MOULTRIE – After taking a 5-4 walk-off victory over Tift County on Tuesday at Packer Park, the Colquitt County softball team can claim the Region 1-6A championship with a sweep of the Lady Devils on Thursday in Tifton.

It the Colquitt and Tift County split, Colquitt has another shot at the title.

The Lady Packers will meet Lowndes at home on Thursday, October 10, in the makeup of a game rained out on September 25.

A win over the Vikettes also could give Colquitt the championship.

The Lady Packers’ Tuesday win had plenty of drama, including Peyton Arrington’s line drive the bottom of the seventh that the Lady Devils right fielder could not handle.

That sent pinch runner Gracie McKellar, who was running for Allie Eure, scampering home from second base for the win.

“It’s awesome for the kids to get that first walk-off,” coach Taylor Barber said.

And although the Lady Packers had leads of 2-1 and 3-1, they still had to rally twice in the final two innings

“I’m really proud of our kids,” Barber said. “After the two innings that (the Lady Devils) scored their runs, we twice came right back.”

Colquitt raised its record to 15-8 overall and 10-2 in the region.

Tift County, playing for former assistant Jen Walls this year after having had Barber as its coach the previous five  seasons , is now 8-5 in the region and 16-8 overall.

The game featured what are arguably the top two pitchers in the region facing off in a crucial matchup.

Tuesday’s game was scoreless until the bottom of the third when Colquitt’s Rhylee Tillery smacked a liner off the right fielder’s glove sending the first two runs of the game to the plate off Lady Devils starter Lily Robinson.

Tift cut the lead in half in the top of the fifth against Colquitt’s Peyton Arrington with a run that scored on an infield throwing error.

But Colquitt matched that run in the bottom of the fifth when Eure, the freshman shortstop, drove her second double of the game to the right center field gap and scored on Arrington’s sacrifice fly to give the Lady Packers a 3-2 lead.

Tift took the lead in the top of sixth, scoring three runs on a sacrifice fly by Ella Bruce and a two-out two-run single to center by Cora Beth McCrary.

But the lead did not survive the bottom of the inning when catcher Lanie Burley drove her second home run of the season inside the Ferguson Foul Pole to tie the game.

Arrington retired the Lady Devils in order in the top of the seventh.

In the bottom of the seventh, Eure got her third hit, a one-out single to center.

RaJayla McBride followed with her third hit of the game, sending Eure to second.

Barber sent the speedy McKellar in to run for Eure and Arrington followed with a liner to right that was misplayed and McKellar fled home with the winning run.

McBride’s three hits raised her average to .432.

Arrington gave up just five hits over seven innings while raising her record to 7-3. She has an earned run average of 1.96.

None of the four runs she surrendered were earned and she struck out four.

Robinson went 6.1 innings for the Lady Devils and gave up nine hits, including the two Eure doubles and Burley’s home run.

She struck out eight.

Barber said he wouldn’t be surprised if Arrington and Robinson pitched both games of Thursday’s doubleheader.

Barber said his team appeared to have responded to the message for the week, which was “to believe.”

“Believe in yourself, believe in your team and believe in the process,” he said. “And they did.”

He was especially proud of Eure, who was replaced for a pinch runner after her third hit, and Rhegan Harrell, who was lifted for a pinch hitter to lead off the seventh, for how they responded to the moves in the final inning.

“This team is incredibly selfless,” he said. “The kids understand their roles and don’t care who gets the credit.”

Also on Tuesday, Richmond Hill opened its three-game series with Camden County with a 7-3 win.

The two will close out region play with a Thursday doubleheader at Richmond Hill.

The first game of the Valdosta-Lowndes region series was postponed on Tuesday.