GUYTON — Richmond Hill won the region 2-6A baseball championship on Friday, April 22, thanks to its clinching 7-6 victory over South Effingham in the regular-season finale for both schools. It was the first region title for Richmond Hill’s baseball program since 2016.
The Wildcats (21-7, 13-5 region 2-6A) swept the Mustangs (20-10, 10-8) in the three-game series played on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of this week. It assured them of a No. 1 seed in next week’s state playoffs, which means they’ll host at least the first rounds of the Class 6A state baseball playoffs. Each round is a best-of-three series.
Entering play on Friday, the region 2-6A standings had Glynn Academy and Richmond Hill tied in first place, each with a 12-5 record within the region. The playoff picture was cloudy at best, and although the region’s four state playoff representatives were already decided, the top three seeds were still up for grabs.
South Effingham was locked into the region’s 4-seed, regardless of Friday’s outcome. Effingham County (15-15, 12-6) was the third seed having already completed its region schedule, but Effingham swept Richmond Hill in the regular season, which meant it owned the tiebreaker over the Wildcats.
Glynn’s lopsided win over Statesboro on Friday night meant the Red Terrors finished with a record of 22-7, 13-5, but Richmond Hill owned the tiebreaker over Glynn after the Wildcats took two-of-three from Glynn in the regular season.
A Richmond Hill win on Friday meant a region title and a No. 1 seed. A loss meant a 3-seed and hitting the road for the state playoffs. Suffice it to say, Friday’s game at South Effingham was of great importance.
South Effingham committed three errors in the first two innings of game three, allowing Richmond Hill to score four unearned runs in the top of the second. It was the third time in as many games that Richmond Hill scored at least four runs in an inning. But the Mustangs showed some fight, scoring two runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings to pull even at 4-4. SE committed six errors in the loss.
In the top of the fifth inning, Gavin Martin’s groundout to shortstop was enough to drive in the go-ahead run for the visitors. Ryan Wiebold’s RBI single later in the frame pushed the RH lead to 6-4. Wiebold was 1-for-1 on the season before his pinch-hit RBI single.
South, coached by Todd Eubanks, scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 6-6. Noah Hollis and Zach Wert each had RBI singles in the frame. Richmond Hill answered with a deciding seventh run in the top of the seventh inning, thanks to another error from the SE defense.
Luke Boone, Connor Truax, and Evan Cowan each collected two hits at the plate for Richmond Hill. Boone and Leighton Finley each stole a base.
The Mustangs got a solid pitching performance from Nick Milbrandt in game three, although he was the loser in the end. Milbrandt (5-3) threw all seven innings and allowed just two earned runs (five unearned) and seven hits. He struck out seven, bringing his season total to 55 in 47 ⅔ innings.
Richmond Hill sent Boone to the mound for the series finale, but Boone was wild, walking seven and allowing four earned runs in 3 ⅔ innings of work. Still, RH won the first two games of the critical series thanks to a big offensive inning in each game and a pair of dominating starting pitching performances from Finley and Hunter Legas.
Finley closed out Friday’s game with 1 ⅔ innings of shutout work, earning his second win of the series, one as a starter and one in relief.
In-game one on April 18, the Wildcats won 7-3 behind Finley’s complete-game gem. Finley scattered four hits and struck out eight while allowing two earned runs and two walks. The Wildcats scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back.
Legas matched Finley in a 6-0 game two win for RH and head coach Chris Jenkins on April 20. He threw a complete-game shutout, striking out five and walking one while allowing just four hits. The Wildcat offense produced five runs in the second frame to take a commanding lead they would never relinquish.
For Legas, it was his second consecutive, complete-game win. For Jenkins’ team, it was the eighth win in nine games and a continuation of defense and pitching leading the Richmond Hill resurgence. In its last eight wins prior to Friday, Richmond Hill was allowing just 2.1 runs per game while scoring an average of 7.2 runs.
Entering the series, South Effingham was ranked No. 4 in Class 6A while Richmond Hill was No. 5, according to the MaxPreps computer rankings. The Georgia High School Association Class 6A state baseball playoffs begin on April 27, with first-round (best-of-3) series play running through April 29.
RH – 040 - 0201 – 7 - 7 - 0
SE – 002 - 2020 – 6 - 5 - 6
W – Leighton Finley.
L – Nick Milbrandt.
RECORDS – RH 21-7, 13-5; SE 20-10, 10-8.
FOLLOW Travis Jaudon on Twitter/Instagram @JaudonSports. Email him at travisLjaudon@gmail.com.
Photo Credit - Richmond Hill High School twitter
Optim Orthopedics supports Richmond Hill High School and South Effingham High School athletics. The team doctor for South Effingham, and Richmond Hill is Dr. David Palmer. Remember, Optim Orthopedics gets you back into the game!
