SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — After winning game one 1-0 on its home field, Lexington needed a little more offense to take game two on the road at Ashley Ridge.
The Wildcats were up to the challenge with a Brandon Cromer sac fly in the fifth inning, giving Lexington a 2-1 lead.
In the sixth, Ashley Ridge's first baseman could not field a bunt, and the squeeze play allowed the Wildcats to build a 3-1 lead.
The Swamp Foxes loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but Cromer induced a fly ball to end the game and give the Wildcats their first state title since 2013.
Cromer, a USC commit, is part of a baseball family. His father won a state title at Lexington in 1992 before he was taken in the first round of the MLB Draft by Toronto.
For Lexington head coach Brian Hucks, it was a huge Friday in more ways than simply winning a state championship at his alma mater. Earlier in the day, he had been named the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association Baseball Coach of the Year. But the priority was leading Lexington to the 5A state championship, and that was also accomplished, which gives him four career state titles. Hucks won two at Brookland-Cayce and now has a pair in the Blue and Gold,