One of Georgia's winningest active baseball coaches, Todd Eubanks leaves South Effingham
GUYTON — Although he lived only five hours away, Todd Eubanks didn’t get a chance often to see his daughter and 5-year-old granddaughter.
“We’d talk on video chat, but that’s not the same as being there,” Eubanks said.
So he made a decision much harder than waving runners home from his third-base coaching box against a powerful arm in the outfield. After four years at South Effingham, Eubanks — one of the state’s most successful baseball coaches — decided to take a job at Woodland High School in Cartersville.
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“It was a decision 100% based on family,” Eubanks said. “I wasn’t looking for (another coaching job), and I’ve enjoyed the (Effingham) area, the community and the support I’ve received here, but this is a chance to come back home and be a grandfather.”
Eubanks ranked 23rd in wins among active high school baseball coaches in Georgia coming into the 2022 season, according to Georgia Dugout Preview. With another 23 victories this spring, he has a career record of 486-267.
During his tenure in Guyton, his teams bought into his small-ball style of play — looking to manufacture runs with bunts, hit-and-runs and by putting baserunners in motion — and compiled a 77-41 record. He took over a team that finished 16-16 in 2018 and went 17-15 in 2019, 10-3 in COVID-shortened 2020, 27-11 in 2021 and 23-12 this season.
The Mustangs won the season series against rival Effingham County the last three years.
This spring, the Mustangs — who had been ranked among the top-10 6A schools in the state — were tied for first in the Region 2-6A standings entering the final week of the regular season before slipping to fourth.
In the state tournament, SEHS knocked off Region 4’s No. 1 seed Westlake before losing to eventual state runner-up Allatoona 2 games to 1 in a best-of-three Sweet 16 series.
The 2021 SEHS team tied a school record with 27 wins and advanced to the Elite Eight.
“I feel like I’m inheriting a good situation (at Woodland). It reminds me of when I came to South Effingham,” said Eubanks, who also will be the school’s head softball coach.
And he knows the Bartow County area (about 45 minutes north of Atlanta) after coaching twice at Cass High School (located in nearby White) — the first time as an assistant before becoming the baseball coach from 2007-10.
Woodland’s baseball team finished the spring with a 15-18 record, fourth in powerful Region 7-5A (Cartersville was the state champion) and advanced to the state tournament.
The softball team was 19-15-2 (third in the region) but got hot at the right time and won two series and advanced to the Final Eight in Columbus.
Eubanks was an assistant softball coach at South Effingham.
“I enjoyed coaching the girls. I enjoyed coaching the baseball team and I’ll be watching them (from afar),” Eubanks said. “I’ll be rooting for them.”
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: South Effingham High School baseball coach heading to Woodland
