It’s win-or-go-home for baseball and softball teams in Lexington County as the SCHSL and SCISA playoffs begin this week.

26 baseball and softball teams from the county will be in action this week. Among those 26, nine teams are scheduled to host at least one playoff game.

Action got going early this week with games starting April 29. The area’s two 4A baseball teams were in action with one winning and one losing.

Airport defeated Westside 6-2 at home to advance. The Eagles trailed 2-1 for most of the game, but a five-run sixth inning put them on top, where they remained the rest of the game. Brice Gillette went 2-3 at the plate, hit a home run and brought in three RBIs.

The Eagles are hoping to take advantage of their positive seeding and find redemption after being eliminated from the playoffs last year due to a clerical error.

Irmo traveled to May River in round one but lost 8-2, ending an up-and-down year for the Yellow Jackets.

Other teams around the county were scheduled to start playing Tuesday or Wednesday after the Chronicles press deadline. Some teams will look to fulfill their expectations, while others hope to exceed them.

Chapin’s baseball and softball teams are poised to make a deep run after winning both region championships. The Eagles’ baseball team finished the regular season 20-5 while winning its last seven conference games. The softball team went 17-5.

Right behind the Chapin baseball team are River Bluff and Lexington. These two teams have a shot to make a deep run. The Gators are the defending champions, and Lexington finished the season 15-1.

The Wildcats and Dutch Fork softball teams are also expected to be competitive in this year’s playoffs. Lexington and Chapin had identical region records, but the Eagles owned the tie-breaker. Dutch Fork finished a game behind.

Gray Collegiate’s baseball and softball teams begin their playoff journeys as No. 1 overall seeds after their region competition forfeited their games. The teams found new opponents to stay ready for the playoffs and had a successful season, posting a 56-8 combined record.

This will be the War Eagles’ final run in 2A before transitioning to 4A play next season.

Gilbert baseball and Swansea softball earned top seeds as well. The Indians finished region play just ahead of Dreher and Brookland-Cayce to win the conference. Swansea was 10-0 against conference foes and will hope that play is sustainable against postseason competition.

Playoff schedule

Thursday

Lexington baseball vs.  Rock

Dutch Fork baseball at Fort Mill

Chapin baseball vs. West Ashley

River Bluff baseball at Sumter

White Knoll baseball at Carolina Forest

Gilbert baseball vs. Beaufort

Brookland-Cayce baseball  at Waccamaw

Pelion baseball at Fairfield Central 

Gray Collegiate baseball vs. Saluda

Batesburg-Leesville baseball vs. Liberty 

Friday

Airport baseball vs. Greer

Lexington softball at Woodmont

Dutch Fork softball vs. Mauldin

Chapin softball vs. Fort Dorchester 

White Knoll softball at Carolina Forest

Airport softball vs. Lancaster 

Irmo softball at West Florence 

Swansea softball vs. Beaufort

Gilbert softball at Hanahan

Brookland-Cayce softball at Battery Creek

Batesburg-Leesville softball at Columbia 

Gray Collegiate softball vs. Ninety-Six 

Pelion softball vs. Liberty