SYLVANIA — Facing a must-win, best-of-three series against East Laurens Thursday in the GHSA Region 3-AA playoffs, the Screven County Lady Gamecocks didn't disappoint.
    Screven swept a doubleheader 8-4 and 6-0 to punch a ticket to state and advance to the semifinals of the region tournament.
    In the first game, SCHS led 6-0 after three innings and held on for the win.
    Jancy Durrence led the way with a pair of RBIs on two hits, and Courtney Burns blasted a home run and drove in three on a pair of hits.
    Pitcher Dawn Stewart struck out five batters in each game.
    Stewart allowed only two hits in the second game, and got three hits of her own at the plate, driving in a run.
    The Gamecocks (11-9) scored six times in the first two innings, and Reshea Edwards drove in a run on a pair of hits. Hannah Jones finished the second game with two RBIs.
    Screven will travel to Cochrane to face Bleckley County (12-2) Saturday in the semifinals of the region tournament.
 
Lady Gators finish perfect region slate
    BELLVILLE — It took two days to do it, but the Bulloch Academy varsity softball team made a clean sweep of GISA Region 4-AAA.
    The Lady Gators survived a seventh-inning comeback Wednesday to nip Pinewood Christian Academy 6-5 as the teams completed the region finale. The game was suspended Tuesday due to darkness.
    Bulloch, 18-2 overall, won its first-ever Class AAA softball region title with a perfect 6-0 record. But the Lady Patriots made them work for it.
    The game was suspended Tuesday evening in the top of the seventh. With Bulloch leading 5-2, junior Mary Margaret Reeves was on second and freshman Page Spence was at the plate. As per GISA policy, the game had to be completed so Bulloch had to travel back to Bellville Wednesday.
    In the restarted seventh inning, Reeves took third on a wild pitch and scored on a Taylor Collins sacrifice fly to right field.
    Pinewood didn’t go down without a fight though, and the Lady Gators even helped.
    Bulloch committed two errors and gave up one hit and two walks as the Lady Patriots scored three times to tighten the score. But new pitcher Lauren Dennard finally closed the door, striking out three to end the game.
    Madelyn Vickery, Tuesday’s starter for the Lady Gators, got the win. She pitched six innings, giving up four hits, striking out four and walking three.
    The Gators are the top seed in Region 4-AAA and will get a bye for the first round of the GISA Class AAA playoffs. Bulloch host a three-game playoff series on Oct. 12. Prior to the series, the Lady Gators will play some tune-up games on Oct. 4 with Brentwood at Gator Alley and on Oct. 6 with Mount de Sales in Macon.

Bryan clinches spot in state
    PEMBROKE — The Bryan County Lady Redskins (23-7) swept Treutlen in a pair of games Thursday to advance to the semifinals of the Region 3-A tournament an dpunch a ticket to the GHSA Class A state playoffs.
    The Redskins will face either Metter or Johnson County Tuesday on campus at Georgia Southern.
    In the first game against Treutlen, pitcher Tiffany Howard (21-6) tossed her third perfect game of the season as the Redskins won, 8-0, on seven hits in five innings.
    Howard struck out 11.
    Sierra Newman (2-for-3) scored twice and drove in a run, and Taylor Butler (2-for-3), scored once and drove in three.
    The second game was knotted 1-1 heading into the seventh inning, but Treutlen committed four of its seven errors in the top of the seventh as BCHS held on for a 7-2 win.
    Howard allowed five hits and increased her strikeout total on the day to 21 in the complete game.
    Butler again led the way at the plate, finishing with a run and two RBIs, and Alana Walker hit an RBI double in the win.

SEB JV stays unbeaten
    The Southeast  Bulloch junior varsity Yellow Jackets (4-0) stayed perfect on the season with a 26-0 shutout of Metter Thursday.
    The Jackets were led by Tyler Epps, who scored a pair of touchdowns.
    Andrew Stansell added a touchdown of his own, and Reid Hadden kicked a pair of extra points.
    Special teams also produced a touchdown, when Simba Fields blocked a MHS punt and Kyle McGuigan recovered it in the end zone.
    Southeast Bulloch returns to action Thursday when it hits the road to face Effingham County's JV squad.

Olliff, Perry lead BA over TJA
    Bulloch Academy quarterback Lanier Olliff threw three touchdown passes, two to wide receiver Hunter Perry, as Bulloch Academy outpointed Thomas Jefferson Academy 32-20 in middle-school football action Thursday.
    Olliff hooked up with Perry on BA’s first play from scrimmage for a 64-yard score and later on a 44-yard TD catch and run. He also tossed a 10-yard score to Will Downs.
    Perry showed he was the man of the night when he also scored twice on defense.
    The eighth grader picked up a loose football and returned it 47 yards for a score. He also picked off an errant Jaguar pass and raced 60 yards to paydirt.
    Perry, Downs, Olliff, Joshua Bohannon and Davis Childs were the leading tacklers on defense.

Eagles take win streak on the road
    The Georgia Southern volleyball team (9-8, 2-0 Southern Conference) takes its six-match win streak on the road to Charleston this weekend.
    The Lady Eagles continue Southern Conference play against The Citadel and the College of Charleston with matches on Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.
    A return home was just what they needed following a six-match road losing skid at the Kansas State and North Carolina tournaments. The Eagles ran through their own tournament, The Bash in the Boro, winning four matches before opening conference play with a pair of wins in Old Hanner Gym against Wofford and Furman.
    Junior transfer Meredith Paskert has been a big part of the turnaround. Paskert has tallied 126 kills on the year, good for third on the team, and has a .219 attack percentage for the year. The former Kent State Golden Eagle led the team with 11 kills in the 3-1 victory over Wofford and tied with Hannah Nelson for the match-high in the Furman win.
    The two-game road swing opens against the Citadel Bulldogs (6-7, 0-2). Citadel opened conference play with losses to the College of Charleston and UNC Greensboro. The Bulldogs' play is highlighted by Alexa Dahlstrom, who is a real threat from the service line. Dahlstrom is third in the league with 19 service aces.

Lady Eagles return to home field
    Georgia Southern women’s soccer plays host to a big weekend of Southern Conference matches this weekend against UNC Greensboro and Elon at Eagle Field on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. The matches will be the first home conference matches of the season as league play hits a fever pitch.
    Georgia Southern will look to rebound this weekend after dropping consecutive road matches to open league play at Wofford and Furman.
    Alex Murphy scored her fourth goal of the season in the 30th minute at Wofford, but two late Terrier goals stole the match for the hosts.
    Against Furman, senior Sara Oland scored late to cut the Furman advantage to 4-1.

GSU XC travels to Charlotte
    The Georgia Southern cross country team returns to action on today at 4 p.m. at the fourth annual Charlotte Invitational in Charlotte, N.C.         43 teams will converge on historic McAlpine Creek Park for the 5,000K event.
    It has been almost three weeks since the Eagles last competed on the running trails and Head Coach Marlo Mincey has used the practice sessions to prepare her team mentally and physically.
    The course at McAlpine Creek Park is known for producing fast times. At last year’s event, junior Sara Curry (Lawrenceville, Ga.) ran the fourth-best time (18:54.9) in Georgia Southern cross country history to help lead the Eagles to a 14th place
finish.