It all comes down to Friday.
That is whether or not Perry will earn a postseason playoff spot to represent Region 2-AAAA in the state tourney.
That became a factor Wednesday, when the Panthers fell to Spalding, 9-8, on the road. Perry won the first matchup between the two, Monday, at home and 4-1. Friday will determine which wins the best two-of-three. The formula to make the tournament is simple for Perry: win against Spalding at home on Friday and the Panthers are in the tournament. If Perry should falter on Friday they would need a Mary Persons loss to league leading Upson Lee.
Wednesday, it was a matter of “big inning”, “little inning”, as the Panthers scored two runs in the third to take a 2-0. The Jaguars answered that with seven in the bottom of the fourth.
As daunting a task as that was to overcome, Perry did. It scored six in the sixth to go up 8-7. But Spalding added a deuce in the bottom half of the inning and then managed to avoid damage from two walks in the seventh for the win.
The Panthers out-hit the Jaguars 15-11. Jacob Hunt had four of those. One was a homerun – a grand slam to boot – and two were doubles.
Seth Cream was also 2-4 with an RBI, Clayton Davis 2-5 with a run driven in and Beau Bryant 1-2 with an RBI.
Justin Eckman worked three and two-thirds innings for Perry. He gave up nine hits, seven runs, struck out four and walked one. Cameron Mashburn worked two and a third, giving up two hits and walking two.
Elsewhere, Houston County celebrated its Senior Night with early work over Warner Robins. The Bears – and seniors Logan Morris, Dillon Toms, Connor Martin, Jackson Jones, Chandler Ring, Jake Maddox, Tanner Whitford and R.J. Preston – won 15-0.
