Things are starting to get serious on the field around Lexington County as games begin to matter more.

Soccer and lacrosse teams from Lexington County played in their first region games last week, with many seeing early success. While still early, these games are a step in the right direction for these teams. 

On the soccer pitch, the Brookland-Cayce girls soccer team jumped out to a 2-0 region start after picking up wins over Lower Richland and Orangeburg-Wilkinson. The team also picked up non-region wins over Batesburg-Leesville and Westwood last week. 

The victory over Batesburg-Leesville marked a major milestone for head coach George Knox. He got his 100th win following a 3-0 Bearcat. 

Brookland-Cayce is on a six-game shutout streak entering this week. In the four contests last week, the team won by a combined score of 26-0. 

The most dominant win was an 11-0 win over Westwood. Hailey Jiminez-Cortez scored three goals and added two assists for the Bearcats to lead the team in the victory. 

Jiminez-Cortez put up those same numbers the game before against Lower Richland. The sophomore was scoreless against Orangeburg-Wilkinson but had two goals and an assist against Batesburg-Leesville. 

The Airport and Gilbert girls also earned region wins last week. The Eagles defeated Midland Valley 7-0, and the Indians beat Orangeburg-Wilkinson 12-0. 

The overall record may not be as clean, sitting at 5-6, but like the girls, the Brookland-Cayce boys are also off to a 2-0 region start after wins over Lower Richland and Orangeburg-Wilkinson. The Bearcats have looked up and down at times but dominated their conference foes winning the games by a combined score of 11-0.

Swansea and Gilbert are also undefeated in the same region after respective 2-0 and 1-0 starts last week. These two were scheduled to meet early this week for a must-see contest that will boost the winner’s momentum moving forward. 

On the lacrosse field, some teams faced their first region challenge of the season. 

The Lexington boys are in first place in the conference after a week of play. The Wildcats went 3-0 against region foes beating Chapin, River Bluff and White Knoll. 

The Wildcats narrowly defeated Chapin and River Bluff, winning both games by a point, 8-7. The game against the Gators went to overtime before it was decided. 

Greysen Rewis led the Wildcats against Chapin with three goals. The next game, three Lexington players scored two goals in the River Bluff game. Hudson Wood had two, Ian Lewis had two and an assist and Wyatt Wilson had two and two assists.

Chapin and River Bluff’s losses put them in a tie for second place. Each team will play a region game this week before meeting on March 18. 

The girls side is just as competitive as the boys with Chapin holding a slight lead over their conference foes. The Eagles are 2-0 after picking up wins against Lexington and Dutch Fork. 

The win over Lexington was crucial and could be big come the end of the season. The Eagles beat the Wildcats 17-10 after an eight-goal, three-assist performance from star player, Brooke Holmes. 

Chapin blew out the Silver Foxes the following game 20-3. 

Lexington sits in sole possession of second place after picking up two region wins to pair with their Chapin loss. The Wildcats beat River Bluff 17-11 and White Knoll 27-1. 

The River Bluff win gives Lexington the tiebreaker moving forward, which could be very important when seeding is determined. Izzy Saville scored five goals and two assists, while Bella Adler and Katy Graham scored four. 

Things got started on the diamond last week. While most teams are just getting going, others have come out the gates on fire, stacking wins early.

The Airport baseball and softball teams are the lone county team to have already played a few region games. The Eagles are off to a good start in both sports sitting at 7-1 and 4-0 in their region for baseball and 2-1 overall and in the region for softball. 

The reigning 5A baseball champions from River Bluff are off to a 3-2 start. The Gators picked up wins over Gilbert last week but dropped a non-region contest to Lexington. 

Lexington beat River Bluff 5-4 in the Opterra Solutions Invitational Championship. 

The Wildcat baseball team is not the only squad from Lexington excelling on the diamond. The softball team is 3-1 after splitting two games last week.

Lexington lost to A.C. Flora 10-2 on March 4. The group quickly bounced back and beat North Augusta after some late-game heroics from Robyn Craig.

Craig had a walk-off hit to give her team a 5-4 win. The hit was her second out of four plate appearances in the game. 

Another team that had a game go down to the wire was Dutch Fork. 

The Silver Foxes begin the week 1-0 after beating Wando last week. Dutch Fork trailed for most of the contest and won in walk-off fashion.

The team was down by six runs entering the final inning, and the game looked all but over. But the Silver Foxes came howling back, setting up a game-winning single for Lillie-Grace Moore.

This week figures to be just as exciting as last week for all sports. 

Soccer and lacrosse teams will move further into region play, with those not already in it starting soon. Baseball and softball teams will continue testing themselves with out-of-region games, except for a few teams, like Gilbert, which plays region games this week. 

All the teams are hoping to stack more wins. 

Big Performances

Brooke Holmes finished with eight goals and three assists for Chapin’s girls lacrosse team in their pivotal win over Lexington.

Hailey Jiminez-Cortez had two three-goal, two-assist games for Brookland Cayce’s girls soccer team last week.

Jeremiah Banks Smith scored five goals and added an assist in the River Bluff boys lacrosse team’s victory against White Knoll. 

Robyn Craig went 2-4 on the day and had a walk-off hit against North Augusta to give Lexington softball their second win of the season. 

Juel Rivers had a hat trick for Swansea’s boys soccer team in the Tigers’ 9-2 win over Lower Richland.

Landon Jeffcoat hit a home run and brought in two runners for Airport during the baseball team’s sweep-clinching win over Aiken. 

Games to watch

Girls lacrosse River Bluff vs. Dutch Fork - March 14 - 7 p.m.

Boys lacrosse Dutch Fork vs. River Bluff - March 14 - 7:15 p.m. 

Softball Irmo vs. Airport - March 14 - 7:15 p.m. 

Baseball Airport vs. Midland Valley - March 15 - 7 p.m. 

Girls soccer Chapin vs. Lexington - March 15 - 7 p.m.

Boys soccer Brookland-Cayce vs. River Bluff - March 15 - 7:15 p.m.