RINCON — South Effingham’s baseball team was assured of victory before it took the field at The Corral on Thursday. That’s because its objective was to pile up smiles  instead of runs during a pregame ceremony.

As the starting nine players headed to their positions to open a contest against Statesboro, they were greeted by friends with autism and other disabilities. Each Mustang sported a colorful jersey designed by South Effingham coach Todd Eubanks.

The red, blue, green and yellow shirts with “South” emblazoned in white across the front featured a jigsaw puzzle pattern. A puzzle piece has been the symbol of autism since 1963.

“April is Autism Awareness Month,” Pauline Shaw said. “A lot of people associate the puzzle piece with autism but we like to say, ‘It’s about all diagnoses. Everybody is a piece of the puzzle and it’s when all the pieces come together that you can see what inclusion looks like.”

Dakota Roundtree’s high-voltage grin indicated her approval of the Inclusion Revolution Night proceedings, which featured her name being announced via the public address system like her counterparts in the honorary lineup. She eagerly anticipated the arrival of her favorite player, Nick Milbrandt, at first base.

“They’ve been best friends since they were six years old,” Shaw said. 

Milbrandt is a great ambassador for inclusion. He took Roundtree to the prom.

“He’s very special,” Shaw said, “but she loves all these boys.”

Shaw considers Eubanks to be special, too.

“It’s just amazing that a coach would do this,” said Shaw, Roundtree’s mother and the founder/president of the Effingham County Navigator Team Inc., whose mission is to advocate for families that deal with disabilities. “You’d think that all he’s thinking about is his won-loss record and who’s going to be the starting pitcher and stuff. Yet he makes the time to do this. 

“It shows where his heart is.”

Eubanks, who has a son with autism, helped Shaw’s daughter obtain two varsity letters as a member of the Diamond Dolls, a group of girls who enjoy baseball and assisting his team.

“Her dad is a coach and we thought she’d lost that dream but Coach Eubanks made that dream possible by giving her that opportunity,” Shaw said. “She loves being a Diamond Doll and she loves those players.”

Eubanks recently invited former manager Dominic Crawford to return to school in the afternoons to help the Mustangs. Crawford, who threw the ceremonial first pitch Thursday, graduated last year.

“His mother told me he was sitting at home moping all the time,” Eubanks said. “He was going to college but he didn’t have anything else to do. I called her and said, ‘Hey, let’s bring him back. We want him!”

“He came back that first day and was hugging everybody. It was great to have Dom back and he’s a part of what we do. He will have a part with us as long as I’m here and as long as he wants to stay here.”

Shaw is appreciative that Eubanks is consistent with his support.

“He has been doing an inclusion revolution with the Navigators for four years now,” she said. “His team goes to Josh Reddick Stadium and helps with the Navigators when we play ball. Coach Eubanks has always been supportive and we appreciate it.”

Eubanks came up with the idea for Inclusion Revolution Night last fall.

“I kind of stole it from the Savannah Bananas — how they have the different jerseys and stuff they do,” Eubanks said. “I thought, ‘How neat would it be for us to do something like that with the Navigators, have the jerseys and have the kids be able to get the jerseys from their favorite player.”

The autism jerseys were sold via silent auction. Some drew $100 and all proceeds were given to the Navigator Team.

“We were able to write a nice little check for them,” Eubanks said.

Like Eubanks. his team and their school, the entire Effingham County School District is a staunch inclusion proponent.

“They had a little parade (at the school Wednesday) and (Principal) Dr. (Torian) White made sure that happened,” Shaw said. “The (baseball players) wore their uniforms and walked in the school through the Spirit Tunnel with the students and took pictures. It means as much to them as it does our kids and families.

“These boys have developed relationships with these kids.”

That’s what it’s all about, Eubanks said.

“I just think it’s important that our players understand that they are blessed and they need to see others with special needs as kids that need love and to be around them,” he said.