The baseball and softball season is almost finished in Lexington County with the last few games taking place this week before playoffs begin.

This week will be about finishing strong and building momentum before the postseason. Many teams in Lexington County are competing near the top of their regions and will use these final games to try and earn the most favorable seeding possible.

On the baseball side of things, Chapin and Lexington continue to fight it out for the region title. The teams were separated by half a game at the start of this week and each have one more series to finish things off.

The Eagles have an advantage right now, sitting at 7-2 overall in region entering this week, but Lexington has played one more game to hold a 7-3 record.

Both teams won the first game of their current series. Lexington took down Dutch Fork 8-1, and Chapin beat River Bluff 7-2.

Dutch Fork and River Bluff are playing for third and fourth place, which is the difference in having to play a one-seed or two-seed in the first round. River Bluff was at a disadvantage entering this week, so it will need Dutch Fork to lose an extra game to jump them.

Gilbert clinched its region title last week after splitting a series with second-place and fellow Lexington County school, Brookland-Cayce.

The Indians lost the first game 5-4. Dylan Mcnchok tripled in the bottom of the seventh with the game tied at four and advanced the game-winning runner to home plate.

Gilbert bounced back from that loss a few days later and took care of business, winning 6-1 and clinching the region championship.

Northside Christian also clinched their region title on the SCISA side of things. The Crusaders are 12-3 this season and went undefeated in conference games.

Batesburg-Leesville, Pelion and Irmo’s baseball teams are competing for positioning in the standings, sitting in the top three with opportunities to move up or down, depending on how these games go. Earning a two-seed would mean playing a lower seed in round one; anything below second means playing a higher seed.

The softball season is still very close with many regions featuring a Lexington County team still wide open.

Lexington, Chapin and Dutch Fork all started this week with two region losses. The Wildcats were a half-game up, holding five region wins compared to Chapin and Dutch Fork’s four.

Dutch Fork and Lexington will play each other April 26 at Lexington in the final regular game for both teams. Chapin plays River Bluff that same night in an equally important game to the standings.

Irmo is in third place half a game behind Lugoff-Elgin and one behind A.C. Flora. The Yellow Jackets conclude their season this week with a two-game series against Lugoff-Elgin.

Irmo needs to win both games if the team wants to move up in the standings.

Gilbert and Pelion are in a similar position as Irmo, but do not have the same opportunity to win their regions. Both teams will play their final region games this week with hopes of earning a two-seed for the playoffs.

Swansea clinched its region last week, finishing a perfect 10-0 against its opponents.    

Gray Collegiate has also already wrapped their region due to forfeits. The War Eagles found replacements for those games and are 25-2 overall at the start of this week.

Big Performances

Dylan White went 4-5 from the plate for Irmo in a game against Westwood, hitting three doubles and driving in four runs.

Savanna Padgett had two home runs for Pelion last week in two games against Silver Bluff.

Trevin Garner earned a win on the mound for Chapin last week after pitching six innings of relief, allowing no runs and just three hits while striking out six.

Maddox Long hit a go-ahead home run for Gray Collegiate in the top of the seventh against during a 4-3 win against Berkeley.

Beau Hollins drove in the game-winning run for River Bluff after connecting on a pitch from Dutch Fork in the bottom of the ninth.

Games to Watch

Chapin vs. North Augusta softball — April 25 — 7:15 p.m.

Gray Collegiate vs. Legion Collegiate baseball — April 25 — 7:30 p.m.

Lexington vs. Dutch Fork softball — April 26 —5:30 p.m.

Chapin vs. River Bluff baseball — April 26 — 6:30 p.m.