The American Legion baseball season concluded its regular season last week and the playoffs are already underway. 

The three Lexington County teams all finished in the bottom three of League 3 but still earned playoff spots in separate double elimination brackets. 

West Columbia Post 79 finished in third place and was the highest seeded Lexington County team in League 3 with a 5-7 league record and a 10-10 record overall. Chapin Newberry Post 193/24 finished right behind them, also with a 5-7 league record. Lexington Post 7 finished fifth with a league mark of 2-10 and an overall mark of 4-10. 

For the playoffs, West Columbia and Chapin Newberry were placed in the Midlands Region. West Columbia defeated Anderson 12-6 in their first game to advance to the winners bracket of the Midlands Region. Gray Collegiate’s Blaine Redmond picked up the win on the mound, Mason Turner collected two hits with one being a home run and the trio of Brent Stukes, Peyton Starkey and Corbin Wright all collected a pair of hits each during West Columbia’s offensive explosion. They lost their second playoff game to Camden in a close 6-5 battle. Parker Mergo and John Allen Forrester both collected two hits each while Robert McMillan and Connor Wood both hit doubles.

 Lexington lost to Easley in a close 6-5 match-up in their first game, putting them in an elimination game against Easley on July 12. Lexington saves their season with a clutch 8-6 win thanks to a pair of RBI from Wyatt McPherson and a 2-4 game at the plate from Patrick Evans.

With Lexington winning their elimination game and West Columbia dropping their first game of the tournament, they will face off in an elimination game July 14 at Lexington High School after the originally scheduled July 13 game at Brookland-Cayce was rained out.

Chapin Newberry was placed in the Upstate Region with Richland, Greenwood and Greer. They dropped their first game to Greer 4-2 despite a solo home run from Vinny Santostefano and an RBI from Liam Davenport. Jace Martin struck out six batters during his time on the mound. Their season ultimately came to an end after their close 6-5 loss to Greenwood in an elimination game.

Region bracket play will continue through Friday July 14 and state tournament play will begin Tuesday July 18. The state championship is scheduled for July 23 at Francis Marion University.