Blowfish christen new digs with a victory (+ video)
What started as a dream months ago became reality Wednesday night when the Lexington County Blowfish opened brand new Lexington County Baseball Stadium with a 6-2 victory against Gastonia in front of a sell-out crowd in their 2015 Coastal Plain League home opener.
Team owner Bill Shanahan was almost in awe of what he was experiencing in the $3 million sports and entertainment venue.
“I’m humbled by what I’ve experienced tonight at the new ball park,” Shanahan said as he was still taking well wishes from fans and dignitaries well into the game. “Lexington County has shown that they love their baseball and they love their Blowfish now and they love having their own hometown stadium. This is Lexington County’s green diamond jewel from this point forward.”
The evening began with a host of people from local military families to Lexington County Council and other dignitaries throwing out honorary first pitches. The start of the game was delayed for more than 30 minutes while this took place but the fans didn’t seem to mind enjoying a nice late spring night at the old Wildcat Hollow football stadium site on Ball Park road.
“It really doesn’t get any better than this,” Gilbert resident Don Adams said. “It’s a perfect night for baseball, and this town and community has needed something like this for a long time. Baseball is a big part of the surrounding communities, and I think the Blowfish will become an integral part of that moving forward.”
Once play began, the Blowfish overcame a shaky first inning to move to 2-0 on the season. The opener also featured the first ejection – Gastonia’s manager was tossed after arguing a called third strike in the sixth inning.
Pitcher Canaan Cropper, a South Carolina freshman from Salibury, Md., allowed two first-inning runs but settled down to pitch five innings. He allowed four hits, with six strike outs and no walks. He retired 12 in a row at one point.
The Blowfish scored single runs in the second, sixth and seventh innings, with a three-run outburst in the third. Tyler Lancaster drove in Lexington County’s first run with an RBI single to score Austin Garcia in the second. J.D. Crowe, a junior from Francis Marion, drove in the go-ahead run with a two-run single in the third. Crowe eventually scored on a passed ball.
Jared Williams, a former Gilbert standout and freshman at South Carolina, drove in the final run with a bases-loaded walk in the sixth. Madison Stokes, a freshman South Carolina infielder from A.C. Flora, drove in the final run with an RBI single in the seventh.
“I’m really excited right now about our offense and how we’re scoring runs,” coach Jonathan Johnson said. “Our doubles and home runs will come with more batting practice and getting comfortable with wood bats. We’re manufacturing runs. We taking walks, stealing bags and getting timely hitting.”
Johnson was pleased with the overall experience of opening the new stadium as well.
“It’s great to see Lexington County and the whole Midlands come out,” Johnson said. “We’re excited about having a family that loves us. Playing downtown, it was an in-and-out crowd with a decent fan base. What we have now will probably triple or quadruple the fan base we have. It was just an exciting time.”
Fans young and old left with smiles on their faces and a Blowfish victory. It was challenging for Shanahan to get to this point, but he seemed content with the success of opening night in front a crowd of 2,573.
“People like the wide open concourses, the vintage canopy grandstand and the memories of Wildcat Hollow’s grandstand,” he said. “We have the Wrigley Field style box seats, the drink counters, popcorn, and Cracker Jack’s. We have everything that anyone in small town America could want. We’re excited to bring baseball to Lexington County.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2015 at 11:24 PM with the headline "Blowfish christen new digs with a victory (+ video)."