By Thomas Grant Jr.
The road to Founder’s Park for the championship in the100th anniversary season of South Carolina American Legion Baseball begins on Tuesday.
On Thursday, West Columbia Post 79, and Lexington Post 7 hope to settle the League III championship. The two teams and Richland Post 215 were locked in a three-way battle for first place separated by a half-game.
Brookland-Cayce High School is the site for two games that could determine the champion. West Columbia and Lexington met on Wednesday, looking to complete a game that was halted due to weather.
Post was leading 6-1 heading to the Bottom 4th. The two teams entered the contest tied for second place with a 7-3 league record. A win by Lexington would tie it with Richland Post 215 (8-3) for first place heading into Thursday.
A win by West Columbia would also tie Richland for first place. On Thursday, Post 79 and Post 215 will close out the regular season with the winner in position to claim the league title.
Lexington is also scheduled to complete an unfinished game with Winnsboro Post 16. Post 7 trailed 1-0 with Winnsboro having the bases loaded with two outs in the Bottom 4th.
Both West Columbia and Lexington can claim the league title by winning their last two games. There’s also the scenario of West Columbia, Lexington, and Richland finishing the season in a 3-way tie.
A tiebreaker would determine the playoff seeding, with the top two seeds opening a Best-of-Three series Monday. The third seed could find itself playing in an elimination game Saturday.
(Photos by Thomas Grant Jr.)
