By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
GUYTON – South Effingham’s baseball team wanted a momentum builder Friday night heading into region play.
A doubleheader sweep of Richmond Hill fit the bill nicely.
The Mustangs received good pitching, timely hitting, aggressive baserunning and solid defense during their 4-1 and 8-1 victories to take the three-game series, two games to one.
“Any time you win, it’s great,” SEHS coach Jesse Osborne said. “Richmond Hill has a good program. We made some defensive errors in Game 1 and lost that one but we talked about it – let’s get back on track for region play.”
South (8-4) hopes to be at its best with defending region champion Evans on deck on the schedule. The Mustangs travel to Evans for a single game on March 12 before hosting the Knights in a doubleheader on Friday (March 15).
Evans (8-4) enters the week ranked fourth in Class 6A by ScoreAtlanta. Three of the Knights’ four losses came against Class 3A top-ranked and undefeated Harlem.
Evans opened its region play by winning two of three games from Brunswick.
“(Evans) has a ton of talent and traditionally has been strong,” Osborne said. “We’re excited about playing them. It’s a measuring stick to see where we’re at.”
The Mustangs left off in a good place after the sweep of Richmond Hill, once a region rival before moving up to Class 7A last season.
In 2021, South won the region title by defeating the Wildcats 1-0 in the region finale. The next year, Richmond Hill broke a memorable four-team deadlock for first place in the final week of the regular season by sweeping a three-game set from the Mustangs.
The Wildcats went to the Sweet Sixteen of the Class 7A state tournament a year ago.
South lost Game 1 to Richmond Hill 5-1 this year.
But behind the pitching of Dru Futch and Hayden Pevey, the Mustangs never trailed Friday. Futch scattered six hits while allowing just one earned run over six innings, striking out five without a walk in the opener of the doubleheader.

“(Futch and Pevey) have been pretty consistent so far,” Osborne said. “Any time those two are on the mound, they give us a chance. Futch pounds the zone with three pitches and Peavy is the funky lefty that a lot of hitters have nightmares about.”
Ty Cantaline’s hard-hit line drive, misplayed by the center fielder, turned into a nightmare for Richmond Hill. The triple plated two runs in the fifth inning and made a 2-1 lead a more comfortable 4-1.
The key Game 1 hit opened a floodgate of Mustang highlights the rest of the way. Futch scored from second base on a wild pitch in the first inning of Game 2.
Richmond Hill loaded the bases with two outs in the third inning, but Noah Stone’s sinking liner was grabbed on the run by Cantaline in center to end the threat.
The Mustangs added four runs in the bottom of the third and three in the fourth to put the game out of reach. Nick Cooper made a key play in the third-inning uprising by going from first to third on a bunt single by Dalton Redmond.
Cantaline had another RBI triple just off the right fielder’s glove and Lawton Bowen added an RBI single to finish the scoring in the third inning.
Futch’s two-run single highlighted the fourth inning.
After being held to two runs in a loss to Vidalia and one run in the opener at Richmond Hill, South produced 12 runs in 12 innings – the Mustangs didn’t have to bat in the seventh inning of either game – on Friday.
“We’re coming around. The bats were behind a little bit at the start,” Osborne said. “We’ve had some discussions and worked on our approaches at the plate. We’re doing a better job of moving runners along. We’re learning we can be smart and be aggressive at the same time.”