This month, Lexington County high school baseball teams got the chance to make their playoff pushes with aspirations of making it to the state championship game. For the Airport Eagles, that opportunity went away from them on the day of their scheduled opening round playoff game before ever taking the field.

As the 4A state playoffs were set to begin in the South Carolina High School League, the Airport Eagles were disqualified from the playoffs after an investigation concluded that they had played an ineligible player. 

SCHSL Commissioner Dr. Jerome Singleton told the Chronicle that an investigation was initiated the day after their Region IV-4A second place tiebreaker game against South Aiken on Thursday, April 27. In that game, the Eagles beat South Aiken 5-4 to earn the second place in the region and set up a first round playoff game against Easley. 

Singleton said that they got an anonymous phone tip alerting them of the infraction, which he said they then took to the school to conduct an investigation.

“What we did was, we looked at it and sent it to the school and shared with them that we got a call about an issue and asked them to look into it,” Singleton said. 

Singleton went on to confirm that Airport High School and their athletic department were fully cooperative in the investigation and self-reported the infraction upon learning of the anonymous tip sent to SCHSL. 

“All of our member schools are cooperative,” Singleton added. “I don’t think anybody goes into it with the intention of violating.”

The investigation was swift and with the notice of allegations being relayed to Airport on April 28 a ruling was released publicly on May 2, the scheduled date of the Eagles’ first round home playoff game. 

The Eagles went from the joy and elation of a thrilling, one-run win to earn second place in the region and a home playoff game to having their season come to an abrupt end four days later. 

Lexingotn County School District 2 released a statement following the ruling:

“An Airport player believed cleared for eligibility to play baseball was found ineligible by the SCHSL. The mistake was inadvertent, and while there will be no fines or penalties for next season, Airport’s baseball team will not be able to participate in the upcoming playoffs. We know this is not the way this outstanding team of players, coaches and staff hoped to finish the season, but we remain proud of all they’ve accomplished.”

Airport Head Coach Casey Bradwell declined to comment on the ruling. 

The Eagles closed the 2023 season with a record of 19-7 overall and a region record of 5-2.