Richmond Hill dropped a 7-4 decision to Effingham at home Monday night and will be the No. 2 seed in the Region 2-AAAAAA tournament. Bryan County, meanwhile, dropped two games to Vidalia last week and was knocked out of the Region 2-AA tournament.
The Rebels scored three times in the top of the seventh inning to break a 4-4 tie and earn the No. 1 seed.
“They were more consistent than us tonight with their hitting,” Wildcats Coach Angie Hummeldorf said afterward. “We had some timely hitting, but it was sporadic.”
Richmond Hill will host Brunswick at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Brunswick beat Glynn Academy Tuesday night for the No. 3 seed in the region tournament. The winner advances to the region tournament finals at Effingham with a double-header Thursday at 4 p.m. and the "if necessary" game at 4 p.m. Friday. Wednesday's loser will be the No. 3 seed in the region heading into the state tournament, while Glynn is the No. 4 seed from the region.
“Our goal is to win Wednesday and get another shot at Effingham,” Hummeldorf said. “But we have to be ready. In this region, anyone can beat anyone else at any time.”
Richmond Hill trailed 2-1 after one inning Monday. Adriana Garrett and Hayley Taylor both reached base on Rebel errors in the bottom of the first, and Hannah Fitzgerald’s blooper to right field loaded the bases. Garrett scored on a fielder’s choice by Maddie Gorsuch.
Effingham went up 4-1 in the fifth inning on a two-run homer, but the Wildcats tied the game 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth. Fitzgerald led off with a double, followed by a double from Gorsuch that advanced Mackenzie DeLanghe — pinch running for Fitzgerald — to third.
Cheznie Schuman’s double scored DeLanghe and Gorsuch, and she advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Katie Snyder. Schuman would then score on a single by Brianna Harrison to tie the game.
Richmond Hill is now 11-9 overall and finished region play at 7-3.
Bryan County
The Redskins lost 10-0 and 8-0 to Vidalia in the first round of the Region 2-AA tournament last Thursday after having won five of their last six regular-season games. They finished at 15-11 overall and 6-6 in the region.
“It was a very challenging season,” Coach Al Butler said. “The weather backed us up a great deal. For the last three weeks of the season we were playing nearly every day. I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish with getting to 15 wins.”
Butler said the Redskins often had three freshmen and two sophomores on the field and just one senior, pitcher Shelby Barfield, who has verbally committed to play at Georgia Southern.
“We’re definitely going to miss Shelby in the circle,” Butler said. “Georgia Southern is getting one special kid whose attitude for softball is contagious.”