Back for More: Lexington baseball headed to second straight championship series
Brandon Cromer put off having season-ending surgery for a chance to finish his senior year with Lexington baseball and play for another state championship.
The move has paid off as Cromer and the Wildcats are headed to the Class 5A Division I championship after a 15-3 win over Blythewood Thursday to sweep the best-of-three Upper State championship series.
Lexington will play the James Island in the best-of-three championship series beginning Tuesday at James Island. Game two will be at Lexington next Thursday with third game, if necessary set for May 31 at a neutral site.
“In the last three or four weeks, he is seeing it as good as anyone in the state right now,” Lexington coach Brian Hucks said of Cromer. “His batting practice has been incredible and it is a reason why he is a South Carolina commit. He is locked in right now.”
The Wildcats, who have won 13 straight playoff games dating back to last season, are looking for their second straight state championship and trying to become the first team since the state went to five classifications to win back-to-back baseball titles in the largest classification.
Summerville is the last school to win back-to-back championships in the highest class when the Green Wave won 1977-78 championships when 4A was the largest class.
Getting a chance to repeat was a big factor for Cromer, a South Carolina signee who will have Tommy John surgery early next month, put off having the surgery.
Cromer had a big night in the series clincher, belting a pair of home runs and driving in six runs.
Cromer’s first homer, a two-run blast, put the Wildcats up 4-2 in the fourth after Blythewood had tied the game in the top of the inning. He finished the scoring with a three-run homer in the sixth in the run-ruled victory.
In the series’ two games, Cromer was 5-for-5 with three home runs and eight RBIs.
“I’m just having fun,” Cromer said. “I don’t have much time to play left with my surgery. So, I am just having fun. … And I wouldn’t be able to do the things without the guys behind me.”
The Wildcats broke open a tight game with a seven-run fourth inning to go up 11-2. Christian Spivey and Lincoln Hill each had two-run singles in the inning. Freshman Allen Hegler and Bryce Mobley also had RBIs.
Spivey finished with three hits. His two-out single in the fourth kept the inning alive before Cromer hit his first homer of the game.
“That two-out home run probably drove the nail in the coffin on us,” Blythewood coach Travis Poole said. “You give up a big hit with two outs and it is hard to overcome that.”
Each Lexington starter had at least one hit and the Wildcats finished with 15 for the game.
Grant Kissner picked up the win, allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings. The senior struck out five and didn’t walk a batter.
“The story was Grant Kissner,” Hucks said. “He threw six innings and just 61 pitches. We told him we wanted to attack and we didn’t want any free bases. That is what he did and we played great defense behind him.”
Amare Counts led Blythewood with a pair of solo home runs. Counts’ blast in the fourth inning tied the game at 2-2. Catcher Macon Leppert also had two hits for the Bengals.
Junior Johnny Collins took the loss. The Bengals finished the season with a 24-7 record in Poole’s second season since coming to SC from Weddington High in North Carolina.
“They had a tremendous year,” Poole said of his Blythewood squad. “I would be willing to say that a lot of people didn’t think we could be where we are at. They worked hard all season and all offseason to be here. I appreciate everything every one of them did.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 9:12 PM.
