South Carolina Baseball: Gamecock commitment wins 5A state championship

South Carolina baseball fans are busy right now keeping up with the Gamecocks' run through the SEC Tournament. Carolina will play on Saturday in the semifinal game in Hoover, Alabama against the LSU Tigers. If they win, they will take on the winner of the Tennessee Volunteers and the Vanderbilt Commodores in the title game.

However, there was another postseason game on Friday night that was of interest to fans of the garnet and black.

After some pitch count controversy surrounding the Summerville Green Wave (home of 2024 Gamecock commits PJ Morlando and Carson Messina) delayed the start of the series, the Lexington Wildcats and Ashley Ridge Swamp Foxes played Thursday in the first game of the South Carolina baseball 5A state championship series.

Lexington won that game, so Friday's matchup was a potential ring-clincher for Lexington. Class of 2025 South Carolina commitment Brandon Cromer, Jr. is a left-handed pitcher for the Wildcats, and the future Gamecock played a big role on Friday night.

Lexington held a 3-1 lead heading into the 6th inning of Friday's contest (thanks in part to an RBI sacrifice fly from Cromer), and the junior was called upon in that frame to take the mound and close out the game. He didn't allow a run to the Ashley Ridge offense and even got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the 7th to shut the door and preserve the 3-1 victory.

Cromer's older cousin David is already part of the South Carolina baseball program, and his father had a professional career that spanned nearly a decade. His grandfather coached at USC for a time. With one year left of high school ball, the talented lefty will have a chance to win another state title before he becomes the latest Cromer at the University of South Carolina.