LEXINGTON COUNTY BLOWFISH

The 2018 season ended on a rainy, disappointing note for the Lexington County Blowfish.

A walkoff loss to the Florence RedWolves was squeezed between two straight rainouts to end the season. This past Saturday’s cancelled game against the Macon Bacon ended with the Blowfish holding a 2-0 lead in the Top 2nd.

Lexington County finished with a 17-31 overall record, placing in last in the 4-team Coastal Plain League South Division. It was a campaign which had its highs from the introduction of the Pancakes’ jerseys in contest against the newcomer Bacon and playing host to the All-Star Show in which Connor Tate became the first-ever Blowfish MVP.

“Hosting the first ever collegiate All-Star Game in Lexington County had a positive impact on the local businesses from restaurants to hotels as the Coastal Plain League All-Star Players, coaches, families and fans traveled from four states-Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia,” Shanahan said. “In addition, all Major League Baseball teams were represented by their scouts at the 2-day event. Plus the game was televised nationally live to over 20 million households across the nation and was also streamed live on mlb.com .

There were also the lows of a sub .500 home record and leading the league in errors (100).

Despite a second straight losing season, Blowfish co-owners Bill and Vicki Shanahan were confident of a turnaround in 2019. In fact, they predicted a playoff berth next year for Lexington County prior to the season-ending Fireworks in the Sky Show.

“(We plan to) assemble a team that will play sound, fundamental baseball,” Shanahan said. “Build strong relationships with college coaches from whom we recruit from. We will build a team from the bottom up, establishing a strong foundation and not only make it to the CPL playoffs but Win the Coastal Plain League Championship in 2019.

“Our General Manager Theo Bacot (who played baseball at East Carolina) is working with Coach (Marshall) McDonald in the scouting and recruiting of players for next season which will provide a number of new networking opportunities for the players that fit the Blowfish mold.”

In addition, Shanahan plans to hire an experienced pitching coach to “mentor and work with the pitching staff consistently.” The Blowfish ranked last in six of the seven CPL pitching categories.

The team will also continue to motivate the players on the “fundamentals of the game each and every day to help them to be 100 percent prepared for each and every game.”

During the off-season, Shanahan said the Blowfish will continue to be deeply involved with their community outreach programs all year long from the Lexington County Chili Cookoff, Annual St Patrick’s Shamrock Parade to the Easter Sunrise Service and Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast.

“Hank Aaron once said ‘Consistency is what counts; you have to be able to do things over and over again,” Shanahan said. “My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.”