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South Effingham Rallies Past Effingham 6-4 to Split Rivalry Series
South Effingham baseball
South Effingham’s Carter Futch pitched 3 1/3 innings of one-hit relief to earn the win as the Mustangs defeated Effingham 6-4 Friday night in Guyton. (Mark Lastinger / Effingham Herald)

GUYTON, Ga. – South Effingham picked a good time to get some timely hits Friday night.

The Mustangs had six of their nine hits in a five-run fourth inning and fought from behind to defeat visiting cross-county rival Effingham 6-4 at Tony Kirkland Field to earn a split in their two-game regular-season series.

ECHS (10-3) won the opener 4-1 on Tuesday night in Springfield.

“I think the kids just went out and competed for seven innings. They didn’t lay down,” SEHS coach Jesse Osborne said. “Tuesday, we had runners on. We just couldn’t get the hits to get them over and get them in. Tonight, that was the difference. We got the hit to get them over and get them in.”

South (7-6) snapped a three-game losing streak against the Rebels. Over the last four years, the teams have split their 10 meetings.

South Effingham baseball
South Effingham’s Chase Martin rounds third and scores on Evan Hollis’ hit during the Mustangs’ five-run fourth-inning rally against Effingham on Friday. (Mark Lastinger / Effingham Herald)

Mustangs rally in fourth

This time, with former SEHS head coach Tony Kirkland in attendance, the Mustangs spotted ECHS 3-0 and 4-1 leads before turning the game around by sending 10 batters to the plate in the fourth.

With one out, Cole McMurry doubled and Trevor Seguin singled. Pinch-hitter Dylan DeWitt’s grounder was booted, allowing McMurry to score and cut the lead to 4-2.

JT Barkley followed with a single to drive in Seguin, and Jacob Duncan’s groundout plated the tying run.

Evan Hollis’ single drove in Barkley to put South ahead 5-4, and two batters later Cade Womack singled to bring in the Mustangs’ sixth run.

Seven of SEHS’ nine starters had hits in the game. Barkley and Hollis each had two hits and drove in a run.

ECHS committed four errors, leading to three unearned runs.

“We just didn’t come ready to play tonight,” Rebels coach Eric McCombie said. “They took advantage of us. You have to tip your hat to them. … Our guys couldn’t get out of that funk of the five-run inning.”

Effingham High School baseball
Effingham players in the dugout during Friday’s 6-4 loss to South Effingham, a game in which the Rebels committed four errors and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. (Mark Lastinger / Effingham Herald)

Pitching closes it out

The Rebels, who average more than eight runs a game, had only four hits and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. They scored their four runs on sacrifice flies by Kris Swinney and Hunter Tuten, a wild pitch and an error. ECHS had only two singles over the final four innings.

“Across the board, we didn’t play well,” McCombie said.

South pitchers surrendered seven walks — three eventually scored — but it could have been worse for the Mustangs. Twice, the Rebels had the bases loaded with one out, but reliever Carter Futch limited the damage.

“I was a little shaky at first, but I settled in,” Futch said. “My teammates helped out with five in the fourth inning, and we shut it down from there.”

Futch, who pitched 3 1/3 innings of one-hit ball, earned the win. Jonas Brown allowed just one hit while getting the final four outs for the save.

Up next

ECHS will return to action Tuesday for its Region 1-5A North subregion opener against Greenbrier. SEHS hosts Statesboro on Monday to begin a Region 1-5A South subregion three-game series.