Planting roots

I love the area and and I'd love to be here for as long as I can.”

New Lexington County Blowfish head coach K.C. Brown

Attendees at the Nov. 2 Lexington County Blowfish luncheon were made privy to the latest news surrounding the team and Coastal Plain League.

League commissioner Justin Sellers talked about the 2023 All-Star Show coming to Lexington County Baseball Stadium July 18-19. The two-day event will feature the league's top players in skills competitions culminating in the game itself as well as a Fan Fest. 

In two-plus decades, the league has seen an average of 2.5 players in its All-Star event go on to reach the Major League. Some former CPL All-Stars include Ryan Zimmerman, Kevin Youkilis, Alec Bohm, Nicky Lopez and Jake Cave. 

Former Blowfish pitcher Taylor Widener was an All-Star in 2015 and later debuted with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2020.

This is the third time the Blowfish have served as All-Star Game host. The last time was in 2018 in Lexington when former Blowfish Conner Tate won Hitter of the Game honors. 

Fans who purchase a 10-game, 15-game or full season ticket package next year will also receive tickets to both days of the All-Star Show. Single-day tickets for the event will be released ahead of the 2023 season opener. For more information, call the ticket office at (803) 254-3474.

Blowfish general manager Tony Baldwin also introduced new head coach K.C. Brown. The cousin of former University of South Carolina pitcher Jay Brown, K.C. started as a volunteer assistant for the Blowfish before becoming a full-time assistant this past year.

He also served in an interim capacity on occasion in place of Jonathan Johnson. Brown is the team's fifth head coach since 2018 and hopes to plant his roots at the position.

"That's the goal. Absolutely," Brown said. "And that's the thing that drew me to Lexington once I got in is it is a family atmosphere and it is everybody's really tight knit and I want to continue that and obviously with my cousin, I've got the family local ties, I love the area and I'd love to be here for as long as I can. Absolutely. It's beautiful."

Brown takes over a Lexington County team seeking its first Petitt Cup appearance since 2015. The Blowfish finished two games out of the final West Division playoff berth, stymied by a club-record 12-game losing streak.

"The winning streaks will happen,” he said. “It's just once the train gets off the tracks, hey, let's get back on the tracks as quickly as possible and stay away from those losing streaks because that'll keep you out of the playoff race."

Losing leads late in games is another problem Brown hopes to minimize this season, with one tactic being a push to sign "back in" pitchers to close out games.

Brown talked about several key players from the University of South Carolina, Clemson and Winthrop College returning to the team. He also spoke about former players from local high schools coming back, specifically former Irmo pitcher Aaron White. 

Brown hopes to finalize his team roster by the end of the month.

"I don't want a completely different team, you know," he said. "So just have some sort of continuity. With that said, the new guys, the high character guys, they're going to be guys that play different positions and guys that can fly around the field. We want to try to recruit a lot of speed."