By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

GUYTON – High school baseball’s regular season is entering its second month and Effingham County, off to its best start in at least 18 years according to MaxPreps, is still looking for respect.

For the Rebels, Monday’s game against South Effingham was all about Aretha Franklin’s anthem.

“Our guys were fired up for it,” ECHS coach Eric McCombie said. “We’re playing well this year, but we’re still trying to earn some respect.”

The Rebels (11-1) took advantage of nine walks and three batters hit by pitches while sprinkling in eight hits to defeat the host Mustangs 5-2 in the first of two regular-season meetings between the cross-county rivals.

Righthander Kyle Thomas, ECHS’ ace, went six innings and surrendered just two runs on six hits while striking out six in six innings.

Kaleb Pendley pitched a one-two-three seventh inning to record a save.

South coach Jesse Osborne elected not to pitch his top starter, Lance Cantaline.

“We were trying to find some depth,” Osborne said. “I tried not to make more out of (the rivalry game) than it is. It wasn’t a subregion game. The other thing is if we have to cross over and play them, we’ve seen their best and they haven’t seen ours.”

SEHS (7-3) and ECHS compete in different subregions within Class 5A Region 1 but at the end of the season, schools from the South and North subregions will cross over to determine a region championship along with seedings for the state tournament.

It’s conceivable the Mustangs and Rebels could meet in the postseason.

McCombie’s future concern was building confidence. A year ago, the Mustangs swept the three-game set from the Rebels, including 11-1 and 9-0 drillings in the final two games.

This time, ECHS’ top of the lineup – Adam Acel and Will Floyd – kept pressure on SEHS by combining to reach base eight times while scoring three of the five runs. Acel walked three times and was hit by a pitch and Floyd had three singles and a walk.

“Those guys have been (getting on base) for us all year,” McCombie said. “They have an approach that they’re going to see a lot of pitches and they’re going to jump on some if they need to and they’re going to get on base.”

The Rebels, now on an eight-game winning streak, got off to a solid start when Acel walked and Floyd singled to lead off the first inning. Pendley followed with a single, but Floyd, not seeing Acel stopped at third, headed to third before realizing he had to turn around and get back to second base.

South’s catcher JT Barkley made a perfect throw to second to get Floyd and incredibly the Mustangs got out of the inning without giving up a run.

In the bottom of the first, Barkley’s two-out single drove in Evan Hollis to give SEHS a 1-0 lead.

Acel and Floyd were Rebel tablesetters again in the third inning. With one out, Acel walked and Floyd singled and both eventually scored on Aiden Garcia’s walk and Newton Kieffer’s single.

In the fourth, Acel and Floyd were in the middle of another two-run uprising. Acel was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Floyd singled in ECHS’ third run. Pendley’s groundout plated another run to give the Rebels a 4-1 advantage.

In the sixth, Acel walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-1.

Although its lead kept growing, ECHS didn’t cash in on all its scoring opportunities and stranded 11 on base through the first six innings.

In the bottom of the sixth, Barkley’s second RBI single of the game drew the Mustangs within 5-2 and when Cantaline followed with a single, South had the tying run at the plate.

But a double play helped the Rebels escape without any more damage and the Mustangs didn’t threaten the rest of the way.

“It was our worst game of the season statistically and we were still in it, so we can take that away from the loss,” Osborne said. “It’s tough to win ball games when you give up (nine walks and three hit batters).”

“Our guys competed, (South) did, too. It’s a good win for us,” McCombie said.

The two teams will meet again March 8 in Springfield.