JUSTIN HALL

The second-half surge continued for the Lexington County Blowfish this past week.

After falling at home to the Savannah Bananas on Wednesday, the Blowfish won back-to-back road games by a combined score of 18-6.

Lexington County now holds a road record of 8-10 and appears to play better in opposing ballparks.

The offense has garnered much of the attention since the second half of the season began. However, Lexington County received 3 quality starts last week to help them to a 2-2 record.

On July 10, Shane Connolly (The Citadel) went 6 innings, scattering eight Savannah hits and surrendering just 1 run.

The bullpen squandered the 3-1 lead in the 9-3 loss, but Connolly gave pitching coach Shawn Torbett exactly what he was looking for.

“Shane really changed speeds well tonight and kept hitters off balance,” Torbett said after the game. “If he gives us that every time out, I really like our chances to win the games he starts.”

The next night, the split squad scrimmage garnered the attention of the home crowd. While one Lexington County team played host to the Catawba Valley All-Stars, Jared Drayton dazzled in Savannah after the Blowfish jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first inning.

Drayton tossed 5 innings, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits as the Blowfish cruised to a 9-3 win at Grayson Stadium.

The following night, the Blowfish travelled down I-20 to take on the Florence RedWolves.

Brett Fulk, already molding into his usual late season form, maneuvered his way through a game that could have easily gone the other way.

The RedWolves put the leadoff man on base in each of the first eight innings. Fulk shut down Florence, allowing just 1 unearned run during his 6 innings of work.

There was a lengthy rain delay this past Saturday with the first pitch against Florence occurring just after 9:00 pm.

The RedWolves won the back and forth affair 7-4.

“We had three great starts from our pitching staff this week,” head coach Marshall McDonald told me. “Two resulted in wins, which means we didn’t lose ground in the division and still control our own destiny.”

The Blowfish sat at 6-4 in the second half of the season. As of Monday, they were virtually tied with the Macon Bacon (5-3) for the top spot in the Coastal Plain League South Division.

This week is an important one for Lexington County. It began this past Tuesday with the first of with 4 straight games within the division, 3 on the road.

“It’s one game at a time for us,” McDonald said. “We’ve battled through plenty of injuries this season, so we’ll continue to fight every night and keep positioning ourselves to win the second half.”

Lexington County returns home for two 7:05 pm games this weekend. The Blowfish play host to the Florence Friday night for “Lion King Night” and then it’s “Man on the Moon Night” on Saturday as the Forest City Owls come to The Lex.