Laurens took a second loss in a row, and Thornwell found out where the Clear Dot was in Monday-evening baseball.

The Clear Dot Bats, of Columbia, didn’t use them very well.

Four Laurens batters stroked two hits each, but in spite of five hits to the Raiders’ 11, Fountain Inn managed to defeat Laurens (3-2), 6-5, on Monday at the Fury’s home diamond.

Bennett Edwards, Zay Pulley, Jireh Brown and Hunter Nabors collected two singles apiece. The only extra-base hit was Asher Goss’s double.

Ben Willis, who pitched 4-2/3 innings and allowed only two hits and two unearned runs, suffered a tough loss. He walked five and struck out seven. Starter Connor Rice gave up four runs in 1-1/3 innings of work. He allowed three hits and three walks, fanning one.

Joel Irizarry went the distance and threw 100 pitches, allowing 11 hits, five runs (four earned) and a walk, striking out three.

The eight walks issued by the Raider hurlers played a major role. Both teams committed three errors.

The Fury leadoff man, second baseman Miles Barbrey, went 2/3 with a double, scoring a run and driving in another.

Fountain Inn (4-1) scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning. Rice walked the first three batters, and Zac Madden put the Fury on the board with a single to left field. Two more crossed the plate on an error-marred fielder’s choice by Daniel Rentz. The fourth run scored on Barbrey’s double to the left-center gap.

Goss, the Laurens right fielder, doubled in Coleman Coker and Avery Madden. Goss was thrown out at third base for the second out.

Goss played a role in the tying run in the sixth. An error by Fountain Inn center fielder Zac Madden allowed Goss to reach base and Avery Madden, who had been hit by a pitch, to score.

The Fury scored twice in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs, Barbrey scored on Hunter Nabors’ error, and Irizarry scored on a fielder’s choice.

Brown opened the Laurens seventh with a single. After Willis flied out, Pulley singled and Brown scored on Edwards’ single to right. Irizarry hit Coker to load the bases, but struck out Owen Pridgen and Madden to end the game.

Belton-Honea Path visits Ed Prescott field for a 6:30 p.m. game on Tuesday.

Thornwell (2-3) destroyed visiting Clear Dot Charter, 11-1, thanks in no small part to Sam Robertson, who singled and doubled at the plate and pitched 4-1/3 innings of one-hit, one-run, one-walk baseball. He struck out 10 Bats. No, really, the Columbia school’s nickname is Bats, even though it didn’t do much with them.

Zach Crowe also doubled and finished up for Robertson on the mound as the game ended prematurely via run rule. Crowe walked to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning and scored the game-ending run when an error by Clear Dot catcher Lucas Tejada allowed him to circle the bases.

Robertson and Crowe combined to allow just two walks and strike out 11, uh, Bats.

The Saints, already up 3-0, broke the game open on Parker Workman’s bases-loaded triple in the bottom of the fourth inning. Four more runs scored before the inning was over.

Clinton (3-0) won big in softball, needing just six innings to dispense with Southside Christian, 11-0, in Simpsonville.

The Red Devils, who take on the Sabres again Wednesday at home (5 p.m.), broke on top in the second inning, scoring four times on Sophia Sullian’s RBI single and a three-run, inside-the-park homer by Taylor Davis.

Clinton added three runs in the third inning, two in the fourth and two in the sixth. Sierra Templeton was a perfect 3/3 at the plate. Alyssa Young, Sullivan and Davis each had a pair of hits.

Me-Me Smith was the circle hero, allowing two hits and a walk with nine strikeouts. The Sabres’ Sarah Talbert gave up 14 hits and 11 runs, all earned.

Sophia Stein and Isabella Moreno collected the Southside Christian hits.

Three Laurens Academy basketball players – Olivia Huck and Rylee Ballard from the girls’ team and Braydon Burke from the boys – played on Saturday in the SCISA North-South games at Wilson Hall in Sumter.

The Crusaders girls’ team, coached by Jason Marlett, reached the Class A state semifinal, while the boys, coached by Travis Plowden, fell in the first round.

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