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River Ridge ends Rebels baseball season in the Elite Eight
ECHS baseball Elite * game 1
Effingham County celebrates a walk-off 5-4 win over River Ridge in Game 1 after a passed ball allows a run in the bottom of the seventh inning. (Photos by Mark Lastinger/Effingham Herald.)
Published: May 13, 2025, 7:18 PM

By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

 

SPRINGFIELD – Pride followed tears May 8 after Effingham County’s memorable baseball season ended in a 6-0 loss to River Ridge in the deciding third game of a Class 5A Elite Eight best-of-three series.

“What they were able to do this year, I just wanted them to know they were champions,” Rebels coach Eric McCombie said. “Even though it didn’t work out like they wanted, they were champions.”

In the moment, words of consolation provided little soothing. ECHS won a tense 5-4 see-saw affair in the opening game of a doubleheader on Wednesday when Will Floyd happily trotted home to break a tie in the bottom of the seventh inning after a ball eluded River Ridge’s catcher.

But the mood changed in the second game Wednesday night. Knights standout KJ Hart, a 6-foot-6 hard-throwing righthander, struck out 14 to blank the Rebels 2-0.

Thursday, River Ridge’s Connor Johnson pitched even better, allowing just two hits while coaxing 12 ground ball outs.

ECHS averaged about eight runs a game entering the series.

“If you told me we were going to get shut out two games in a row to end the season I would have laughed at you,” McCombie said.

At the start of the season, some would have laughed if you said the Rebels would win 30 games, capture a region championship and be among the final eight teams competing for a Class 5A state title.

ECHS won 10 games the previous year. Entering the season, the Rebel seniors lost all six games to Evans during their careers. They dropped three games to county rival South Effingham in 2024 by a combined score of 23-3.

Kaleb Pendley
Kaleb Pendley had three hits in the first game to drive the Rebels past River Ridge 5-4 in Game 1 Wednesday.
This year, ECHS swept Evans in a three-game set and topped South in two non-subregion games.

“I think we proved a lot of people wrong,” Floyd said. “A lot of people didn’t think we were going to get this far. Coming from one of the worst teams in the region to be the best was a big accomplishment.”

McCombie gave River Ridge credit. The Knights won the final two games to capture their second-round series against highly regarded Dunwoody, a team that averaged nearly 10 runs a game.

During the last eight years (subtracting the abbreviated COVID year), River Ridge has averaged almost 24 wins a season.

“We ran into a couple of buzzsaws (pitching) the last two games,” McCombie said. “That’s a good team on the other side.”

Maybe there’s something in the water in Woodstock. River Ridge’s girls’ softball team eliminated ECHS in the Elite Eight at Columbus in the fall.

Ultimately, Effingham County’s 2025 baseball season will be defined by the ability to bounce back.

“I think our players believed, their parents, the student body, the administration, I think we all believed we had a chance,” McCombie said. “We did some things this year that were special. That’s why this hurts so badly. We had a real shot this year and it hurts to have that end.”