By Thomas Grant Jr.
As the Lexington County Blowfish prepare to invite Fort Jackson soldiers to its stadium Saturday, it looks to rebound from two straight high-scoring losses.
This past Saturday at Lexington County Baseball Stadium saw the Blowfish fall 16-6 in eight innings to High Point-Thomasville. The Hi-Toms broke open a 2-2 game after four innings with nine straight runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
High Point-Thomasville added five runs in the eighth inning. Brookland-Cayce alumnus Parker Mergo and Ty Marshall each drove in a run in the bottom half of the inning before the game ended on the 10-run rule.
On Monday, the Blowfish were involved in an extra-inning slugfest at Martinsville. The game featured a combined 34 hits, 93 at-bats, 31 stranded runners and 18 walks.
Down 10-7 with two outs in the top of the 9th, the Blowfish rallied for three runs to tie the game. Andrew Ortiz singled home Mergo, and Zach Cowart of Riverr Bluff added a 2-run single.
Both teams scored two runs in the 10th inning to make it 12-12. In the top of the 11th, Nick DiCarlo hit an RBI single, Ortiz had a sacrifice fly, and Cowart added an RBI fielder’s choice to make it 15-12.
Cowart was fourth in the CPL in batting average (.400) and fifth in RBI (18) as of last Monday.
Lexington County was unable to hold the lead. The Mustangs scored four runs to end the game with a 16-15 victory.
The Blowfish (13-8) trailed both the Forest City Owls and Asheboro Zookeepers by one game as of Monday. Lexington County Blowfish co-owner Bill Shanahan confirmed the CPL has now adopted a revised playoff format.
Instead of first and second half champions advancing to the Petitt Cup playoffs, it will now be the top three teams in the East and West Divisions. The second and third-place teams will face each other in a one-game playoff to face the division champion in a Best-of-Three series.
The East and West champions will them meet in a Best-of-Three final series to crown a champion. The Blowfish are seeking their third CPL title in 20 years.
HOOTIES NIGHT
This past Friday at home was Hooties Night at the stadium.
The Blowfish wore Neon Hooties Back in the 90s jerseys. During the contest against the Florence Flamingos, the team held its third annual jersey online auction to benefit the Lexington Medical Center Foundation’s Partners Program.
It is a summer health career awareness program designed to introduce various departments in the healthcare industry to enthusiastic, bright high school students who have a genuine interest in a healthcare-related career. Participants complete three rotations through a variety of clinical areas, learning about various careers, including professional and allied health careers such as Radiologic Technologist, Physical Therapist, Surgical Technologist, Nursing, Administration, and other patient support roles.
The auction raised $5,200, and it was matched with a $10,000 check from the Hootie and the Blowfish Foundation.
FORT JACKSON NIGHT
Another Blowfish-sponsored annual event taking place this Saturday is the “Meet Our American Soldiers” Night.
Basic training soldiers from Fort Jackson will be led by Commanding General Maj. Gen. Daryl Hood to the stadium for a night of baseball and post-game fireworks. Hood was also the Grand Marshall at this past year’s Shamrock Parade in Lexington.
The close to 1,000 troops in attendance got to see plenty of in-game fireworks last year. The Blowfish rallied from a 5-0 deficit to the Macon Bacon to win 11-10 on a walkoff RBI sacrifice fly by Breon Ishmael.
This year’s game will be a 7-inning exhibition contest against the Kingsman Baseball team. It’s part of a “Split Squad” Saturday where Lexington County will send another team to Florence for a Coastal Plain League game.
Regular season tickets are available at www.blowfishbaseball.com.
LEXINGTON COUNTY BLOWFISH SCHEDULE
THURSDAY – FLORENCE 7:05 p.m.
FRIDAY – CATAWBA VALLEY STARS (Exhibition) 7:05 p.m.
SATURDAY – KINGSMEN BASEBALL (Exhibition – Fort Jackson Night) 7:05 p.m.
at Florence 7 p.m.
MONDAY – at Asheboro 7:05 p.m.
TUESDAY – at Macon 7 p.m.
(Photos courtesy of Lexington County Blowfish)
Featured Photo: The Lexington County Blowfish present a check raised from sales of the Hooties 90s jerseys
and matching funds from the Hootie and the Blowfish Foundation to benefit the Lexington
Medical Center Foundation’s Partners Program.
