Softball Roundup: Houston County crowned Region 2-5A champion, Perry, Westfield look to finish strong

The regular season is winding down for many teams if not already over, and region champions are taking their thrones as softball prepares for the postseason starting on Oct. 13.

Recap last week’s softball with the weekly Softball Roundup:

Houston County

The Lady Bears (17-10, 11-4 Region 2-5A) claimed the Region 2-5A championship for the fourth straight year after Monday’s sweep of Thomas County Central.

The Lady Yellow Jackets gave up much more of a fight than Game 1’s 17-1 final, with 10-4 and 11-3 victories for Houston County in the last two games.

HoCo’s class of 2025 won the region championship every year, and under head coach April Collins the Lady Bears have won four of the five years she’s been at the helm.

HoCo is guaranteed two home playoff series before (hopefully) heading to Columbus.

Northside

Northside’s (13-16, 0-15 Region 2-5A) season ended on a high note with a 9-6 win against Warner Robins in the Crosstown Showdown, but they’ll miss the postseason for the fourth straight year.

The Lady Eagles also finished without a region win for the fourth year in a row, with the last coming against Valdosta on Sept. 10, 2021 — the same year they last made the playoffs.

Northside did record their highest regular season win total in 10 years with 13 this year. They also won 13 games in 2018 and 2020.

Perry

Perry (7-10, 4-1 Region 1-4A) has one last region contest against Wayne County after beating Warner Robins 16-0 last week.

With a win against the Lady Yellow Jackets the Lady Panthers would be tied for first in the region, but the tie-breakers don’t favor them with Wayne County’s 18-6 regular season record and 12-6 win over Perry earlier in the season.

Either way, the Lady Panthers will host at least one playoff series when the postseason starts on Oct. 13.

Veterans

A region championship is out for Veterans (22-5, 11-4 Region 2-5A), but the Lady Warhawks have shifted their focus to a state championship and prepared themselves accordingly with games against Mary Persons, West Laurens and Northside-Columbus last week.

The Lady ‘Hawks came out 2-1 in that stretch, with a comeback against West Laurens failing in the seventh inning.

Veterans batted 15-of-35 (.428) against the Lady Bulldogs and put up nine of their 13 runs in the last three innings of the 13-3 final.

Their 9-7 loss to the Lady Raiders fell short despite scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Rizzy White started the game and pitched three innings in preparation for the playoffs.

Veterans completed the season sweep against Northside-Columbus with a 12-5 road win in which they batted 17-of-36 (.472) and scored six runs in the fifth inning.

Warner Robins

The Demonettes’ (10-17, 0-6 Region 1-4A) extended to five last week with losses to Northside, Perry and Treutlen.

Despite not winning a region game this year, Warner Robins will make the playoffs for the second year in a row because of the four-team softball region. New Hampstead has not fielded a team the last two years.

With a win at Dublin next week the Demonettes have the chance to finish with their highest regular season win total since MaxPreps started recording records in 2012. Warner Robins softball won 11 games in 2023 and 2016.

Westfield

Westfield (13-7, 3-4 GIAA District 5-3A) is out of the district championship race at this point in the season, but they split their games last week and are ranked number one in the GIAA 3A classifications, setting them up for yet another championship run.

Last week’s games were a 7-3 loss to district leader Calvary Christian and a 10-3 road win over Brookstone. The Lady Hornets have a chance to get to .500 in the district with a win against St. Anne-Pacelli this week.