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ECHS out-slugs Brunswick 13-8 in region semis
Will Floyd
In last week's double-header No. 1 Will Floyd slides safely across the plate in the second game to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth. (Gilber Miller/Effingham Herald.)

By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald


SPRINGFIELD – Effingham County will be playing for its first region baseball championship since 2019 after a wild 13-8 victory over visiting Brunswick on Tuesday night in the semifinals of the Region 1-5A championships.

The Rebels (24-5) advanced to the one-game title showdown against Greenbrier, a 9-5 winner over Glynn Academy, on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Springfield.

ECHS swept a three-game set from the Wolfpack about a month ago, but Greenbrier (12-10) has been hot since, winning eight of its last nine games.

With Tuesday’s win, the Rebels earned homefield advantage in the first round of the Class 5A state championships which begins April 23.

But it wasn’t easy. ECHS rallied from two deficits – the last, a seven-run sixth inning – to win a three-hour shootout that included 21 runs, 24 hits, 11 walks, 6 errors and 1 hit batsman as momentum swung like an out-of-control pendulum.

Ryan Wells put the Rebels ahead 9-8 with a two-run triple that bounced to the center-field wall.

Not to be outdone, Kaleb Pendley smacked a three-run home run that bounced to the school’s quarter-mile track beyond the right-field wall to provide a much-welcomed cushion.

All nine players in ECHS’ lineup reached base at least once, scored at least one run – courtesy runner Kris Swinney scored twice for catcher Karson Thompson – and drove in at least one run.

Newton Kieffer had three hits and Adam Acel, Will Floyd and Pendley each had two.

Not many would have suspected the high-scoring affair with two of the region’s best pitchers – Rebels’ Kyle Thomas and Pirates’ Jordan Lodise getting starts. Lodise is committed to the University of Central Florida.

But ECHS had six hits and scored four runs in 10 at bats before the first out was recorded in the second inning.

The Rebels led 6-3 in the fifth when Brunswick fought back with five runs – four coming after two outs.

But ECHS took advantage of three Brunswick errors in the sixth with big hits from Wells and Pendley to win going away. It was the 12th time the Rebels scored 10 or more runs in a game this season.