Defending state champion Lexington riding momentum into SC baseball playoffs
The Lexington baseball team is building momentum as the playoffs near.
The Wildcats clinched the Region 4-5A championship on Friday with an 8-2 win over rival River Bluff. It was Lexington’s fifth region title under coach Brian Hucks and the Wildcats look like they can make another deep playoff run.
The Wildcats won the Class 5A championship last year and have their eyes set on another one this year.
“That is the first goal,” Hucks said. “We have a lot more goals we can accomplish. But winning this region is tough and you can never take it for granted. It is a grind every freaking game. Incredibly, proud of them.”
Lexington split its first region series with Irmo but dropped only one conference game the rest of the way. The Wildcats, who finished third in last week’s Forest Acres Classic, have won 11 of their last 13 games.
Lexington lost a few key members from last year’s championship squad and new faces have stepped up this season, including pitcher Reidar Carlson. The sophomore retired the first nine batters he faced and allowed just two runs on two hits while striking out four in 5 ⅔ innings.
Carlson’s fastball hit 91 MPH during various times against the Gators.
“Reider’s been incredible all year,” Hucks said. “He has been composed, under control. Nothing fazes him. He threw strikes and let the defense play behind him.”
Grant Kissner led Lexington with three hits and an RBI. Logan Blight, another player who has stepped into a bigger role this season, had two RBI singles for the Wildcats.
“We started out a little rocky,” Blight said. “We just went on a run and it is a good group of guys. We have each other’s back. … And we have a young group of kids who put up runs on the board so it is a good group all the way around.”
South Carolina signee Brandon Cromer added two hits while Allen Hegler and Bryce Mobley each had an RBI.
Lexington scored runs in each of the first three innings and blew it open with a four-run fifth inning to lead 7-0.
With the region wrapped up, the Wildcats have their eyes set on a possible No. 1 seed for the Class 5A Upper State playoffs which begin next month. Lexington is guaranteed a bye for the first round and has three regular-season games left which could boost their MaxPreps RPI, which is used to determine seeding.
Lexington plays River Bluff again on Saturday in a non-region game but finishes out the regular season with a two-game series against Blythewood next week. The Bengals are currently the No. 1 team in the Upper State in the RPI rankings.
“Playing here is special,” Hucks said. “I feel like if we get on a run, who knows how the RPI shakes out but it will be close.”
Maddox Free led River Bluff with two hits and an RBI and Ashley Powell also had an RBI.
River Bluff has to wait until Monday to find out its region finish. The Gators lead Chapin and Dutch Fork by a half-game for second in the region standings. Dutch Fork and Chapin each have makeup games.
If it ends in a three-way tie, River Bluff will finish fourth in the region.
Friday Highlights
Gilbert 3, Gray Collegiate 2: Hudson Williams’ walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth helped the Indians (20-3, 13-1) clinch the No. 1 seed from Region 4-4A. Gilbert leads Airport, which plays Brookland-Cayce, on Monday, but holds the tiebreaker over the Eagles.
Cooper Price led Gilbert with two hits. Chase Starkey was 1-for-2 with an RBI for Gray.
Batesburg-Leesville 8, Saluda 2: Brayden Hallman threw a complete-game and also drove in two runs as the Panthers clinched the Region 3-2A title.
It was Batesburg-Leesville’s first region title since 2008. Hallman struck out eight and allowed two runs on six hits. Jack Bouknight was 3-for-4 with two RBIs while John Sawyer had two hits and two RBIs.
Ben Lippen 13, Hammond 6: The Falcons scored nine runs in the first inning to win the SCISA 1-4A title.
Breon Earle hit a grand slam and David McElveen added a two-run homer for Ben Lippen.
Brewer Lamotte homered twice and Colt Babic also homered for Hammond.
This story was originally published April 25, 2025 at 9:13 PM.
