Top baseball teams to watch in the Greater Savannah area midway through the 2025 season

The high school baseball season is in full swing with a number of teams from the Greater Savannah showing they have the potential to make some serious noise in the playoffs this year.

Effingham County has been one of the biggest surprises in the state as the Rebels have posted a 19-3 record (through Tuesday's action) after finishing last season with a 10-20 record.

Calvary Day is looking strong once again after reaching the Class 3A state finals last season.

Here's a look at the top teams from the Greater Savannah area as the playoffs loom at the end of April.

Calvary Day

The Cavs are coming off a run to the Class 3A state finals last season where they lost to Harlem. The Cavs stand atop the Region 3-3A standings this year with a 13-6 overall record and 6-0 mark in the region. With the GHSA's reclassification this year, the Cavs will be headed to play in the Class A-3A playoffs when the postseason rolls around.

The Cavs are coming off a spring break trip to Las Vegas where they played in the Bishop Gorman Invitational in Nevada, where they went 2-2 against some top competition.

In his 11th season as the head coach at his alma mater, Phillip Lee recently picked up his 200th career win.

"I had no clue that I got to 200 wins," Lee said. "But those are team wins and I have to credit our players and my coaches for the success of our program."

Senior Ryan Wallace leads the pitching staff with a 4-1 record and an ERA of 0.93. Scottie Budrow is 2-1 with a 2.02 ERA and the Cavs also have lefty Quinn Johnson (2-1, 2.84 ERA), Cutter Powell (1-2, 3.04 ERA) and Noah Bauer (2-1, 1.87 ERA) in a staff noted for its depth.

Sam Renshaw leads the team with a .465 average and centerfielder Max Arnold is hitting .400, with Dalton Kelley hitting .311 with a team-high 17 RBIs.

Region 3-3A has been divided into sub regions and Calvary is competing with Long County, Islands, SE Bulloch and Liberty County in their region.

"We're a lot deeper on the mound than I thought we would be this year after losing two pitchers to graduation," Lee said. "And we lost five seniors who played really big roles, which left some question marks this year. But we've filled them in and are playing well.

"The trip to Las Vegas was a really cool experience," he said. "We got to play against some of the top teams in the country and had a great time just hanging out together. We had a Bed and Breakfast where all 25 of us were able to stay. We had a pool table, a pool and a basketball court and everyone had a great time."

Savannah Christian

The Raiders are 10-8 overall and 3-1 in Region 3A Division I play. SCPS is getting inspirational play from senior Harding Dennis, who was hit in the face with a line drive when pitching in February. He returned back to the lineup wearing a protective helmet.

Dennis, who has signed to play at Georgia College & State, is red hot at the plate with a .533 average and 17 RBIs. He is 3-1 on the mound with a 3.77 ERA.

Chase Boyer is hitting .327 with a team-high 19 RBIs. Junior Brody Schuman is hitting .478 and Ethan Jones is 2-1 on the mound with a 2.75 ERA.

Effingham County

The Rebels have emerged as one of the state's top team as they have posted a 19-3 record with a 6-1 mark in Region 1-5A's North subregion play.

The Rebels offense is red hot averaging 8.7 runs per game. The team batting average is .342 with senior center fielder Jacques King leading the squad with a .446 average (statistics through Tuesday). His classmate, Aiden Garcia, is hitting at a .421 clip, with Ryan Wells, the senior who has signed to play football at Army, hitting .369 and senior Will Floyd batting .380 and junior Kaleb Pendley hitting .407.

The pitching staff has been just as strong — posting a cumulative ERA of 2.37. Junior Kyle Thomas is leading the way with a 5-0 record and an ERA of 1.77 and a pair of shutouts. He has 43 strikeouts in 31 2/3 innings. Senior Luke Edwards has been a strikeout machine by fanning 51 batters in 26 innings, while posting an ERA of 0.27 and a 4-0 record.

It has been an incredible turnaround for the Rebels, who finished last season with a 10-20 record.

Benedictine

The Cadets are in the hunt for a playoff spot in the rugged Region 1-4A. Benedictine has a 10-9 overall record and a 3-4 mark in the region.

Mason O'Neil has been swinging a hot bat for the Cadets. The junior went 5-for-11 with four RBIs in a recent series with Wayne County. Junior Colvin Proto has been pitching well for the Cadets, who feature senior leader Landon Ludwig, who has signed to play at Davidson.

Islands

The Sharks are 7-10 overall and 2-2 in region play. Islands has a standout catcher in senior Dylan Gordon, who has signed to play at Gordon State. Gordon is hitting .372 and has thrown out 13 would-be base stealers. Dylan Stewart is hitting .298 with a pair of homers and Jacob Meza is hitting .304. Jack Young leads the pitching staff with a 2-0 record and a 2.63 ERA.

Jenkins

The Warriors are 13-5 overall and 6-0 in sub-region play after beating Bryan County 7-6 on Tuesday to extend their win streak to nine games.

The Warriors, coached by veteran Seth Gaspin, have already won more games than last season — when they went 11-15.

DJ Rohan, who moved from Wisconsin with his family to Savannah, has been an impact player for the Warriors. He is hitting .467 with 29 runs and 14 RBIs, while also playing a big role on the mound. Freshman Pedro Fabian is hitting .512 with 18 RBIs, while senior Marquis Bush is hitting .455 with 19 stolen bases in 12 games.

The pitching staff is led by sophomore Ronald Dunham, who is 4-1 with a 2.47 ERA and senior Sam Best (3-0, 1.12 ERA).

Bryan County

Former Benedictine assistant Kyle Farmer has his squad playing well with a 12-7 overall record and a 9-2 mark in Region 3A Division II play.

Freshman Gunner Ennis leads the team with a .417 average and 16 RBIs. Sophomore Eli Koskela is hitting .400, with the duo also serving as the top two pitchers on Farmer's staff.

South Effingham

The Mustangs are in the hunt for a playoff spot currently sitting in fourth place in Region 1-5A south subregion with a 12-8 overall record and a 6-4 mark in region play.

Senior shortstop Dalton Redmond, JT Barkley and Collin Harvey have been playing well for the Mustangs.

Richmond Hill

The Wildcats are playing well in the state's highest classification with a 13-7 overall record and sit in a tie for second in the Region 1-6A standings with Tift County with a 6-4 mark.

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Here's a look at the top Savannah area high school baseball teams in 2025