The Lexington softball team lost the 5A state title to the defending champs from Summerville last week, concluding an exciting year for the program.

The Wildcats were outmatched by the Green Wave and lost the first two games of the title series by a combined score of 14-0. Lexington’s offense had the toughest time, earning just three hits in both games.

Part of the struggle was the strength of the competition on the other side. Summerville is led by ace pitcher and future Gamecock Ansley Bennett.

Bennett is the reigning Gatorade Player of the Year and helped lead the team to a perfect 30-0 record this season. In game one of the title match, Bennett threw a no-hitter with 13 strikeouts in the Green Wave’s 4-0 win.

Bennett pitched for four innings in game two. She conceded two hits this time, but still allowed no runs and had nine strikeouts in a 10-0 contest that was called in the fifth. Her production in the series was not limited to the mound recording an RBI in game one and hitting a home run to get the first points on the board in game two.

Game one was at Lexington with the Wildcats crowd showing out to support their team. For a little extra motivation, the championship-winning basketball team was honored and presented with their rings before the contest.

Lexington played Summerville as close as almost any team could this season. The Wildcats’ 4-0 loss was one of the closest games Summerville was in this season, despite Lexington’s inability to record a hit. For the year the Green Wave had been outscoring opponents 223-15.

The Wildcats held Sumemrville to six hits in the first contest but four errors and their own offensive struggles negated the success. Haley Manz got the start on the mound and pitched for five innings.

Naomi Little came in as relief in the sixth innings and gave Lexington a chance to get something going by holding Summerville hitless and runless. But Bennett’s performance made that chance disappear.

Game two at Summerville was not nearly as competitive, but Lexington did manage to get a few hits on the board this time.

Maggie Hinz, Robyn Craig and Sam Craigeach recorded a hit in the game, but they never reached home plate. The team was again facing Bennett. When she checked out, her replacement, Hope Chase, continued serving strikes, ending the game in the fifth after two strikeouts and a tag out.

Lexington had four pitchers pitch in four innings of action for the Wildcats. Little got the start but conceded six hits and three hits in the first inning. Grace Fonseca came on for one out in the second inning and was replaced with Manz. She pitched for the next two innings but allowed three runs on four hits. Haley Jones came on for the final two Lexington outs and only conceded one run.

Errors again proved costly for Lexington. The Wildcats had nine this time, while their opponent committed zero.

The loss concludes an exciting year for the Lexington softball team. The Wildcats finished the season 20-10, their most losses in a season in more than five years. But most of those losses came in either the postseason or the out-of-region schedule.

The team advanced further than they did the previous season and earned a spot in the championship series for the second time in the past three years.

Lexington will lose four players from this year’s group. Gracie Scott is committed to playing at Furman next season, Addison Hoffner will play at Tusculum University, Hinz is committed to Columbia College and Julia Nations is graduating with no current plans to continue playing.

The rest of the team is set to return for a chance at making it back to the championship and getting a shot at its first trophy since 2019.