Lots of laced spheres were bouncing around on Thursday, when Laurens won its first, Clinton won its first (albeit after two losses) and Presbyterian split a doubleheader.

PC had a monopoly on the actual county in baseball as the Raiders played in a Georgetown tournament and the Red Devils in a Greenwood one.

In softball, Clinton outslugged Blacksburg on its home field, but Spartanburg edged the Raiders on their diamond.

Bennett Edwards and Jordon Hudson were a potent battery as Laurens opened its season with a 7-2 victory over Berkeley on Thursday at the International Paper Baseball Classic in Georgetown

Catcher Edwards belted a pair of home runs and drove in three. Hudson earned the victory with five-plus strong innings.

Hudson, a southpaw, logged 99 pitches and stopped the Stags on three hits. He walked six but struck out 10. The two earned runs he allowed were baserunners he left on base when he departed in the sixth.

Edwards’ circuit clouts occurred in the third and fifth innings. Zay Pulley and Avery Madden each chipped in two hits, with one a double for both. Like Edwards, left fielder Madden drove in three runs.

Jireh Brown took three walks for the Raiders. Hunter Nabors scored the Raiders’ final run in the top of the seventh inning on a steal of home.

Grayson Ledford, also a lefty, earned a save with two innings of one-hit, one-walk relief. Berkeley scored two runs in the sixth, but Ledford pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam. The Stags’ Connor Barham lined into a double play: center fielder Pulley to shortstop Ben Willis to Edwards at the plate.

Cole Greer, the first of five pitchers to toe the rubber for the Moncks Corner school, gave up two runs on three hits, walking three and fanning seven.

Gavin Edens, the Berkeley shortstop, went 2/4 at the plate with a double.

The Raiders next play host Georgetown on Saturday night at 7.

In Greenwood, Clinton (1-2) awakened its bats in a wild 7-6 victory over Ninety Six that saw five lead changes.

The Red Devils scored the decisive runs in the sixth inning, when Freddy Lopez led off with a single, scored on Jaydon Glenn’s double, and Glenn scored on Brett Young’s single.

Big Red manufactured single runs in the second and third innings, but Clinton ran into buzz saw in the bottom half of the third, when Ninety Six put the first five batters on base – walk, hit by pitch, hit by pitch, single, single – and scored three times before the Devils got out of the inning on a double play started by shortstop Bryce Young.

Carson Glenn opened the scoring in the second after leading off with a single, scoring on a groundout by Luke Young after stealing second and advancing to third on a previous grounder.

In the third, back-back-back bunts by fellow Youngs Brett and Bryce after Carson Glenn walked.

Clinton tied the game in the fourth on Freddy Lopez’s single to left after, once again, Carson Glenn led off by coaxing a walk. The Red Devils retook the lead, 4-3, in the fifth. C Finley singled to center field, Brett Young bunted him to second and Bryce Young singled to drive in Finley.

In the fifth, with Bryce Young on second and a 3-0 count on Zane McLendon’s double that briefly gave the Red Devils a 5-3 lead.

Ninety Six (1-2) collected only six hits, one apiece by Hamp Ashley, Austin Wertz, Ty Ridlehoover, Carver Davis, Evan Adams and Parker Sutley.

Brett Young, Bryce Young, Chance, Lopez and Camden Finley each had a pair of hits for the Red Devils. Tanner Finley was the winning pitcher; Ridlehoover took the loss.

Carson Glenn opened the scoring in the second after leading off with a single, scoring on a groundout by Luke Young after stealing second and advancing to third on a previous grounder.

In the third, back-back-back bunts by fellow Youngs Brett and Bryce after Carson Glenn walked.

Clinton tied the game in the fourth on Lopez’s single to left after, once again, Carson Glenn led off by coaxing a walk. The Red Devils retook the lead, 4-3, in the fifth. Camden Finley singled to center field, Brett Young bunted him to second and Bryce Young singled to drive in Finley.

The two games played on Clinton’s Elton Pollock Field could not have been more different. Saint Bonaventure blanked Presbyterian in the opener, 2-0, and the Blue Hose pounded the Bonnies in the nightcap, 12-6.

In the former, Saint Bonaventure’s Michael Salino (1-0) fired a two-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking three. The Bonnies made the best of eight hits, thanks to doubles by Antonia Cordeiro and Kyle Caccamiss and a triple by Jayce Tharnish. Saint Bonaventure scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings.

Kyle Mueller (0-3) took the loss in relief of Charlie McDaniel.

Take a look at the box here.

Presbyterian (6-5) destroyed the Bonnies in the latter game, pounding 16 hits off four hurlers. Shortstop Brody Fahr, first baseman Eli Lazio and DH Ryan Ouzts each had three of them. Joel Dragoo went 2/2 with a sacrifice fly, a double and five runs batted in.

Tristan McGregor (2-0) turned in five strong innings, allowing two runs off two hits. He walked two and struck out seven. Five others shared the final six innings of mound work.

Saint Bonaventure (3-6) salvaged a four-run rally in the ninth.

Take a look at the box here.

Friday’s game has been canceled due to expected weather, but the Blue Hose play the Bonnies again on Saturday at noon.

The final games Saturday are crucial to Presbyterian College’s seedings in next week’s Big South Basketball Tournament in High Point, N.C.

For Quinton Ferrell’s men’s team, a victory over Charleston Southern on Saturday at Templeton Center is particularly important. PC is in a tie with Radford and Longwood for sixth place in standings, a half game behind Winthrop and a half ahead of USC Upstate, which edged the Blue Hose, 74-72, in Spartanburg on Wednesday night.

The eighth and ninth seeds must face each other in a “play-in” next Wednesday at Qubein Arena, which is a fitting venue since High Point is the regular-season champion in both men’s and women’s play. A loss to Charleston Southern (10-18, 6-9 SoCon) puts PC (13-17, 5-10) in the play-in and a win doesn’t guarantee bypassing it, at least not at the moment.

Gardner-Webb (18-12, 6-9) defeated Longwood (17-13, 5-10), 72-69, on Thursday night. The Lancers trailed by 22 points at halftime and never led, but the Bulldogs cashed in three free throws with 1.8 seconds left to break a tie.

Alaura Sharp’s women are in much better position entering the final regular-season game.

Presbyterian (17-13, 8-7) is in a tie with Radford for third place in the women’s standings, five games behind High Point and 1-1/2 behind USC Upstate – the Rifles have completed their regular season – while sitting a game ahead of Winthrop and Charleston Southern.

Saturday’s game at CSU (10-18, 7-8) is likely to affect tournament seedings, but the PC women, who have won five games in a row, won’t have to open the tournament until next Thursday.

Play on Wednesday at Clinton High’s preseason softball tournament was rained out, meaning that games played on Thursday were at both CHS and LDHS.

Catcher Halleigh Luke had a night in the Red Devils’ 18-13 over Blacksburg, going 4/5 with a double, an inside-the-park home run, four runs scored and six driven in.

Winning pitcher Me-Me Smith also homered and collected four of Clinton’s 23 hits. Kamryn Campbell and Cat Wilkie and Sierra Templeton each had three safeties.

The Red Devils busted the game open with six runs in the top of the fifth inning and withstood a four-run rally by the Wildcats in the bottom of the seventh.

On Friday, weather permitting, Clinton (2-0) plays Laurens (1-1) at 5 p.m., followed by Blacksburg-Spartanburg at 7.

After Whitmire plays Spartanburg at 10 a.m., on Saturday, the tourney’s championship game is at noon, at least as currently scheduled.

The lead changed hands three times, but Spartanburg, in spite of being outhit 7-4, held on to defeat Laurens (0-2), 6-5.

Laurens catcher Addison Trevino singled, doubled and tripled in four at-bats, scoring two runs and driving in another.

Summer Nations, who pitched the final 4-1/3 innings in relief of Skyla Bates, took the loss for the Raiders.

Clinton junior-varsity baseball is off to a gaudy start, having captured its two games thus far by a combined score of 28-4.

On Tuesday, Clinton took advantage of four Abbeville errors to pound the Panthers, 11-0.

Zack Lawson and Rhett Gilliam combined to render the Panthers hitless, but the game only lasted three innings due to a run rule.

Owen Glenn rapped three of the Red Devils’ eight singles, driving in three runs. Lawson collected a pair.

Clinton also needed just three innings to dispatch Greenwood Christian, 17-4, on Saturday. Gilliam scored a pair of singles, and William Addison doubled and scored two runs. Lawson and Clayton Kyko shared the pitching chores.

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