The number 24 jersey has been taken out of the South Effingham High School baseball team’s lineup.

The Mustangs retired the jersey Tuesday in honor of major leaguer Josh Reddick. The Oakland Athletics right fielder and 2012 Gold Glove winner was admittedly honored and humbled by the gesture.

“It is truly the only feeling you can use to express something like this,” he said. “It’s just a huge honor to be able to be the first person (at SEHS) to have this.”

Friends, family and current Mustangs baseball players were on hand for the event, which was moved to the SEHS media center because of inclement weather that also scrubbed the South Effingham-Effingham County baseball scrimmage.

SEHS assistant coach Justin Merritt is the only member of the current staff to have coached Reddick during his prep days, though the current coaches and Reddick know each other well.

“One of the first things I learned when I got into coaching is that great players make great coaches,” Merritt said. “God has blessed us here at South Effingham to have a pile, I mean a pile, of great players. It has been one of the great blessings of my life to be able to be a part of this program.”

Merritt recalled how Reddick struck out only twice during his senior season — “and there’s an asterisk by one of them,” he said.

As a senior at SEHS, Reddick hit .482 and posted 40 runs batted in from his No. 2 spot in the lineup. He also was a two-time member of the 100-point club. At SEHS, hitters are given and have points taken away based on the productivity of their at-bats, and points are multiplied for such instances as hits to the opposite field and hits with two strikes.

“When this kid came through, it was one of the great blessings of my life,” Merritt said. “I’ve often been asked to have a guy like Josh on the team. It’s awesome. You pencil him in the lineup and you let him play. He played the outfield like a crazy linebacker. His mindset about hitting I wish I could instill in other players.”

Current SEHS head coach Ron Womack remembered coaching against Reddick. He praised the big leaguer, who was scheduled to report Thursday to Oakland’s spring training camp in Phoenix.

“I was on the other end of a stick on that. But I was able to see him play and see what kind of player he was and what he stood for,” Womack said, “the pride he had in the game then he has now. And the pride he had in South Effingham then he still has now.”

Reddick has taken part in the SEHS Mustang winter hitting camp for years and held a home run derby last month to raise money for the Macomber Park fields.

“There are so many of them that make it big and never make it back,” Womack said of major leaguers.

Reddick offered his gratitude for his coaches along the way and for the support of his family through his career.

“Coach Merritt said great players make great coaches, but these great coaches paved the way,” he said. “We can’t forget the people who played here before I did who made this program what it was.”

Along with leading the Athletics to the American League Division Series against Detroit, Reddick topped the A’s in homers and RBIs, hitting 32 homers and driving in 85 runs.

Reddick was named the Region 3-AAA player of the year after his senior season at SEHS and led the Mustangs to consecutive state semifinals appearances.

“We tried to find him some more eligibility,” Merritt said, “but it didn’t work out.”

Reddick was named the Region XVII Junior College player of the year after hitting .461 at Middle Georgia in 2006, and he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox that summer. In 2008, he was named to the California League’s postseason all-star team and played in the Arizona Fall League.

He was called up to the Red Sox major league club in July 2009 and spent parts of that season and the next two campaigns with Boston. He was the Red Sox organizational rookie of the year, and he was a two-time American League player of the week in 2012.

“Most of all, I consider him my friend,” Merritt said. “I am so glad your number is the first one to be retired in this program. It is well deserved.”

Reddick said he wants to continue to do things for the community and the program.

“Hopefully, I can still serve this school and this county proud as long as I’m playing this game,” he added.

And a sign with his jersey number will adorn the outfield wall at The Corral for all to see “as long as we play baseball at South Effingham,” Womack said.