The baseball and softball seasons are underway in Lexington County as a handful of local teams jump out to a successful start. 

Many of the county’s 5A teams have excelled against their competition on the baseball field and will be looking to separate themselves from the rest of the group as region games begin. 

Chapin, Dutch Fork, Lexington, River Bluff and Irmo are all a few games above .500 and are in solid form early on. These teams, plus White Knoll, will officially begin region play this week. 

While non-region success can be a good confidence boost, it is the region games that have the most postseason implications. These next few games will be crucial to determining how the final region standings shape up. 

Irmo will face Lexington and Dutch Fork will host Chapin this Thursday. Next week, Irmo will play River Bluff in just some of the few critical matchups down the road. 

Like 5A, many of the local 4A baseball teams have looked good through the first few games. 

Airport and Gilbert enter this week a combined 13-3. Both have already played a couple of region games and dominated their competition. 

The Eagles defeated Aiken 7-2 at home in their region opener. The team then traveled to Aiken and won 15-3. Airport swept South Aiken in its second region series of the season, winning game one 4-1 and game two 16-0. 

Gilbert earned back-to-back shutout wins over North Augusta to begin region play last week. The Indians won game one 10-0 and game two 5-0. In the second series, the team swept Aiken, outscoring the Hornets 18-2. 

A couple of other Lexington County teams are off to a successful start in the lower classifications. Swansea begins this week 6-1 after outscoring opponents 88-13. Pelion got off to a 4-2 start and began region play this season. And in their first varsity season, the American Leadership team began this week 4-2 overall. 

Like with baseball, many local softball teams are playing at a high level right now. 

Airport, Gilbert and Gray Collegiate are among those teams playing solid softball. None of the three entered this week with more than one loss, and all are outscoring their competition by a large margin. 

Gray, the defending 2A state champions, is in its first season at the 4A level. Gilbert was in 3A last season and joined Gray in moving up a classification. Airport was one of the few teams to remain in 4A after the latest realignment. 

Any of those three teams can compete for the region championship. All three are talented and are coming off a series win to begin the region schedule. 

Other softball teams to keep an eye on this season include Lexington, who entered the week 4-1, Pelion, who was 6-1, and Irmo. 

With the season still in its early stages, every team is still in contention and can improve. Those teams who got off to a slow start can recover and work their way back up the standings. 

This week will feature a mixed slate with a few exciting matchups and some lopsided ones. Things should get increasingly interesting moving forward as teams find their identity.

Big Performances 

Ellie Beers drove in five runs on three hits, including two triples in the American Leadership softball team’s win over Broome.

Bryce Derrick gave up no hits or runs and struck out six batters in a shortened four-inning game as Pelion’s baseball team defeated Ridge-Spring Monetta 19-0. 

Ariana Feliciano recorded five RBIs after going three for three from the plate in the Airport softball team’s shutout win versus Aiken. 

Jarvis Jackson drove in five runs and homered in the fourth inning as the Dutch Fork baseball team beat Dreher. 

Aspen Boulware hit a home run and two triples in the Gray Collegiate softball team’s win over Dutch Fork.

Tanner Watkins had a triple and two doubles for Batesburg-Leesville’s baseball team in a win against Silver Bluff. 

Upcoming games to watch 

Baseball 

Irmo vs. Lexington - March 20

Dutch Fork vs, Chapin - March 20

Northside Christian vs, Richard Winn Academy - March 20

Irmo vs. River Bluff - March 25

Softball

Batesburg-Leesville vs. Strom Thurmond - March 20

Pelion vs. Saluda - March 21

Gibert at Midland Valley - March 24

White Knoll vs Irmo - March 25