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Martin, Wilkins lead SEHS subregion softball honors
Alyssa Martin
Alyssa Martin batted a team-leading .406 and was instrumental in South Effingham's postseason success while earning the Class 5A Region 1 South Softball Player of the Year. (Mark Lastinger for the Effingham Herald.)

By Donald Heath

Special for the Effingham Herald


Alyssa Martin shined at the biggest moments of South Effingham’s softball season and subregion coaches rewarded the sophomore with the league’s highest award.

Martin earned the Class 5A Region 1 South’s Player of the Year honor to lead an impressive group of nine Mustangs acknowledged for postseason accolades.

“Obviously, that comes with a region championship at the end of the day,” said SEHS coach Adam Newland, whose squad finished with a 25-7 record, 12-0 in the subregion, a third straight region title and a fifth-place finish in the Elite Eight championships in Columbus.

Izzy Wilkins was named the subregion’s Pitcher of the Year. Justine Nevels, Danni Lynn, Abbey Jordan, Rosie Dixon and Kenzie Ergle earned first-team honors and Cheniyah Jackson and Sydney Minshall notched second-team honors.

Few would argue with Martin’s player of the year selection, particularly after witnessing her two-home run, seven RBI performance in the region championship 8-5 extra-inning win over Effingham County.

Martin, who moved to third base this season, led the team with a .406 batting average and 39 RBIs while accumulating 20 extra-base hits.

In the postseason, she hit .556 in the region tournament and her home run was South’s lone run in a loss to Creekview in Columbus.

“She had a great back half of the year and performed in the big moments,” Newland said.

Wilkins, a senior, emerged as the leader of the pitching staff. Newland approached the loss of graduated star righthander Bailey Kendziorski (now at Boston College) by

Yzzy Wilkins
Izzy Wilkins became the leader of the South Effingham pitching staff, posting a 9-3 record with a 2.14 earned run average, to claim Class 5A Region 1 South Softball Pitcher of the Year honors. (Mark Lastinger for the Effingham Herald.)
pitching as a staff. Wilkins led the way with a 9-3 record and a 2.14 earned run average. She also hit .301 with seven homers as a designated player.

“She definitely became the leader of the staff,” Newland said.

Lynn, who earned first-team honors last season, followed up her stellar freshman year by hitting .392, driving in 38 runs and smacking a team-leading eight home runs.

Ergle, a shortstop, hit .322 as a senior.

“It says a lot when you start for four years at a position like shortstop,” Newland said. “She had a great career.”

Nevels, Dixon, Jordan, Jackson and Minshall were part of the new wave of first-year starters who kept the program at a high level.

Nevels, a sophomore first baseman, hit .310 and led the team in runs scored (35) and stolen bases (15). Dixon, a sophomore, contributed a 7-1 record with three saves and a 2.19 ERA in the pitching rotation.

Jordan, a junior outfielder, hit .341 and Minshall, a freshman second baseman, batted .372.

Jackson, a sophomore, had a 6-3 record and 1.72 ERA.

“We put a lot on the shoulders of all the first-year starters, that’s just a part of scholastic athletics, and the kids delivered,” Newland said.