Laurens happened upon Catawba Ridge, which eliminated the Raiders from the Class 4A Upstate finals and went on to capture the state title.

The meeting was in Georgetown on Sunday at the International Paper Baseball Classic, where the Copperheads of Fort Mill managed to take a third straight victory, 9-5, over the Raiders across two seasons in spite of committing seven errors. Catawba Ridge won the tournament, nonetheless.

Laurens (3-1) put Asher Goss and Avery Madden on base with back-to-back singles to open the top of the seventh inning, but Goss was out on an attempted steal of home. Jireh Brown flied out to left for the second out. Ben Willis drew a walk, but Zay Pulley grounded into a fielder’s choice for the final out.

In the early innings, Laurens took leads of 1-0 and 5-3 before the Copperheads scored four runs in the fifth and two in the sixth. Catawba Ridge (4-1) took the lead for good on Jackson Mullin’s two-run homer.

Grayson Ledford, the LDHS starter, took the loss. Bennett Edwards and Ben Willis subsequently took turns on the hill. Mullin was also the winning pitcher. Mullin allowed four unearned runs, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out four.

Madden led the Raiders with three hits in four trips to the plate. Goss was 2/4 in Laurens’ nine-hit attack.

Left fielder Peyton Dhein led the Copperheads with three hits, two runs and two RBI. Britton Nash and Ben Wilson each stroked doubles. Owen Noonan went 2/4 out of the leadoff slot.

Laurens takes on Fountain Inn on the road Monday at 6 p.m.

The Clinton junior varsity (3-0) captured its preseason tournament with a 2-0 victory over Greenwood.

In the season to date, the Red Devils have outscored their opponents, 30-4. Clinton defeated Greenwood Christian, 17-4 and Abbeville, 11-0, in its first two games.

Zack Lawson dominated Greenwood with 10 strikeouts in a one-hit shutout.

The Red Devils only collected three hits, one apiece by Owen Glenn, Lawson and Clayton Kyko.

Rain brought a premature end to Clinton’s annual season-opening softball tournament. It washed out Friday play and left the field too wet for Saturday.

The Red Devils won their game. Laurens fell in its game against Spartanburg. The two didn’t get their scheduled chance to play each other.

Clinton (2-0) visits Southside Christian in Greenville Monday at 5 p.m. Laurens visits Wade Hampton on Friday.

Thornwell is playing varsity baseball, and the Saints picked up their victory on Feb. 27 with a 9-6 victory over Carolina Academy of Greenville.

The Saints scored seven runs in the third inning, highlighted by K.J. Thompson’s three-run double.

Zach Crowe, who earned the win, shared mound duties with Sam Robertson.

Parker Workman, Robertson, Cameron Bryant, Griffen Raines, Thompson and Crowe collected a hit apiece.

Thus far, Thornwell (1-5) has lost games to Oakbrook Prep, High Point Academy, Southside, Greenville Tech Charter and, according to the Saints’ Gamechanger account, TBD. An educated guess, based on some web searching, is that TBD was Berea (1-3). Whoever it was won, 9-4.

The Saints are at home against Clear Dot Charter Monday at 6 p.m.

The Saints are 0-3 in softball, having fallen 10-0 to North Central of Kershaw, 19-4 to Dreher of Columbia and 16-2 to Lakeside of Sumter.

In the Lakewood loss, Karleigh Porter led the Saints with a 2/2 night at the plate, the only Thornwell hits. Three were hit by pitches, and three more walked. Thornwell stole 12 bases. Autumn Gibbons drove in three of the Lakewood runs.

Laurens Academy had its baseball opener rained out on Friday at Spartanburg Christian. Barring a makeup date, the Crusaders are in action again on March 12 at Northside Christian of Lexington.

Woodmont defeated Laurens, 4-2, in a men’s tennis scrimmage. Price Turner at No. 2 and Gibson Partee at 5 won for the Raiders.

The Raiders open at home on Tuesday versus Fountain Inn.

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