Two 5A Lexington County high school softball teams played with their seasons on the line Wednesday night with Chapin hosting St. James and Lexington traveling to Dorman.

Both games were rematches of their first games in Upper and Lower State bracket play. On May 12, Lexington defeated Dorman 5-2 and Chapin beat St. James 11-6 with both games being on the road.

With both teams losing their next games (Lexington to James F. Byrnes 10-0 and Chapin to Summerville 2-0), they were forced into elimination games.

Chapin’s walk-off win moves them to Lower State final

It took some late game heroics from Alyssa Brulport to save Chapin’s season and move the team into the Lower State final where it will once again face Summerville. This time, the team will be tasked with having to win twice in order to advance to the 5A state championship series.

Maddie McMillion wasted no time getting the Eagles on the board. Her line drive RBI single scored Taylor Palfrey and gave them a 1-0 lead and put runners on the corners with no outs. A double play and a pop out got St. James out of the inning. 

Up until the fifth inning, it was a relentless pitching and defensive duel as neither team could muster another run. 

In that fifth frame, St. James finally got on the board and took a lead with a ground ball single that scored two runs with two outs. The St. James lead was short-lived.

In the bottom of the fifth, Palfrey got on base with a single to represent the tying run. For the second time in the game, McMillion came up clutch with a base hit to score Palfrey and tie up the game. 

St. James threatened in the seventh when the team doubled with one out but pitcher Leah Cabe struck out the next batter and forced a ground out.

Chapin wasn’t able to put up any game-winning scores in the seventh, which took the game into extra innings with the season on the line. 

Cabe forced a groundout and a strikeout of the first two batters of the eighth. Two singles and a hit batter later loaded the bases with two outs. Cabe then got another clutch out, forcing a pop out to third baseman Reagan Haggard to get out of the jam.

In the bottom of the eighth, Eason Davis doubled to center to lead off the inning and put the winning run in scoring position. Aspen Mayers singled the next at bat and sent Davis to third. When Haggard drew a walk the next at bat, the Eagles had the bases loaded with no outs and Brulport up to bat. 

Brulport smoked a line drive up the middle to center to score Davis and give Chapin the thrilling 3-2 victory and give them another shot at Summerville.

This time, Chapin will have to hit the road to play the 29-1 Summerville Green Wave on Friday, May 19. A win will send them to a winner take all second game with a trip to the state championship series on the line.

Lexington’s season ends with loss to Dorman

The Lexington Wildcats experienced a different result during this trip to Dorman, losing 4-3 and ending their season in the Upper State bracket.

Gracie Scott was responsible for driving in all of the runs for Lexington with three RBI and a home run. Maya Drennon, Karley Shelton and Maggie Hinz all collected a hit as well.

Lexington’s 2023 campaign concludes with a 24-4-1 record to go along with a region and district championship.