By Thomas Grant Jr.
Baseball continues to serve as a source of pride in Lexington County.
This past month, Airport and Batesburg-Leesville won state titles, and defending Class 5A champion Lexington was the Class 5A Division I state runner-up.
This past weekend, four former members of the Lexington County Blowfish represented Coastal Carolina in the College World Series final against LSU.
“The Blowfish organization is honored to have four players on Coastal Carolina in the College World Series,” Lexington County co-owner Bill Shanahan said. “Summer collegiate baseball and specifically, the Coastal Plain League, which we have been proud members of for 20 years, definitely has a place in helping develop these young college players.”
Coastal Carolina had two players with local high school ties. They were redshirt freshman infielder Walker Mitchell of River Bluff and senior transfer infielder and Gilbert native Wells Sykes of Lexington.
Coastal Carolina outfielder Wells Sykes
“It’s been really cool watching Walker compete at the highest level of college baseball in Omaha,” River Bluff head coach Mark Bonnette said. “We are extremely proud of the way he has represented our program and community. How many players get a chance to win a state championship and now compete for a National Championship?”
Mitchell was a member of the Gators’ 2023 Class 5A championship team. After redshirting last season, he’s batting .278 with four home runs, 45 RBI and has had 12 games in which he’s driven in two or more runs.
“We recognized Walker’s talent very early on,” Bonnette said. “It was evident that he had a chance to be a special player. I’ve been fortunate to coach a lot of very good players, and Walker is definitely one of the most talented. I believe he was the best shortstop in our state his senior year, and I’m not surprised to see the player he has become. I believe he will continue to develop and believe he will have a chance to play pro ball in the future.”
Sykes earned All-State honors in his one season with the Wildcats. He attended The Citadel for three years where he batted .299, had 144 hits, 91 runs, 24 doubles, 10 triples, three home runs and 66 RBI.
After head coach Tony Skole’s contract was not renewed, Sykes hit the transfer portal. During the Chanticleers’ 26-game winning streak, he has reached base in every contest.
For the season, Sykes is batting .293 with three home runs and 37 RBI.
“Wells is the ultimate competitor who has an extremely high baseball IQ,” Lexington head coach Brian Hucks said. “He understands exactly who he is as a player and what he can do to impact the game. As a coach, anytime you see one of your former players excelling on the biggest stage, there is an enormous amount of pride.
“Wells is representing both Gilbert and Lexington extremely well, and I could not be more proud of him.”
The Blowfish connection with the Chanticleers extended to the front office. Connor Owings, a Gilbert graduate and member of Coastal Carolina’s 2016 CWS championship team, played for Lexington County in 2015. He’s currently a volunteer assistant for Player Development in Conway.
Coastal Carolina infielder Ty Dooley of Blythewood was also a Blowfish alumnus.
In the end, Dooley’s former Bengal teammate, pitcher Zac Cowen was on the winning side for LSU. The Tigers won Game 1 1-0 and held off the Chanticleers 5-3 in Game Two on Sunday.
(Featured Photo by Coastal Carolina Sports Information Office) Coastal Carolina outfielder Wells Sykes
