The season decided to Lexington County is coming to a close.

For most of the 40 games, the Lexington County Blowfish have proudly worn jerseys with the name of their home county on the front and its towns and cities on the back. In addition, the team has held dedication nights to showcase those respective locales and invited their residents to see the action at Lexington County Baseball Stadium.

What they’ve witnessed is a Blowfish team which has battled its way into position for a Petitt Cup playoff berth for the 1st time since 2016. With 3 games remaining starting Thursday against the Spartanburgers, Lexington County finds itself in position to achieve that goal in 2 possible ways:

•Finish 1st in the 2nd half West Division standings

•Have the 2nd best overall record in the West Division should Savannah win the 2nd half after claiming the 1st half division title.

Each goal still appears attainable despite Monday’s 10-6 loss against the Florence Red Wolves. A victory would have not only moved the Blowfish within a half game of idle Savannah, but also given it the prized trophy for winning the Interstate 20 series.

The final stretch begins with a home-at-home series starting at 7:05 Thursday in Lexington against the Spartanburgers. The Blowfish have dominated the regular-season series with the Coastal Plain League newcomer (formerly the Gastonia Grizzlies), winning 9 of the 10 games.

It’s a different story against Saturday’s regular-season finale opponent. The Blowfish are 2-9 this season against Savannah, including a 1-4 record in Lexington.

The lone victory, however, took place on July 23 in dramatic fashion. After surrendering a go-ahead 2-run homer in the top of the 9th, the Blowfish rallied for a 9-8 walkoff victory in the bottom half of the inning on Riley Cameron’s 2-out, 2-run double.

Should the Blowfish earn the 2nd playoff berth, it’s reward is a visit to Grayson Stadium Sunday to start a Best-of-3 series with the Bananas. Game 2 would take place in Lexington with Game 3, if necessary, back in Savannah, Ga.

The winner will then face the East Division champion in a Best-of-3 final round series starting Aug. 5.

Regardless of where the Blowfish finish, they have accomplished a feat under 1st year head coach Fico Kondla. Lexington County will have posted back-to-back winning regular seasons for the 1st time since moving from Columbia in 2015.

Jersey Auction

Along with the possible significance of a playoff berth on the line Saturday against Savannah is the auction of this year’s Lexington County Blowfish jerseys.

Currently on the team’s website (www.goblowfishbaseball.com), fans can place bids on the 36 special jerseys worn by the players during this season.

Registration for the auction is also available at the website. The bidding ends at 9 pm Saturday and proceeds will benefit various Lexington County charitable causes such as Leadership Lexington County.

“Tigerfish” in Lexington

Last season, the University of South Carolina made its continued strong presence on the Blowfish roster with contributions from 4 players who were selected in this year’s Major League Baseball draft.

This year, it’s the talent from state rival Clemson University who’ve made an impact on the team.

Tiger teammates Dylan Brewer and Tyler Olenchuk of Dutch Fork rank 1-2 in batting average, separated by .002. Brewer leads the team in stolen bases (12) and is tied with Colby Seltzer for the team lead in hits (35).

Olenchuk has not only provided timely offense with 2 game-winning hits during the 2nd half of the season. In 6 appearances on the mound, he has a 2.36 earned run average with 19 strikeouts.

Ricky Williams of River Bluff has thrown the most innings by a Blowfish pitcher (34 1.3 innings) to go with 25 strikeouts and a 2.09 ERA.

He threw 3 scoreless innings, struck out 3 and allowed just 1 hit in this past Sunday’s start against the Spartanburgers.