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ECHS softball rallies to slip past Loganville, advances to Columbus
Ansleigh Giordano
Effingham County's Ansleigh Giordano (No. 21), shown here against South Effingham, was the winning pitcher in the final two games against Loganville as the Rebels advanced to the Class 5A Elite Eight softball championship tournament in Columbus. (Mark Lastinger for the Effingham Herald.)

By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald

Effingham County’s softball team had a devil of a time with Loganville in the second round of the Class 5A state championships.

The Rebels watched their hosts get a walk-off win in the first game of a doubleheader on Thursday, then fell behind in the sixth inning of the second game.

But Shelby Zeigler, the No. 9 hitter in the lineup, wouldn’t let ECHS’ season of great expectations end. Her two-run double in the sixth inning of the nightcap put the Rebels in front en route to a 6-4 victory.

And her three-run home run highlighted a seven-run second inning Friday as ECHS captured an 11-2 win in the deciding third game of the best-of-three series.

The Rebels (22-4) advanced to Columbus to play in the double-elimination Elite Eight championship tournament for the third straight year. They’ll open against Seckinger (28-5) today (Oct. 30) at 5 p.m.

“Shelby stepped up and gave us a lift when we needed it,” ECHS coach Brad Thompson said. “We were used to hitting people in the mouth and seeing them fold, but Loganville wasn’t going anywhere.”

The Rebels had three leads in the opening game, but the Red Devils, who won their Region 8 championship, fought back to regain the lead each time. Loganville (19-13) rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and walked off with a wild 11-10 victory.

“We had some miscues and some individuals were hanging their heads. We had to regroup,”  Thompson said.

Gracie LaFleur smacked a three-run homer in the first inning of the second game to give ECHS a 3-0 advantage.

Loganville answered with three runs in the fifth inning and plated the go-ahead run in the sixth to take a 4-3 lead and the Rebels’ season was down to its last six outs.

Fortunately for ECHS, Zeigler had one of those chances and her two-run double reversed the momentum and gave the Rebels a hard-fought split on Day 1.

“Let’s go to the hotel and get some rest before we win the third game tomorrow,” Thompson said about his talk with the girls after the doubleheader.

ECHS made short work of the Red Devils on Friday. RBI singles by Gabi Hill and Abbi Jones gave the Rebels a 2-0 lead before Zeigler unloaded with a three-run homer. Later in the inning, Olivia Morgan added a two-run single to make it 7-0 and the only thing left to decide was whether LaFleur could make it back to Springfield to be part of the school football team’s halftime homecoming activities.

ECHS’ 11-2 victory in Game 3 was stopped after five innings because of the mercy rule and LaFleur had just enough time to make her halftime appearance.

Credit Zeigler, who had two home runs and nine RBIs in the series, for making it a happy bus ride home. Ansleigh Giordano was the winning pitcher in the final two games.

Jordan Tarver had a home run in the first game.

Now the Rebels prepare for their next challenge. Seckinger, ranked No. 2 by ScoreAtlanta in its pre-postseason top-10 rankings, knocked off defending champion Newnan in the Sweet Sixteen, two games to one.

“Even though we had a lot of starters coming back (seven), it’s still a different team (from the 2023 team) and they had to overcome adversity to get to this point,” Thompson said. “I think this group is going to treat (the trip to Columbus) like a business trip. If we can keep the score down with our pitching (Ava Wingate and Giordano), I feel like we have a chance to play for a championship.”