By Thomas Grant Jr.
Rain forced the Lexington County Blowfish to reshuffle its schedule.
Following an exhibition game against the Kingsmen Friday, the Blowfish played host to a doubleheader Sunday against the Florence Flamingos.
Game One saw Lexington County fall into a 3-0 hole after one inning. Starter Charles Herring retired one batter and walked five before he was replaced by Yates Brand.
The Blowfish tied the game in the third inning with a 3-run rally. Blake Martin of Dutch Fork and Phillip Ard had back-to-back RBI singles and Drake Amick had an RBI sacrifice fly.
Florence regained the lead at 5-3 in the top of the fourth on a bases-loaded walk and double steal. It added a run in the fifth and sixth innings and Peyton Watts had a two-run double for Lexington County to round out the scoring in a 7-4 loss.
The Blowfish earned a split with a 5-1 victory in Game Two. Starter Kevin Steelman held Florence scoreless through the first five of his six-inning performance, allowing two hits and striking out four.
Landry Mead provided all the run support needed in the second inning when he cleared the bases with a grand slam. Walker Mitchell of River Bluff also drove in a run.
On Sunday, the Blowfish headed to North Carolina to face High Point-Thomasville. Lexington County scored three runs in the Top 9th to take a 6-5 lead.
The Hi-Toms responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 7-6 victory. Jonathan Jaime and Mead both had three hits and Gilbert graduate Ashby Vining had two hits and two RBI.
On Monday, the Blowfish returned home and rallied for a 10-5 victory over the Macon Bacon. Down 3-1 in the fourth inning, Lexington scored four runs highlighted by a 3-run double by Drake Amick.
He added a leadoff home run in the sixth inning and scored on a fielder’s choice by Parker Mergo to help extend the Blowfish lead to 10-3 in the seventh. Amick finished 4-5 with three runs scored and three RBI.
Lucas Highberger started the game for Lexington County. He struck out four and allowed three runs and four hits in four innings for his second victory of the season.
The Blowfish will now embark upon a five-day, seven-game schedule this week with six oad games.
LEXINGTON COUNTY BLOWFISH SCHEDULE
THURSDAY – at Macon Bacon 7 p.m.
FRIDAY – MACON BACON 7 p.m.
SATURDAY – at Forest City Owls 6:30 p.m.
SUNDAY – at Forest City Owls (DH) 4 p.m.
MONDAY – at Florence Flamingos (DH) 5 p.m.
Photo by Lexington County Blowfish – Lexington County Blowfish centerfielder Wells Sykes of Gilbert
