Another week of baseball and softball has concluded in Lexington County and a few teams are flexing their muscles after a stretch of spectacular play and wins. 

The River Bluff baseball team begins this week as one of the hottest teams in the area. The Gators are riding a seven-game win streak and have scored at least 10 runs in four of their last five games. 

Last week, River Bluff added three wins, beating White Knoll twice to start region play before shutting out Mid-Carolina 12-0. 

Walker Godwin was on fire from the plate during this stretch, recording six hits and nine runs across the three contests. 

While River Bluff is off to the best start out of the six teams in its region, all of the other competitors are only a few games back and can just as easily go on their own runs. 

Irmo is another team in the area that started hot. The Yellow Jackets could give River Bluff a run for its money as the two teams will play a two-game series this week. Irmo has won five of its last six games, losing only to Lexington as the teams split their region-opening series. 

Dutch Fork and Chapin also split their series last week. 

Outside of the county’s 5A teams, Airport, Gilbert, Swansea and Batesburg-Leesville look like region title contenders in their conferences. 

Airport and Gilbert will have to go through each other and a few other teams in their region if they want to be crowned champions. The Eagles and Indians will play twice next week, giving one team an advantage over the other.

Swansea is off to a 10-1 start this year and picked up three wins last week. The Tigers are preparing for a tough stretch of region games where they will try to prove they are the team to beat in the conference. 

The team will play Fox Creek, Newberry and Silver Bluff in six of its next seven games. This stretch will make or break the team’s season and can put them in the driver’s seat down the road. 

There have not been as many dominant softball teams as there have been baseball teams in Lexington County during the early parts of the season.

 A few teams, though, are worth noting. 

Lexington, Airport, Gray Collegiate and Gilbert all begin this week with only a few losses between them. 

Lexington has played a step above its fellow region-mates so far, and will now have the chance to chase its fourth region title in five years. The Wildcats picked up consecutive shutout wins over Chapin and Irmo last week to get things started. 

Airport, Gray and Gilbert are competing in the same region for the first time ever after statewide realignment moved Gilbert up from 3A and Gray up from 2A. 

None of the teams have played each other yet, but that will change soon with Airport and Gilbert set to play twice next week. Gilbert and Airport won’t see Gray until April during the final few weeks of the season. By then, all three teams will have played more games and created separation from each other. 

Big Performances 

Livi Warren hit a home run and had three hits, three runs and four RBIs in Lexington’s win over Chapin.

Makenzie Sease earned the win on the mound for Gray Collegiate while also being an effective hitter, finishing the game with seven strikeouts, zero runs allowed, no walks, two hits from the plate and a home run. 

Preston Coggins struck out 12 batters while playing a full seven innings as Brookland-Cayce beat North Augusta.

Walker Godwin hit a grand slam in River Bluffs' 12-0 win over Midland Valley.

Ainsley Minchew finished with 10 strikeouts while allowing just two hits in five innings of work as Gilbert shut out South Aiken. 

Brice Gillette had four RBIs on two hits in Airport’s 13-1 win over Midland Valley.

Upcoming games to watch 

Baseball 

River Bluff vs. Irmo - March 27

Lexington vs. Chapin - March 27

Gilbert vs. Airport - March 31

Swansea at Fox Creek - April 1

Softball

Lexington vs. White Knoll - March 27

Pelion vs. Batesburg-Leesville - March 28

Airport vs. Gilbert - March 31

Brookland-Cayce vs. Gray Collegiate - March 31