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SEHS’ Sikes has strong outing in return to the mound
Jake Waldhour
No. 20 Jake Waldhour squares up for the bunt attempt and makes first base on the fielder’s choice in the bottom of the 2nd with the game still scoreless. - photo by Gilbert Miller

By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

GUYTON – Welcome back, Avery Sikes. The right-hander’s return might be just the spark South Effingham needs as the baseball regular season winds down.

Sikes, who has missed most of the season with a sore arm, gave the Mustangs five strong innings without surrendering an earned run in a key 4-2 victory over Brunswick on March 31.

Suddenly, SEHS’ pitching staff looks more formidable with a three-game series against region leader Glynn Academy on deck.

“Look at him. That’s what we’ve been missing for eight weeks,” Mustangs coach Jesse Osborne said about Sikes, a senior who was penciled in to be the team’s three-man starting rotation at the beginning of the season.

Against Brunswick, Sikes threw just 53 pitches while going five innings, allowing three hits (two infield singles) and two unearned runs. He struck out three, walked none and had nine ground-ball outs.

Aaron Benton’s RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning broke a 2-2 tie and made Sikes the winning pitcher.

Aaron Benton
No. 3 Aaron Benton hits an RBI single in the bottom of the 5th to put the Mustangs up 3-2. (Gilbert Miller/Effingham Herald.)
“We put (Sikes) on 40-pitch limit, but in the third inning he was at 27 pitches and he wasn’t laboring,” Osborne said. “He worked through some adversity with runners on (in the fifth). It was positive, very positive.”

Sikes and reliever Hayden Peavy (two hitless innings in relief) were so efficient (four 1-2-3 innings) the seven-inning game lasted only an hour and 25 minutes.

The pitching effort, coupled with 6.2 scoreless innings from Dru Futch on March 29 in a 5-0 win, helped the Mustangs win the series two games to one.

SEHS coaches have done a good job piecing together innings while compiling a 14-7 record (7-3 in Region 2-6A play), but filling out lineup cards could be easier with another healthy starter.

“Anything can still happen in this region,” Osborne said. “Losing tonight would have put us in a bind. Getting Sikes back, hopefully that helps us turn the corner. This would certainly be a good time to get it going.”

The three-game series with Glynn Academy (19-4, 10-2) started April 3 in Brunswick before shifting to Guyton for Game 2 tonight with the finale back in Brunswick on Friday.

South hasn’t won a series with the Red Terrors since 2009 (a span of seven series – lost four, split three others 1-1).

“Glynn’s been the talk of the region as the No. 1 team up to this point,” Osborne said. “Our kids are excited to play them."



ECHS gets split with Grovetown


Effingham County snapped a four-game losing streak with a 15-5 victory over Grovetown in the first game of a doubleheader on March 31.

The Warriors won the nightcap 5-4 with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

In the opener, Trent Newberry went 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Griffin Howe, Ryan Wells and Newton Kieffer added two RBIs apiece as the Rebels ended the game in five innings because of the mercy rule.

ECHS (7-12, 3-6 Region 2-6A) began a crucial three-game set with Brunswick on April 3 in Springfield. Game 2 is today in Brunswick with Game 3 back in Springfield on Friday.