By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

Jemison’s playoff hopes suddenly hinge on one game.

The Panthers lost to Bibb County, 12-7, on Friday to fall to 2-3 in area play. It was JHS’s second loss to Bibb this season.

Jemison fell to area foe Dallas County, 5-4, on March 30, and a rematch with the Hornets will determine whether Jemison has a shot at the playoffs.

If the teams split their regular season games, they would schedule a tiebreaker, the winner of which would advance to the playoffs. The top two area teams earn playoff berths.

The difference in Friday’s game was Bibb County’s Jalen Goree.

Jemison scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut an 8-1 Bibb lead to 8-5.

Goree answered the next half-inning with a grand slam to put the game out of reach at 12-5. Just one inning earlier, Goree drove in two runs with a double.

With Bibb leading 3-0, the Panthers got on the scoreboard with a home run by Alex Campbell in the bottom of the second inning.

Campbell was hit by a pitch to begin the home half of the fourth inning. That was followed by an Austin Chapman single and a bases on balls by Cruz Martinez.

Danny Eslinger singled to score Campbell and Chapman, and Eslinger scored himself on a single by Jacob Hatch, cutting the deficit to three runs.

Jemison added a couple of runs late in the game, but it wasn’t enough to threaten the Choctaws’ lead.

Shane Howard suffered the loss on the mound.