GUYTON / SPRINGFIELD, Ga. – Experience usually helps in postseason play — and the softball teams from Effingham County and South Effingham have plenty of it.
Both teams will be seeking their fourth straight trip to Columbus, the site of the Class 5A Elite Eight tournament, and both are halfway there after sweeping first-round best-of-three series Monday night.
ECHS (25-6), the Region 1 champion, defeated Apalachee 3-1 and 9-1. SEHS (21-3), the region runner-up, outslugged Winder-Barrow 9-6 and 15-3.
The Rebels will host Seckinger in a Sweet 16 best-of-three series next Monday, while the Mustangs advanced to play at Milton, also on Monday.
Rebels ride pitching, timely hits
Rebels senior right-hander Ansleigh Giordano struck out 10 and didn’t issue a walk en route to a three-hit performance. She had five 1-2-3 innings.
“I knew they’d have trouble with Ansleigh. She’s been pitching at a high level,” ECHS coach Brad Thompson said, carefully getting words out from a broken jaw suffered at practice about two weeks ago.
Apalachee pieced doubles together in the fifth inning to take a 1-0 lead, but the Rebels immediately retaliated in the bottom half. Cheyenne Hart’s two-run single put ECHS in front, and Gabie Hill’s RBI single added insurance.
In Game 2, Ava Wiley pitched a two-hitter and didn’t allow an earned run, striking out six. The Rebels led 8-0 after four innings.
Mustangs’ bats stay hot
Meanwhile in Guyton, South Effingham spotted Winder-Barrow a 2-0 lead in the first inning of Game 1, but Danni Lynn quickly erased it with her ninth home run of the season.
Lynn added two doubles and drove in three runs to pace a 16-hit attack. Justine Nevels and Olivia Johnson also had three hits apiece.
Four batters into Game 2, the Mustangs built a 3-0 lead. Winder-Barrow trimmed the deficit to 3-1 after three innings, but South Effingham wore them down with 12 runs over the next three frames. The Mustangs capitalized on four walks and an error to fuel a seven-run sixth inning.
“It’s super important to extend leads come playoff time,” Newland said. “Teams are really good. Teams are going to be able to swing the bat. Teams in the playoffs have something to offer, so you can’t let up.”
Nevels blasted a towering two-run home run to straightaway center field in the fourth inning to spark the 12-run outburst. She finished with two hits and three RBIs.
Pitcher Cheniyah Jackson, who closed out Game 1, earned the win in Game 2, striking out five and allowing just one earned run in a game stopped after six innings by the mercy rule. She also went 4-for-4 at the plate and drove in a run.
Taylor Swann had two hits and three RBIs, while Lynn and Alyssa Martin also collected two hits apiece.
