Playoff action is nearing its end for baseball and softball teams around the state with the district championships wrapping up last week.

Seven Lexington County teams advanced past the district round and played in the upper or lower state brackets.

This week,  one Lexington County team secured its spot in a championship series, with others to possibly join soon. 

In the 5A baseball bracket, Lexington and Dutch Fork won their district brackets and advanced to the upper state. Both teams advanced through the district without a loss, but one losing in the next round became an inevitability.

Lexington and Dutch Fork were matched against each other May 9 in the first game of the upper state bracket. The Wildcats defeated the Silver Foxes 6-5 in a thrilling game that could have gone either way.

The Wildcats scored three runs with two outs on the board in the bottom of the final inning to win. Brayden Jeffcoat doubled to tie the game at five before an overthrown pitch gave Tradd Burton the window he needed to book it home and score the game-winning run.

The loss meant the Silver Foxes faced elimination in their next game. Dutch Fork’s season officially ended May 11 with a 3-2 loss against Dorman.

Lexington beat J.L. Mann in its next game to advance to the upper state championship. There the Wildcats beat Lincoln Hill to advance to the state title series. 

The Wildcats begin the championship series this Saturday at home against the winner of the lower state champion.

The Lexington softball team joined their baseball peers in advancing past the district round. Chapin was another local 5A softball team that punched its ticket to the next bracket.

Lexington has yet to lose a game this postseason, beating Dorman and Woodmont twice before moving on to the upper state.

There, the team has posted wins against Clover and Byrnes and is now waiting to see who will win the elimination game between the two. The winner will get a rematch against the Wildcats in the May 17 upper state championship.

Chapin was upset by Cane Bay in its first playoff game and faced elimination for the rest of its district playoff run. The Eagles won its next three games, including a rematch against Cane Bay, to stay alive.

The Eagles beat Sumter for the District 5 title. Chapin had to beat Sumter not once, but twice to advance. Chapin breezed through both games, winning 8-1 and 20-10. 

Chapin won its first game of the lower state 5-4 against Berkeley. The Eagles lost their second game to Summerville and will again face elimination, with a rematch against Berkely scheduled for May 15 after the Chronicle’s press deadline.

Gilbert’s baseball and softball teams were the furthest advancing Lexington County teams in the 3A tournaments.

The softball team won its district, beating top-seeded Hannah twice while never facing elimination itself. The Indians went on to drop their first two games in the lower state bracket and were eliminated.

The baseball team’s season came to a close in a controversial fashion. The Indians played Beaufort in the district championship but heavy rain stopped the game.

Gilbert trailed 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth when the stoppage took place. Instead of rescheduling the game the league ruled the contest complete, giving Beaufort the win and ending Gilbert’s season.

Both Gray Collegiate’s teams won their district and advanced to the next bracket without losing a game.

The softball team guaranteed its spot in the upper state title series with wins in its first two games against Strom Thurmond and Saluda. The War Eagles will play the winner of the Strom-Saluda elimination game for a spot in the championship.

Gray has been dominant in the postseason and has blown out every team it’s faced. The War Eagles are outscoring opponents a combined 67-6 and have not allowed more than a single run in four straight games.

The baseball team experienced a similar start to its postseason journey, but the War Eagles now face elimination after losing its first game of the postseason against Mid-Carolina. Gray will have to beat Strom Thurmond if it wants to advance to a rematch series against Mid-Carolina and go to the state championship series.

The upper and lower state portion of the postseason will end this week. The state championship series will start this weekend for baseball teams and early next week for softball.