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ECHS baseball sweeps Greenbrier
Karson Thompson
No. 3 Karson Thompson gets the throw in from the outfield from No. 0 Q King and tags out No. 34 Josh Bachmelder while trying to score in the top of the second inning with the Rebels down 0-1. (Photos by Gilbert Miller/Effingham Herald.)

By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald


SPRINGFIELD – Effingham County’s baseball team is finding new ways to win – now 16 times and counting.

The Rebels continued their amazing turnaround season last week with a three-game sweep of Greenbrier, one of the preseason favorites in the subregion.

ECHS rallied in the opener to win 9-8 on March 11, outpitched the Wolfpack 2-1 on Thursday, before out-slugging the subregion newcomer on Friday 8-2.

Last season, Greenbrier won 25 games en route to a region title and went to the Elite Eight at state.

The Rebels (16-2, 3-0 in Region 1-5A North play) had a 10-20 record last season and failed to make the state playoffs.

“We thought we’d take a step forward because we had been in a situation to learn last season,” ECHS coach Eric McCombie said. “(The coaches) see the players all year so we knew we had physically taken steps forward.”

ScoreAtlanta had the Rebels ranked eighth in Class 5A before the sweep of Greenbrier.

Multiple players are contributing. The offense averages more than nine runs a game, led by Kaleb Pendley who has six multi-hit games in his last eight games (14 for 24, a .583 batting average).

Ryan Wells, who started the game-tying rally in the fifth inning of Game 1 and drove in the game-winning run the next inning, has eight hits in his last 17 at bats while accumulating a five-game hitting streak.

Aiden Garcia
No. 8 Aiden Garcia applies the tag to the runner trying to advance to third base in the top of the third inning in a tie ball game.
Luke Edwards had a seven-inning, two-hit, 14-strikeout performance on the mound in Game 2 and Q King, who has a seven-game hitting streak, knocked in the decisive run.

Ayden Roeser came out of the bullpen twice to twirl 2.1 scoreless innings.

Tablesetters Adam Acel and Will Floyd – No. 1 and No. 2 in the batting lineup – have combined to score 44 runs this season.

The Rebels out-hit Greenbrier 18-5 during the final two games of the series.

“We don’t have to depend on one person every night,” McCombie said. “On offense, it’s one through nine plus 10, 11 and 12. On the mound, we have five No. 1s.”

Dylan Huntley, one of ECHS’ aces, did not pitch against Greenbrier because of an injury but is expected to be back in two weeks for the final regular-season, three-game set against Evans. The Knights are the defending region champions and the series could determine the subregion champion and No. 1 seed in the crossover region tournament.

This week, the Rebels have a three-game series with Lakeside, which lost three straight to its cross-town rival Evans last week. The Panthers (4-6, 0-3) are led by 6-foot-1, 190-pound lefthander Jude Matthews who has committed to Georgia Southern University.

Thursday night at Rebel Field will be Senior Night.

“Baseball is a funny game so I’m trying not to think about (the turnaround) until the season ends, but like I keep telling our team, the target on our backs keeps getting bigger,” McCombie said.