just happy to see these guys see a little bit of success.”

“They work hard all year. We’ve dealt with some injuries to our pitching staff,” he continued. “We’ve had young guys step up, our defense has stepped up and made plays and our offense continues to score runs. So that’s been good to see.”

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Barring a collapse from North Oconee (19-6, 10-2 Region 8-4A) they will be the Panthers’ first-round matchup. The last time these two teams played was in the 2024 quarterfinals, a sweep for the Titans who lost to Starr’s Mill in the semifinals.

Perry and Warner Robins play again on April 16 for the series doubleheader.