The Lower State playoffs will be once-again well-represented by the "Iron Region". 
For the 3rd consecutive year, at least 2 teams from Region 5-5A will compete for a berth in the Class 5A championship.
River Bluff and Dutch Fork completed undefeated runs in their respective districts to set up a Lower State opener Thursday night in The Swamp. 
"I'm partial, but this region is the best region in the state," Gators' head coach Mark Bonnette. "When Lexington, as good a baseball team as they are, finishes 4th, that just tells you how a good it is. Iron sharpens iron. Everybody says that. That's the truth. We've been in a lot of battle-tested games, so we face a lot of good pitching. So, I think our guys are not afraid of the moment."
Also advancing to the Lower State finals in their respective classifications were Airport in Class 4A, Gilbert in Class 3A and Gray Collegiate Academy in Class 2A. Meanwhile, Region 5-5A champion n Chapin and Region 5-3A champion Pelion were defeated twice in their respective District finals at home and Batesburg-Leesville was eliminated from the Class 2A playoffs by Andrew Jackson with a Game 1 loss. 

River Bluff 10, Sumter 0
Playing in the Lower State final has become a tradition to the seniors at River Bluff High School.
The Gators will vie for a 3rd straight Lower State final title in their 4th consecutive appearance. 
In claiming a 3rd straight district title, River Bluff won all 3 games by a combined score of 18-2 with 2 shutouts. Against the Gamecocks, Braydon Fowler allowed just 4 hits and struck out 2 in 5 scoreless innings on the mound.
Alex Urban drove in 4 runs on a 2nd inning grand slam as part of a 5-run rally. Jacob Lebron had 3 RBI and 2 hits and Noah Lebron and Cameron Ferrell had 2 hits for the Gators. 
"We've been fortunate enough to play for a district championship 4 years in a row and win it now 3 years in a row," Bonnette said. "But I don't want everyone to take this for granted. It's hard to get here. We had to beat a lot of good baseball teams to be where we're at and we're playing in May. If you're playing in May, you've had a great year."
Bonnette was especially encouraged at the bottom of the lineup which produced 5 runs. Facing a "well-coached" team with a "lineup as good as anyone in the state" like Dutch Fork, Bonnette believes the Gators will need to everyone to step up. 

Dutch Fork 12, Fort Dorchester 2
Bryan Helms had 2 hits and he and Noah Jackson had 2 RBI as the Silver Foxes claimed the Class 5A Lower State District 8 title. 
The Patriots took a 2-0 lead, only to have Dutch Fork respond with 12 unanswered runs. Ty Olenchuk and Hugh Ryan each had 2 hits and Rhett Richardson and Nick Demasi combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innngs on the mound.

Gilbert 5, Hanahan 4 
The Gilbert Indians were battling for another district championship on Monday night. 
They fell behind Hanahan early on, 2-0. Those two runs were the first allowed by Gilbert in the Class 2A Lower State District 7 playoffs.
The Indians tied the game on an error by the Hanahan first baseman in the third. In the bottom of the fourth, a squeeze play by Joey Parker gave Gilbert a 4-2 lead. 
Zack Shumpert singled home a run in the 5th inning, which gave the Indians just enough breathing room. Hanahan scored two more runs, but Gilbert held on for the win.
 Cooper Branham got the win, pitching 6.1 innings and Zack Shumpert collected the save. “We’re just happy to continue to be playing,” head coach Ashley Burnett said after the game. “We hada lot of things go our way the last few games and players playing liked we thought they could.”
Zack Shumpert and Travis Elliott both went 2-3. 
Gilbert will open the Class 3A Lower Stat playoffs Thursday at Bishop England. 

Latta 14, Gray Collegiate Academy 2 (Game 1)
Gray Collegiate 11, Latta 2 (Game 2) 
The War Eagles rebounded from the Game 1 loss by rebounding from a 2-0 deficit in Game 2 and pulled away to claim its first-ever Class 2A Lower State District 7 title.
Matt Willis and Wyatt Keisler each drove in 3 ns in Game 2 and Keisler struck out 3 in 6 innings to lead Gray Collegiate. Jack Wood, Guy Epps and Bryce Sox each had 2 hits in the win. 
Gray Collegiate will face East Clarendon Thursday to open the Class 2A Lower State playoffs. 

Airport 3, Brookland-Cayce 2
Brandon Caughman held the Bearcats to 3 hits and Dalton Mims allowed just 1 hit in 2 innings of relief to lift the Eagles to the Class 4A Lower State playoffs for the 2nd straight year.
Adam Krissinger struck out 4 in 6 innings for Brookland-Cayce, who lost to their archrival for the 2nd time this post-season.
The newly-crowned District 7 champion Eagles will open the Lower State Thursday at Midland Valley. 

Summerville 7, Chapin 0  (Game 1)
Summerville 10, Chapin 0 (Game 2 - 6 innings)
The Eagles needed just 1 victory to advance to the Class 5A Lower State playoffs.
Instead, their quest for a 2nd consecutive state championship berth ended with back-to-back shutout losses. 
In Game 1, the Eagles were held to 5 hits by A.C. Heaton and committed 3 errors. Meanwhile, after striking out 6 times and managing just 1 run and 1 hit against Matthew Becker, the Green Wave scored 7 runs off relievers Dane Chirico and Drew Highfill. 
In Game 2, Chapin started pitching ace Cade Austin.  The University of South Carolina commit was touched for 7 runs and 3 hits as the Green Wave capitalized off 5 Eagle errors and erupted for 8 runs in the Bottom 6th to claim the district title.
Summerville will face St. James in the Class 5A Lower State playoffs. 

Andrew Jackson 13, Batesburg-Leesville 7

The Panthers were defeated in the Class 2A Lower State District 2 final by the Volunteers. 

Aynor 7, Pelion 4 (Game 1)
Aynor 6, Pelion 2 (Game 2)
The Panthers were swept in the Class 3A Lower State District 5 final by the Blue Jackets.