By Donald Heath
Special for the Effingham Herald
SPRINGFIELD – South Effingham’s softball team had some rebuilding to do this season to match its recent success after losing a heralded group to graduation in May.
Friday at the Region 1-5A tournament, the Mustangs used perseverance and character as their brick and mortar.
South overcame adversity twice to produce two stunning eight-inning victories – 9-8 over fifth-ranked Greenbrier and 8-5 over third-ranked rival Effingham County – to capture its third straight region championship.
Sophomore Alyssa Martin came up big for the Mustangs with two home runs and seven RBIs against the Rebels, including a game-winning three-run shot in the eighth inning.
She also had a two-run double to highlight a five-run fourth inning against Greenbrier which erased an early deficit.
“At the end of the day, there were two fights, and it came down to who wanted it more,” Martin said. “We had something to prove, and I was proud of how we fought.”
South (20-5) advanced to the Class 5A state tournament as Region 1’s No. 1 seed and will play host to Region 5’s No. 4 seeded Villa Rica (13-11) in a best-of-three series starting with a doubleheader Friday.
“These kids are plenty good enough and they were excited about having the opportunity to show what they could do,” said SEHS coach Adam Newland, breaking away from his girls’ celebration on ECHS’ home field. “It was their turn and everyone has stepped up at some point of the year. I’m happy for these kids stepping in and filling big shoes (of the graduated seniors).”
By topping Glynn Academy 8-2 in the day’s first region semifinal game, ECHS also advanced to play a first-round state series at home. The Rebels will meet Region 5’s No. 3 seed Alexander (18-10) in a doubleheader on Friday.
“I know the community puts a big emphasis on (the SEHS game) but me being new over here, it’s not about the rivalry, it’s about losing another softball game,” ECHS coach Brad Thompson said. “We rattled off 16 straight wins, (but to suffer a loss now) maybe we’ll be hungrier in the playoffs.”
In the opener, Jordan Tarver and Shelby Zeigler hit two-run homers and Ansleigh Giordano and Ava Wingate shared the pitching as ECHS breezed past Glynn.
South had its hands full with Greenbrier in the second semifinal game. The Wolfpack had a 5-0 lead after the top of the second inning.
But the Mustangs, who had five sophomores and a freshman in the starting lineup, took a 7-6 lead by batting around in the fourth inning. Martin’s two-run double tied the game and Izzy Wilkins’ two-out single brought in Martin with the go-ahead run.
Greenbrier tied it in the sixth inning and pushed back in front, 8-7, in the top of the eighth, but South retaliated with two runs in the bottom of the inning, winning the game on Danni Lynn’s sacrifice fly.
It set the stage for a much-anticipated meeting between local teams that didn’t play during the regular season. The eight previous games during the last three years between the Mustangs and Rebels were decided by one run or one swing.
The ninth SEHS-ECHS clash in the series stayed true to form. Martin’s three-run homer gave the Mustangs a 3-0 advantage three batters into the game. ECHS chipped away and Abbi Jones’ two-run homer closed the lead to 4-3 in the sixth.
“Oh my goodness. I was thinking, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me. We were that close,’ ” said Wilkins, who was the winning pitcher in relief against Greenbrier and was an out away from the best win of her career as a starter in the finals. “I was a little defeated, I’ll be honest.”
Disappointed, maybe. But defeated didn’t describe the Mustangs on Friday.
With one out in the eighth, Sydney Minchell and Lynn singled and Martin followed with a line drive that nearly struck fans watching the game while standing on the beds of their trucks beyond the left-field wall.
“It feels unreal,” Martin said. “People thought we were the underdog this year, but we weren’t going to give up that easily. We pushed as hard as we could. … We were a little anxious, but we knew God had a plan for us.”
For SEHS, it was a game reminiscent of a year ago when the Rebels tied a matchup with the Mustangs in the seventh inning in Columbus only to lose in extra innings.
“The kids hung with it the whole day,” Newland said. “There’s nothing much more to say. They kept fighting, they never got down on themselves. Perseverance is definitely the word of the day. They could have folded at 1:30 today. We managed to get off the mat in the afternoon and again tonight.”
