This is not the opening state American Legion officials wanted to see in the Lower State portion of the state playoffs.

The Lower State, reportedly, does not have a bracket in place for second round pairings which begin next Monday. Over the weekend, a final list of Lower State playoff teams was decided to include all 14 programs which were still intact after a 12-team playoff field was bandied about.

On Monday the last thing the playoffs needed happened when Lexington, which finished fourth in League VIII with a 1-9 record, could not field enough players for the first game of its first round series with Sumter. Sumter won the game via forfeit. 

On Tuesday, it was being reported that Lexington would have enough players for the week and decided to forfeit the entire series to Sumter.

On Monday, the P-15 twitter site read “Lexington forfeits game 1 to Sumter. Not good for anyone.”

As crazy as it may sound, there is talk of one Lower State team being awarded a second round bye and thereby given a free pass into the state tournament which opens Saturday, July 25 at Riley Park in Sumter. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that Sumter could be the program to get that bye. And if Lexington pulls a no-show for the rest of the series, the P-15s could have a 22-day break between games if they get the bye.

According to sources, how a team receives a bye into the state tournament has not been presented to the Lower State coaches. Before that, though, there is the case as to where first round winners will be headed for round two. That may not be decided until late this week or, over the weekend, depending on the length of the first round series.

The best advice for both fans and teams may be to keep those cars and buses filled with gas, in the event of a lengthy trip

Form holds in openers: In the six first round Lower State series openers which were played on Monday, lopsided results were the norm, including Kershaw County’s 10-0 win over West Columbia. Defending state champion Florence breezed past Manning-Santee, 12-1, while Hartsville upended Murrells Inlet, 13-6, and Horry County took down Lake City, 9-2.

The evening included two blowouts with a pair of League III squads going down by identical 16-0 scores as Goose Creek was blanked by Orangeburg while Dalzell-Shaw was upended by the same count against Chapin-Newberry.