SPRINGFIELD, Ga. – Effingham County’s softball team has been ranked in the top 10 by ScoreAtlanta all season, and a 5-1 win over highly regarded Greenbrier on Tuesday put the Rebels in the driver’s seat to win the Class 5A North subregion for a second straight year.
But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been challenges for a squad that now sits at 13-4 overall and 4-0 in subregion play.
A turning point after rivalry loss
Coach Brad Thompson said his players had a heart-to-heart meeting after a Sept. 3 loss to rival South Effingham.
Instead of creating a to-do list, they came up with a “can-not” list.
One key can-not: ECHS cannot be self-paralyzing.
“We had some things to figure out,” said senior pitcher Ansleigh Giordano.
The Rebels, ranked No. 4 in Class 5A, picked a good time to regroup. They’ve won seven straight (eight of nine since the team meeting) and didn’t blink in a tie game in the fifth inning against the Wolfpack, who entered undefeated in subregion play.
The three-game series now shifts to Greenbrier for a doubleheader Thursday.
Giordano delivers in the circle
Giordano, a Class 5A all-state first-teamer and the subregion’s Player of the Year last season, kept Greenbrier at bay with seven strikeouts and five hits allowed. She stranded two runners in both the fifth and sixth innings.
“I just went into the game thinking I had to be at my best. Greenbrier’s a very good team,” Giordano said of slowing down a Wolfpack squad that had won eight of its last 10 games.
Greenbrier (13-7) has won 20 or more games and reached the state playoffs the past three seasons.
“Ansleigh’s a perfectionist and sometimes she tries to be too perfect,” Thompson said. “We’re not always getting through innings like we want, but she’s good enough to pitch with runners on base—usually without surrendering a big inning.”
Breakthrough at the plate
The Rebels’ offense came alive in the fifth inning. Two players who spent most of last year on junior varsity—Tristin Johnson and Cheyenne Hart—hit back-to-back, two-out singles. Hart’s base hit drove in Gabie Hill with the go-ahead run.
In the sixth, ECHS pulled away with a sacrifice fly from Jenny Parker, an RBI double by Ava Wiley and an RBI single from Hill.
The Rebels finished with 10 hits. Giordano had two doubles, while Johnson and Hart collected two hits each.
Johnson and Hart also teamed up on ECHS’ first run in the third inning. Johnson singled and advanced to third on aggressive baserunning after Hart beat out a bunt. Hart then got caught in a rundown between first and second, allowing Johnson to dash home and score.
“Being up a game, now their backs are against the wall,” Thompson said.
Thursday’s doubleheader begins at 4:30 p.m.
