Teams in Lexington County have spent the last few weeks finding their footing and settling into the season. Now, the year is about halfway through, and with most teams taking a break this week, the end of the season will be here soon. 

Region competition has straightened up the standings and the contenders have found ways to stand out from the pretenders. 

On the baseball field, Airport won its region title with a win over North Augusta. The Eagles went undefeated against conference opponents and will finish the season with some non-region games after the break. 

Gilbert is also undefeated and on the brink of capturing the title for their region after earning wins over Orangeburg-Wilkinson. The team is 14-2 overall and boosted its record with non-region wins against Spring Valley and Williamsburg.  

The Indians shut out Orangeburg-Wilkinson in the first game 5-0 after an inspiring performance from pitcher Scott Hardy. He went for five innings, gave up no hits, walks or errors, and got 10 strikeouts in the process.

Chapin is off to a strong start and looking to end even better. The Eagles have just one loss, coming two weeks ago to region rival Lexington, and will be more rested than the rest of the competition having taken this past week off as well. 

Defending 5A state champions River Bluff is looking to adjust after a middling start to the season. The team is 9-6 entering this week and has split its first two region series losing to Lexington and beating White Knoll. 

Dutch Fork is 3-0 in the region after sweeping their series with White Knoll. 

Batesburg-Leesville picked up two wins and a loss to improve their record to 10-4. The team started the week with a 14-5 win over Swansea and then went on to split games with Fox Creek. 

The Gray Collegiate War Eagles advanced to 13-1 with a narrow 4-3 win over Hayes on March 26. M.J. Hornsby and Drew Webber each had two hits.

Gray scored one run in the first inning, two in the second and one in the fourth to jump to a 4-0 lead. Hayes remained scoreless until the final inning and then gave Gray a massive scare, scoring three runs. 

The Hayes effort came up short as Gray secured the final out of the game and secured a win. 

After some early up-and-down games, softball teams around the county are beginning to add wins and emerge as threats in their region. 

Lexington improved to 11-3 after playing six games last week. The Wildcats went 5-1 in those games, including a region win over White Knoll. 

The other four wins came against Hannah, Timberland, Daniel and Dorman. The loss was in an 8-7 battle against Midland Valley. 

Chapin is right on the Wildcats’ trail, sitting one game back in the region with a loss to Lexington in the head-to-head. The Eagles played four games last week and went 3-1, beating Dutch Fork, White Knoll and Nation Ford. 

The lone loss was against fellow Lexington County opponent Gray Collegiate. The War Eagles are also one of the hottest teams in the area, having played 20 games and sitting at 18-2. 

Gray easily handled Chapin, winning 12-2. Kaley Anderson and Aspen Boulware both hit home runs and six other players recorded a hit as the War Eagles left victorious. 

The War Eagles have already won their region title due to forfeits, so these games are just to increase their experience before playoffs. The team will take advantage of a week-long rest before getting back to action.  

Swansea, Pelion, Irmo, Gibert and Airport are all .500 or better entering this week. With the end of the final stretch of the season sitting on the other side of spring break, their return to the diamond should include a sense of urgency to finish on a high note. 

Big Performances

Scott Hardy pitched a perfect game for Gilbert against Orangeburg-Wilkinson and earned 10 strikeouts while doing so.

Andee Dicks had three hits in four at-bats, including a home run in the sixth inning, for Chapin in the team’s region win over White Knoll.

Jackson Cionek hit a three-run homer in the first inning for Lexington in their 16-12 win over River Bluff last week.

Livi Warren hit a go-ahead home run to put Lexington up 10-8 against Dorman during the Wildcats’ win on March 30.

Raleigh Salters went a perfect 4-4 in his at-bats with three RBIs on March 29 to help Dutch Fork advance past White Knoll.

Games to watch

Chapin at Northwestern baseball — April 4 — 10 a.m.

Lexington at Dreher — April 4 — 3:30 p.m. 

River Bluff at TBD baseball (tournament game) — April 4 — TBD

Chapin at Blythewood baseball — April 5 — 3:30 p.m.