Six Lexington County high school baseball teams won their playoff openers on Tuesday while some were pushed to the brink of elimination in the losers bracket. Thursday night, some teams advanced to the final of their district grouping while some fell to the losers bracket to fend off elimination over the weekend. 

The losers from Tuesday night were forced to play in do-or-die games Thursday night to avoid an early playoff exit.

5A

River Bluff

The River Bluff Gators took care of business in their playoff opener as Thomas Powell tossed six complete innings, striking out nine while not issuing any walks and not surrendering any earned runs in an 8-3 win over Stratford.

Walker Mitchell, Beau Hollins, Weston Grant (3) and Logan Busbee (2) all drove in runs to give Powell enough run support to cruise to a win and place them in the winners bracket.

With Sumter upsetting West Ashley in dramatic fashion Tuesday night, River Bluff got the luxury of hosting Thursday night’s winners bracket showdown. 

In the game against Sumter, it was the Matthew Garris show. The left-handed pitcher tossed a complete game in a one-hit shutout, striking out eight and only allowing one walk.

“The story tonight is Mattie Garris,” Gator Head Coach Mark Bonnette said after the game. “He came out and battled and gave us a complete game which allows us to really set our pitching for the district championship. He probably threw about ten more pitches than what we usually go. I think he was right at 107, which is good for him. But what I’m saying right now is he competed his butt off for us.”

Garris got the run support to get the win from a few sources Thursday night. Hollins smacked a solo home run out to right center field in the opening inning to give RBHS a 1-0 lead. 

In the third inning, a throwing error at third base led to Garrett Sanders scoring the second run of the game.

The game was blown open in the sixth inning thanks to another run scored via Sumter throwing error (this time it was Busbee who crossed home plate for the Gators) as well as a two-run RBI double from Colby Reynolds to give the Gators a convincing 5-0 lead. Garris sealed the deal in the top of the seventh to secure the shutout victory and put River Bluff in the finals of the 5A Lower District 6 bracket.

“We’re in a good spot, it’s where you want to be,” Bonnette said. “Nothing is over yet, obviously, and you still gotta go take care of business on Monday but it’s where everyone wants to be.”

River Bluff will play the winner of Sumter and Stratford on Monday. Either Sumter or Stratford will have to beat River Bluff twice on Monday in order to advance out of the district.

Lexington

The Lexington Wildcats also took care of business in their playoff opener against Mauldin, winning by a score of 4-2 at home Tuesday night. 

Mauldin jumped out on Lexington early, putting up two runs in the second inning but a two-run fourth and fifth inning helped the Wildcats avoid an early upset. 

Gabe Herold had a big night, going 3-for-3 at the plate with a solo home run while scoring two other runs.In all, Herold crossed home three of the four times the Wildcats did. 

In the second game Thursday night, the Wildcats secured their spot in the 5A Upper District 2 finals with a 7-3 home win over Dorman.

Lexington scored three runs in the second inning to give the team an early 3-1 lead. The Wildcats tacked on additional runs in the third and fourth innings as well as putting on two insurance runs in the sixth to secure the 7-3 win.

Herold was the big home run hitter Tuesday night but on Thursday night, it was Landon Knight who stole the show, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI. 

Lexington will await the winner of Clover and Dorman in the district final on Monday. 

Chapin

The Chapin Eagles had arguably the most impressive playoff opening win with a dominant 18-0 victory over Socastee.

In the winners bracket, Chapin faced off against Region VI champ Berkeley. The Eagles picked up a huge win and sent Berkeley to the brink of elimination with a 2-0 win. 

Like River Bluff and Lexington, Chapin will play Monday in their district finals.

Dutch Fork

The Silver Foxes lost a close game in their playoff opener to T.L. Hanna 4-3.

The loss forced them to play in an elimination game Thursday night against James F. Byrnes where they earned a 7-1 victory to keep their season alive. 

The Silver Foxes will now play Saturday against Fort Mill following their 3-2 loss to T.L. Hanna. The winner of that matchup will have to beat T.L. Hanna twice on Monday.

White Knoll

White Knoll went 0-for-2 in the 2023 postseason after dropping the opener to Carolina Forest by a score of 11-4 and then losing to Ashley Ridge by a score of 13-1.

4A

Irmo

The Irmo Yellow Jackets saw their season end after only two postseason games.

The Yellow Jackets fell in the first game to James Island by a score of 11-0. The loss to West Florence Wednesday night officially ended their 2023 campaign.

3A

Brookland-Cayce

The Region V-3A champs cruised through their opening playoff game against Battery Creek, winning 8-1.

In the winners bracket, it took some late-game heroics to propel the Bearcats into the district finals. Facing Waccamaw, the Bearcats led 1-0 for most of the game until the top of the seventh inning when Waccamaw tied things up going into the bottom of the seventh. Then Hayden Thomas happened.

Thomas hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to send Brookland-Cayce into the district finals on Monday where they will await the winner of the losers bracket game. 

Gilbert

The Gilbert Indians got shutout in their opening playoff matchup against Beaufort 4-0 Tuesday night. 

On Thursday night, Gilbert saved their season with a shutout win of their own against the Region VI-3A champs, Lake City.

The win for Gilbert sets up a game Saturday against Loris, who fell 7-3 to Beaufort Thursday night. The winner of that game will travel to face Beaufort on Monday and must beat them twice to advance out of the district. 

2A

Gray Collegiate Academy

The Eagles of Gray Collegiate run-ruled Landrum in their playoff opener on Wednesday 10-0. Pitcher Blaine Redmond picked up the win to move to 5-1 on the season.

Offensively, the Eagles were led by London Spires and Brent Stukes who both collected two hits on the afternoon. 

Gray continued their dominance in the winners bracket with another shutout win over Saluda, 11-0. 

The Eagles will play Monday for a chance to advance past district play.

Batesburg-Leesville

The Panthers lost a heartbreaker in their playoff opener Tuesday night against Saluda 9-8.

Batesburg-Leesville started strong with a three-run first inning with runs from Tucker Bolen, Cole Price and Cade Bouknight.

Saluda came back with a run in the bottom of the first to cut the lead to two runs. The Panthers tacked on another run before a three-base error in the bottom of the third cut the lead back down to one run at 4-3.

The Panthers' offensive firepower continued with a Price home run in the top of the fourth. John Sawyer drove in Braydon Hallman later in the inning to extend their lead to 6-3. Saluda scored in the bottom half of the inning and again in the fifth to trim the lead back down to one at 6-5.

The scoring escalated in the sixth inning when Gavin Parrish hit a two-run home run to center, giving Batesburg-Leesville an 8-5 lead going into the bottom of the sixth. Saluda put on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it a one-run game going into the final frame.

After the Panthers went scoreless in the top of the frame, they got Saluda down to their final out with the bases loaded. A wild pitch scored two runs to give Saluda a walk-off win and sent Batesburg-Leesville into the losers bracket.

The Panthers bounced back in the losers bracket with a season saving 6-3 win over Landrum Thursday night.

This sets up the rematch from the thrilling game against Saluda on Saturday, with the winner playing at Gray Collegiate on Monday in the district final. 

Pelion

The Pelion Panthers had a dominant showing in their opening playoff game with a 10-0 win over Keenan, advancing them into the winners bracket in 2A Upper District 1.

The Panthers faced Blacksburg, which was coming off a 9-5 win over Abbeville Tuesday night, in the winners bracket. The Pelion bats showed out once again in their 10-3 win to send them to the district final.

Pitcher Jaiden Myers got the win with an impressive statline which included a complete game, only three hits surrendered and 13 strikeouts.

SCISA Class 3A

Northside Christian

Northside Christian’s playoff run concluded after two close losses that went to extra innings.

On May 1, they fell to Carolina Academy 3-2 in eight innings to send them to the losers bracket where they faced Greenwood Christian. 

Northside’s season officially came to a close May 3 when Greenwood got the best of them 5-4 in nine innings.