By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

SPRINGFIELD – Postseason accolades begin to roll in for Effingham County’s stellar baseball season.

In a voting of Region 1-5A North coaches, Rebels coach Eric McCombie was named the subregion’s Coach of the Year and senior righthander Luke Edwards earned Pitcher of the Year honors.

In just his second year as head coach, McCombie transformed a team that won 10 games in 2024 to a 30-win group that claimed regular-season subregion and region championships en route to an Elite Eight finish in the Class 5A State Baseball Championships.

“It’s a team award, a coaching staff award,” McCombie said. “There’s seven of us (coaches) out there. Honestly, I don’t think we did a lot differently. Our message was always the same – your daily reps make you a champion. I think we just had better buy-in.”

Edwards was a big part of the turnaround. After pitching only 11 innings a year earlier, he blossomed into the team’s ace, finishing with a 9-1 record with 0.64 earned run average.

Edwards, who had 112 strikeouts in 65.2 innings, fanned nine or more in nine of his 13 outings.

Against subregion opponents (four games), he struck out 48 in 24.2 innings and did not allow an earned run.

Armed with an improved fastball that touched 92 mph with a slider and curve, he no-hit Statesboro in the opening round of the Region 1 playoffs, blanked hard-hitting Greenbrier 3-0 in the region championship game and closed out first-round and second-round series at state with dominating performances against East Paulding and Winder-Barrow.

“I’d say it was one of the best seasons anyone has ever had at Effingham County,” McCombie said. “He bought in to the weight room and our throwing program in the offseason and gained 30 pounds and his fastball went from 85 to 92. He always had the stuff. We just had to get the mentality right.”

ECHS had strength up and down the lineup and six more players made the all-subregion team. Junior designated hitter Kaleb Pendley led the team in batting average (.410), on-base percentage (.527), slugging percentage (.620), total extra base hits (16) and was tied with Aiden Garcia and Ryan Wells for the team lead with 29 runs batted in.

Wells had several clutch hits in key games against South Effingham, Evans, Brunswick, Greenbrier and East Paulding while batting .330. His strong arm in right field also stood out defensively.

Will Floyd was a perfect tablesetter while batting second in the lineup. He was on base 73 times (40 hits, 16 walks, nine hit by pitches, eight errors) and scored a team-leading 44 runs while hitting .325. He tied for the team lead with 11 stolen bases.

Q King rebounded from a disappointing junior season (.211 batting average) to hit .361 this spring. He had an on-base percentage of .481. King was among the best defensive center fielders in the area, showing good range and committing just one error.

On the mound, Kyle Thomas and Ayden “AR” Roeser, both juniors, emerged to give the staff much-needed lifts. Thomas finished with an 8-0 record and a 2.33 earned run average. He pitched a five-inning no-hitter against Statesboro early in the season and had one of his best outings in a 3-1 win over East Paulding in the first round of the state playoffs.

ECHS lost just once in Thomas’ 13 outings.

Roeser came out of the bullpen to register a 1.48 earned run average and five saves. He was the winning pitcher in the Rebels’ lone win against River Ridge in the Elite Eight.