If you like high school softball, we had a pretty good thing going around here last fall.
South Effingham played for a state championship.
Effingham County won the Region 1-5A championship and reached the Elite Eight.
Richmond Hill made the final eight in Class 6A.
That’s three teams from our area playing some pretty important softball late in the season.
And here’s what makes 2026 even more interesting.
A lot of the players who helped get them there are back.
South Effingham returns eight of nine starters and both starting pitchers. Effingham County is replacing a talented senior class, but has been to Columbus four straight years and has another group ready for its turn. Richmond Hill brings back four All-Region players.
Then you start looking around Bryan, Chatham, Effingham and Liberty counties and find some pretty good players at Liberty County, Bryan County, Savannah Christian and a few other places.
The Prep Sports Report is not going to rank them.
It’s August.
Let’s let them play first.
But if you’re wondering which teams have a chance to make some noise this fall, here’s where I would start.
Let’s play some softball and bring the heat!
SOUTH EFFINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL
2025: 26-5 | 11-1 Region 1-5A South, First Place | Class 5A State Runner-Up
Eight of nine starters are back.
Both starting pitchers are back.
And South Effingham played for the Class 5A state championship last year.
Now you understand why expectations are pretty high in Guyton.
Start with senior catcher Danni Lynn, who recently committed to Maryland. For now, fear the Lynn — the Turtle can wait. Maryland’s Terrapins will get her soon enough. Right now, she’s still a Mustang.
Lynn hit .545 with 18 doubles, 12 home runs and 54 RBIs last season. She was the Region 1-5A South Player of the Year and earned first-team All-State honors from the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association.
That’s a pretty good bat to put in the middle of your lineup.
And she’s far from alone.
Senior Cheniyah Jackson went 11-4 with a 1.11 ERA in the circle and earned first-team All-State honors. Jackson can also swing it, hitting .397 when used as the designated player.
Then there’s Rosie Dixon.
Dixon went 11-0 with a 2.33 ERA.
That’s 22 pitching wins coming back between Jackson and Dixon.
Good luck finding many teams that wouldn’t take that.
Senior first baseman Justine Nevels, a UNC Wilmington commit, hit .413 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs while earning Region 1-5A South Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Across the diamond, fellow UNC Wilmington commit Alyssa Martin hit .384 with four home runs and 31 RBIs. Coach Adam Newland also points to Martin as one of the team’s vocal leaders.
Junior Sydney Minshall gives the Mustangs another big bat at the top of the order. She hit .397 with a .525 on-base percentage and scored a school-record 43 runs.
And this lineup keeps going.
Senior outfielder Makenzi Polk hit .289, Olivia Johnson hit .300, Taylor Swann hit .409 and sophomore Cadi Hendry hit .304.
Then South Effingham adds freshmen Destiny Hutchens and Kendall Ward, who come in after playing for the Atlanta Vipers program.
Here’s the part I like most about South Effingham.
They’ve already been there.
The Mustangs beat Winder-Barrow and Milton to reach Columbus, then shut out Lassiter and Jackson County before Creekview beat them twice for the Class 5A state championship.
They know exactly how close they were.
Now eight starters get another chance.
Yeah, South Effingham has our attention.
EFFINGHAM COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
2025: 27-9 | 8-1 Region 1-5A North, First Place | Region 1-5A Champion | Class 5A Elite Eight
Four straight trips to Columbus.
That’s the standard at Effingham County now.
The Rebels won 27 games last season, finished first in Region 1-5A North and then knocked off South Effingham to win the overall Region 1-5A championship.
They followed that by beating Apalachee and Seckinger in the state playoffs to earn another trip to Columbus.
Now comes the interesting part.
A lot of the familiar names are gone.
Pitcher Ansleigh Giordano, catcher Gracie LaFleur, third baseman Shelby Ziegler and Gabie Hill graduated from a group that knew an awful lot about winning softball games.
So who’s next?
Start with Ava Wiley.
The senior takes over as the Rebels’ top pitcher after earning first-team All-Subregion honors last season. And she isn’t walking into the circle without some big-game experience.
Wiley threw a two-hitter in a 9-1 state playoff win over Apalachee and earned the victory in a must-win Game 2 against Seckinger. She also threw four straight scoreless innings in relief against Loganville in Columbus.
She’s been there.
Now it’s her ball.
Senior outfielder Mady Reagan moves into a bigger leadership role after hitting .417 in subregion play and earning first-team All-Subregion honors in her first varsity season.
Senior shortstop Cheyenne Hart hit .333 in subregion play and earned second-team honors.
Senior first baseman Jenny Parker gives the Rebels another experienced player who has been through those postseason games.
And there are some new names.
Freshman Laila Boyd is a power pitcher already throwing in the low 60s.
Junior catcher Zoey Edrington hit about .450 on JV last season.
Junior Riley Bracken moves up from JV to take over at third, while senior second baseman Kamryn Hall showed what she could do on the big stage with three hits, a home run and five RBIs against Loganville in Columbus.
So, no, this isn’t the same Effingham County team.
It wasn’t supposed to be.
That’s high school sports.
Seniors leave.
Somebody else gets their turn.
The Rebels have been to Columbus four years in a row.
Now we find out if the next group can make it five.
RICHMOND HILL HIGH SCHOOL
2025: 20-11 | 10-5 Region | Class 6A Elite Eight
Four All-Region players are coming back from a Class 6A Elite Eight team.
That’s really all you need to know about why Richmond Hill is here.
Senior shortstop Aubrey Ragins hit .365 with 11 doubles, three triples, nine home runs and 28 RBIs on her way to first-team All-Region honors.
Senior outfielder Ashella Matias also earned first-team All-Region honors.
Junior Gessilyn Clark made the first team as well.
Senior outfielder Kainani Auld gives the Wildcats another returning All-Region player.
Twenty wins.
An Elite Eight appearance.
Four All-Region players back.
I don’t need to make that one complicated.
Richmond Hill should be pretty good again.
LIBERTY COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
2025: 18-14 | 9-6 Region | State Playoffs
Here’s one I wouldn’t overlook.
Liberty County won 18 games and reached the state playoffs, and the Panthers have three bats coming back that caught my attention.
Senior Brighton Harpe hit .413 with 26 RBIs.
Senior Kayleigh Barnard hit .382, scored 34 runs and drove in 14.
Junior Layla Santiago hit .342 with 26 RBIs.
That’s three returning hitters who all batted better than .340.
The Panthers’ season ended against North Hall last year.
Can that returning offense help them stick around a little longer this time?
We’ll see.
BRYAN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
2025: 17-15 | 7-7 Region | State Playoffs
Bryan County has a couple of things every coach likes to have.
A hitter who can drive the ball and an arm that can keep you in games.
Senior first baseman Emily Johnson hit .463 with nine doubles, three home runs and 21 RBIs and earned All-Region honors.
Junior pitcher Lila Hannah posted a 1.48 ERA in 33 innings.
Then add junior Peyton Scott, who hit .337 with 19 RBIs and also earned All-Region recognition.
Bryan County won 17 games last season.
With Johnson back in the lineup and Hannah in the circle, there’s something there to build on.
SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN PREPARATORY SCHOOL
2025: 7-13 | 1-8 Region | State Playoffs
Savannah Christian isn’t coming into the season with the same numbers as the first few teams on this list.
The Raiders finished 7-13.
But they did reach the state playoffs, and they have two seniors returning who earned postseason recognition.
Carly Hubbard earned All-Region 3A Division I honors, while Remi Stallcup was also an All-Region selection.
For Savannah Christian, I’m interested in seeing how much better this team can get.
Seven wins last year.
What’s the number this time?
JENKINS HIGH SCHOOL
2025: 3-21 | 3-12 Region | Did Not Reach State Playoffs
Three wins doesn’t give you much to brag about.
Hitting .595 does.
Senior Ma’Kaiyah Gray had 25 hits and 11 RBIs last season while earning All-Region 3-3A honors.
That’s a bat worth knowing.
If Jenkins is going to turn some of those losses into wins, Gray gives the Warriors somebody to build around.
BRADWELL INSTITUTE
2025: 2-20 | 0-12 Region | Did Not Reach State Playoffs
Bradwell had a rough season.
No sense pretending otherwise.
But senior infielder Heather Garrett earned first-team All-Region 1-5A South honors, and that’s where I’d start with the Tigers.
One player can’t turn around a season by herself.
But having a proven senior in the middle of the diamond certainly doesn’t hurt.
Let’s see what Bradwell can put around her.
CALVARY DAY SCHOOL
2025: 1-15 | Did Not Reach State Playoffs
Calvary won one game last season.
So what’s there to watch?
Improvement — and maybe a player who can help get things moving in the right direction.
Junior catcher Page Stewart is one to watch after hitting .375 last season. In 16 games, Stewart had nine hits, scored 11 runs and drove in nine, with two doubles and a triple.
Those are some pretty good numbers to bring back behind the plate.
One player isn’t going to turn around a season by herself, but Stewart gives Calvary a returning bat to build around.
Now the question is who steps up with her.
The Cavaliers won one game last year.
Let’s see how much that number changes in 2026.
WHO MAKES SOME NOISE?
If you’re asking me where the conversation starts, take a ride up Highway 21.
South Effingham played for a state championship.
Effingham County won the region championship.
And you know they’re going to see each other again.
The Mustangs bring back eight starters, two proven pitchers and the reigning Region 1-5A South Player of the Year in Lynn.
The Rebels are replacing some big names, but they’ve been to Columbus four years in a row. Wiley has pitched in those games, and now Boyd and the next group get their chance.
Then there’s Richmond Hill.
The Wildcats were an Elite Eight team in Class 6A and return four All-Region players.
Liberty County has three hitters coming back who batted .342 or better.
Bryan County has Johnson’s .463 bat and Hannah’s 1.48 ERA.
And somewhere around Chatham, Bryan, Effingham or Liberty County there’s probably a player we haven’t mentioned who’s going to make us look pretty smart — or pretty dumb — for what we wrote in August.
That’s OK.
That’s what makes preseason stories fun.
We can look at last year’s records.
We can look at who’s coming back.
We can talk about batting averages, ERAs and postseason runs.
But nobody wins a game on paper.
So put the ball in the circle.
Let’s see who can make some noise.
Sources: MaxPreps 2025 team records and postseason results; Dennis Knight, Savannah Morning News, 2025 All-Greater Savannah softball coverage and 2026 players-to-watch information
(Top softball players to watch in Greater Savannah area for the 2026 season), July 30, 2026; Donald Heath, Effingham Herald, 2026 South Effingham and Effingham County season previews, Aug. 4, 2026.
Photos by Birk Herrath Photography
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