The Lexington softball and Dutch Fork baseball teams won SC High School League Class 5A titles on the same day nearly a year ago.

Both teams entered this year aiming to repeat as state champions. Unforeseened circumstances pre

Unforeseened circumstances prevented the Lady Wildcats and Silver Foxes from defending their titles.

“I felt great about our chances,” Lexington head coach Laurie Epps said.

“We felt that, despite losing 11 seniors, we were poised to make another run this year,” Dutch Fork head coach Casey Waites said.

Lexington softball

The Lady Wildcats brought back 7 of 9 starters from last year’championship team.

The core of that team were seniors, led by University of Arkansasbound pitcher Allie Light, 1st baseman Skyler Logsdon, Game 3 hero 3rd baseman Saige Stanley and leftfielder Savannah Shannon, who was returning from an ACL injury.

“The biggest challenge was keeping us humble and focused,” Epps said. “We knew this year would be even more challenging so remaining focused and playing 1 pitch at times was huge for us.”

Their nemesis White Knoll provided an early ‘wakeup’ call for Lexington.

The Lady Timberwolves blanked the Lady Wildcats 4-2 on April 29 in the final of the Varsity Blues championship held by Lexington.

It was White Knoll’s 8th straight win over Lexington dating back to 2016. The Lady Wildcats ended the streak 11 days later in a 7-0 shutout win at home.

Ashley Causey belted 2, 2-run homers and Light allowed just 2 hits and struck out 9.

A couple of nights later, Light fanned 12 in what proved to be her final high school start in a 7-1 win over Cardinal Newman.

“It was heart breaking not being able to defend our title this season,” Epps said. “We have a great group returning next year and we hope to be a program that is in the hunt year after year.”

Dutch Fork baseball

Coach Waites had good reason to have confidence in his returning de fending champions.

“Our pitching staff was loaded with talent,” he said. “We returned (Clemson signee) Ty Olenchuk, Doug Webb, Balir Rogers and Sam Hatcher, all of which were critical in our run in 2019. We also had Dante Chirico, a transfer from Chapin, along with Luke Kennedy, Daniel Cosola, Ellis Hunter and Kevin Samonsky.

“Our pitching was going to be our strength. Paul Pridgen had emerged as a power hitting first baseman and had 2 home runs in our first 3 games. In the field, we had seniors Jay Kirkland,Lawson Brand, Jared Newell, Luke Kennedy and Blair Rogers. We also had Blake Martin who was playing infield and also had a home run. At catcher was Collin Shealy and Cooper French.

“Finally, we began the season with juniors Evan Stone and Jay Metts injured but coming back in the weeks to come. Both of these guys are college caliber players. Jay Metts was batting over .500 in the preseason before being injured.

The biggest concern for Waites was competing in arguably the best Class 5A baseball region in South Carolina. Of the 5 teams in Region 5-5A, 4 were ranked in the Baseball Coaches Association’s preseason Top 10 Class 5A rankings.

“They all had Division 1 pitchers, deep teams and the best coaches in the state,” Waites said. “The 2020 Region 5-5A was the deepest and best region I’ve seen in my 23 years coaching.”

Dutch Fork learned early the formidable nature of the region.

The Silver Foxes were swept by preseason top-ranked Chapin, getting outscored 20-0 in the 3 games.

The suspension of spring sports soon after prevented Dutch Fork from proving themselves title contenders. Through these difficult times, Waites has tried to keep an upbeat approach.

“I wouldn’t use the word disappointed to describe not getting to defend the title,” Waites said. “Nobody’s playing this year.

“I have tried to remain positive in communicating with our players and encourage our seniors to approach the next chapter in their lives with passion, self-discipline, and enthusiasm.

“I simply have an empty feeling of not being able to see and talk with our players and their families from varsity to our B team and watching them make memories together.”